PORTLAND REAL ESTATE MARKET - JANUARY 2024

As we enter the new year, the real estate market continues showing resilience and promise. In January 2024, we witnessed a slight uptick in new listings, indicating growing seller confidence. Despite a modest decrease in pending sales compared to the previous year, closed sales saw a healthy increase, highlighting steady activity in the housing sector.

One of the most encouraging aspects of the current market is the year over year rise in average and median sale prices. With average prices climbing by 5.9% and median prices by 3.2% compared to the same period last year, homeowners can expect robust returns on their investments. In the short term, there’s an opportunity for buyers during the winter season with both the average and median sales prices dipping 3.8% over December as new inventory came to market creating optimal conditions for buyers before a busier spring season!

Forecasts for home appreciation in 2024 have been updated to a range of 1.9 – 5%. This is great news for sellers and an incentive for buyers to move before prices rise. Inventory in January reached 3.2 months for just the second time in over 2 years, giving buyers more options and opportunity to negotiate on home prices and repairs.

Sales are expected to pick up as we move into the typically busier spring selling season, however, stubborn inflation is keeping rates steady at around 7% currently. This is a significant improvement over the 8+% rates back in October, helping the market to open up to more activity!