Portland Region August Home Sales
Portland-area home sales dipped month-to-month in August but rose slightly from a year earlier and reached a seven-year high thanks to a nine-year high in condo resales. The median price paid for all homes sold declined a bit from a nearly seven-year high in July, while the median's year-over-year increase was the smallest in almost two years, a real estate information service reported.
A total of 3,762 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during August in the five-county Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton metro area. Sales fell 2.1 percent from the prior month and rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic DataQuick data.
On average, sales between July and August have increased 3.2 percent since 1994, when CoreLogic DataQuick's complete Portland-area statistics begin.
The August 2014 sales tally was the highest for that month since 4,191 homes sold in August 2007, and it was 6.1 percent short of the average sales total for all months of August since 1994. Sales of existing (not new) single-family detached houses were 5.6 percent below the historical August average, while new-home sales were 35.7 percent below average. August condo resales, which rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier, were 76.3 percent above the August average. The 372 condo resales in August were the highest for that month since 405 condos resold in August 2005.
The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos that closed escrow in the Portland region in August was $279,900, down 1.3 percent from $283,500 in July and up 7.2 percent from $261,000 a year earlier. The July median was the highest for any month since the median was $289,000 in October 2007. The 7.2 percent year-over-year gain in the August median marked the lowest annual increase since the $230,000 November 2012 median rose 5.3 percent.
The median has risen on a year-over-year basis for 30 consecutive months, including a 12-month string of double-digit increases as high as 18.1 percent between December 2012 and November 2013. Over the past six months the median's year-over-year gains have been single-digit.
This August's median sale price was 3.1 percent below the peak $289,000 median in October 2007, and it was 43.5 percent higher than the post-peak trough of $195,000 in January 2012. During the most recent housing bust the Portland area's median fell 32.5 percent from peak to trough.
Sales of mid- to high-end homes continued to rise year-over-year in August, while lower-cost deals declined. August sales below $200,000 dropped 29.6 percent from a year earlier, while sales below $300,000 fell 8.3 percent. The number of August home sales above $300,000 rose 12.5 percent year-over-year, while sales over $500,000 rose 24.6 percent.
It appears investors were as active as they were a year ago. Absentee buyers - mostly investors and some second-home buyers - purchased 26.8 percent of all homes sold in August, up from 26.6 percent the prior month and up from 25.8 percent a year earlier. The absentee buyer rate peaked at 31.7 percent in April 2012, and the monthly average for absentee purchases since January 2000 is 20.0 percent.
The Portland metro area statistics in this report and in the tables below reflect sales in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.
To view additional Portland region August highlights, please visit DQNews.com.
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916) 456-7157
Source: CoreLogic DataQuick; DQNews.com
Copyright 2014 DataQuick. All rights reserved.
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