I've heard it said recently that the real estate market now is a price war combined with a beauty contest. So true- fewer buyers with very high expectations. The market is tough, but fascinating. It is a great time to buy- prices are down and record low fixed interest rates available to buyers. Still, the major activity seems to be at the lower price points. North Portland continues to have the lowest DOM (days on market) at 89 with an average sales price of $236,900. On the opposite end, Lake Oswego is at 204 DOM with an average sale price of $495,800. The message seems to be that the first time home buyers are driving the 34% jump in pending sales from last September. Septembers' inventory is at 7.6 (the number of months it would take to sell all current inventory at the current rate of sales) and is very close to the six months inventory considered an even draw between a buyers and sellers market- yet, in terms of negotiating today buyers still are in great demand and seem to have the edge. While there are buyers in the higher price ranges, they are fewer and discerning. Note to my future Sellers- don't despair- prepare, price properly and you will be in the best position to be the home that sells. There are multiple offers on homes- even in this market, on which buyers perceive hold a good value. Read the full Market Action Report.
What's a Quartile? To follow my earlier point regarding DOM at different price points, the chart below shows the full spectrum of price ranges divided into four groups, or quartiles, from the very top of the range to the very lowest.
