Portland Real Estate Market Update- August 2021

The market cooled off a bit in August with slightly more inventory than August at just one month’s worth – we haven’t seen inventory at 1 month since February of this year.  Fewer new listings hit the market in August than July.  There were more pending sales in August, but fewer closings compared to July.  Time on market increased by three days – a bit surprising considering that there were fewer homes that hit the market.  The average sales price decreased by almost $10,000 from July to August to $583,600, but the median price increased by $3000 to $525,000.

Overall, this is a healthy balancing of the real estate market that was moving very quickly both in sales and appreciation.  October is looking to be a great sweet spot for buyers with more inventory expected to hit the market in early October and potentially more price reductions for existing listings due to the new competition.  Additionally, closing costs for buyers are at their lowest of the year for closings in November due to property tax prepaids only being 4 months worth of property taxes where October closings are the highest at 15 months worth of prepaid property taxes.  On a home with annual property taxes of $3000, the prepaid property taxes due to close in November would be $1000 (4 months at $250), but to close in October, the same buyer would have to prepay $3,750 (15 months at $250) in property taxes as part of their closing costs.  This makes a big difference for buyers that are tight on cash to close.  The chart below is helpful to see how this works.