Portland’s real estate market has been steadily growing for years. The Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS) states that average sale prices in Portland have jumped 16.9% from this time last year. It’s getting very competitive, so much so that LendingTree has just ranked Portland as the number 4 most competitive real estate market in the country, only behind San Jose, CA, San Francisco, CA, and Raleigh, NC.
Portland emerging as one of the most competitive home-buying markets is seen by some home sellers as a good thing. They get to cash in on fast-rising values and equity they might not have planned on being able to take advantage of. When going into retirement, many longtime homeowners plan to downsize their home and spend more time traveling than taking care of a large yard. The multiple offers that they receive push the sale price of their home up and allows them to walk away with more in their pocket.
Home buyers are not so happy about the real estate market being so competitive as they feel like they are overpaying when they have to compete against other buyers for a home. Anyone that has made multiple offers on a home and not had their offer accepted will tell you how tough it is out there. Besides the multiple offers, rising home values, and fast moving inventory, what makes Portland such a competitive market? LendingTree looked at the following:
Average down payment percentage among homebuyers
Share of homebuyers who have credit scores above 720
Share of homebuyers who shop around for a mortgage before looking for a house
Why these three categories? They are each an important part of what qualifies a potential home buyer for a loan.
As you can see in the graph above, Portland’s share of buyers with a credit score of 720 or higher is at 74.66% and the average down payment amount is 20.39%. All of this points to home buyers being older these days (in their 30s rather than buying in their 20s) and having stronger finances. Portland’s food scene is as strong as anywhere in the country, and when all of the restaurants were shut down during the pandemic there was a huge amount of unemployment from the restaurant and service industry. However, the National Association of Realtors annual survey of home buyers reports that today home buyers are not working in those two industries as much as others. So whereas in 2008 we saw people unable to purchase homes across many sectors, the market in 2021 is still going strong (even with high unemployment numbers), aided with historically low interest rates. Buyers that are in the market now are able to afford the homes they buy, and are able to bid higher and higher for that opportunity.
Yes, the market is very competitive with no end-in-sight, but that is where we come in! Timber & Rose Realty Group has extensive experience helping buyers successfully beat out multiple offers so our clients get into the home they want without the emotional roller-coaster of making several offers and losing house-after-house. I became a Real Estate Agent in 2015 in the San Francisco Bay Area. You'll notice that the top two most competitive regions are San Jose (Silicon Valley) and San Francisco. That is where I learned how to help my clients win the home they want no matter how many offers they have to compete against (on average there were 15 offers with homes selling $250,000 over list price). Timber & Rose Realty Group has the experience, knowledge, and systems to help find your dream home. Give us a call today to find out how we can help you!
Phil Evans
971-221-3821
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