How’s The Market? A Look at November’s Real Estate Numbers

The Portland housing market continued to be very strong in November. Activity was slower compared to October — a common seasonal fluctuation — but much higher compared to last year. When we look at this November compared to November 2019 we see that Closed Sales were up 25.3%, but New Listings were only up 5.7%. This combination pushed prices up, and inventory* down. The Median Sale Price increased 10.1% compared to this time last year, making November the third month in a row prices rose by double-digits. Before September of this year, the last time that the Median Home Price rose by 10% or more was in January of 2018. This increase in prices was accompanied by a decrease in Inventory to just 1.0 months – now the lowest inventory ever recorded in the Portland Metro Area (the 1.1 months of Inventory recorded in September and October was the previous record low).

With interest rates expected to remain near record lows through next year — and hopes for the COVID vaccine to help the economic recovery — the demand for homes will remain, and push prices higher as we move through the winter months into the busy spring season.

*Inventory measures how many homes are one market during a given time frame and is measured in months; it represents how long it would take for every home currently on the market to sell. Lower inventory indicates more of a “seller’s market”; higher inventory is more of a “buyer’s market.” Historically, experts have considered six months to be a “balanced market” between buyers and sellers, but the last time inventory was at or near six months was early 2012.