What's going on in the market right now - March 2023

It's interesting times in the real estate market.  We have the Fed trying to bring down inflation by raising interest rates, making it more costly to borrow money.  A good portion of homeowners or people who refinanced their mortgages when interest rates were south of 3% (29% of existing homeowners) are wary to sell or move on (99% of existing homeowners have a mortgage below 6%).  Oregon has underbuilt for years, as there's a shortage of builders, architects, engineers, and the metro building departments slowed the development process way down.  I put part of the blame on Oregon under building on the Great Recession but that's for a different topic.  

So a quick recap- current high interest rates, a high percentage of homeowners unwilling to move, and not enough new homes in the market to keep up with demand.  Where does that put us at?  Well, right between a seller's market & a buyers market.  There's a limited inventory on the market, but also a limited amount of buyers in the market.

What's going to happen to home prices in Portland?  Right now we are seeing a slow rise in the price of homes.  Are home prices going to drop like in the rest of the country?  Probably not.  Our market is constrained by the limited commodity of homes available.  Is 2008 going to happen again with a large amount of foreclosures flooding the market & driving down home prices?  Probably no, for a few reasons.  One very few people are behind on their mortgages with such cheap mortgages.  Two there's much more regulation on how to qualify for money so the quality of the loans associated with the buyer are more solid.  Third the economy keeps on humming along with strong job numbers and wage growth.  The last one could change, but we keep saying recession around the corner... and we keep turning corners without finding one.  

All that being said, I'm happy to say we're in a healthier market than we were two or three years ago when people were waiving inspections & there were some crazy bidding wars with prices rapidly appreciating.  Right now most home sales are being bought at within about 1% of the list price, if it was priced accordingly. We're seeing a few folks who have priced their homes higher, and they've sat on the market for some time till they've adjusted the price & they've sold.

Interested in a better home price evaluating tool.  Send me a note and I can get you signed up for home bot or if you are closer to selling I can give a more accurate market analysis based on current homes on the market, sales pending, and homes recently sold.   

Interested in buying.  It's a good time to buy as inspections are back, and a much healthier market than it was last year.  There can be multiple offers but there's a greater chance of getting a bid accepted.   I'm not sure if we'll ever see 3% interest rates again, but there's a few strategy mortgage lenders have that can help ease the pain somewhat.