Total Portland region home sales remained at a 15-year low last month but one category – resale single-family houses – posted its first year-over-year sales gain in nearly two and a half years. The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined rose slightly from May but fell almost 13 percent below a year ago and 15 percent below the summer 2007 peak, a real estate information service reported.
Reflecting a trend seen across much of the West last month, lender repossessions played a significant but smaller role in the resale market. Foreclosure resales – homes resold in June that had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months – accounted for about 16.4 percent of all Portland area resales, down from 17.2 percent in May and down from a peak of 18.9 percent in March. The June figure was the lowest since it was 15 percent last December, and it remained well below levels seen in many other major Western markets, where foreclosures accounted for nearly half, if not more than half, of all resale activity.
A total of 3,088 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow during June in the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton metro area (see included MSA counties below). That sales total rose 25.3 percent from May but was 5.8 percent lower than a year earlier, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.
The number of homes sold in June was the lowest for that month since at least 1994, when DataQuick’s complete (all home types) Portland region sales statistics begin. The June total marked the 40th consecutive month in which total sales have fallen on a year-over-year basis. Total Portland region sales have been the lowest on record for that particular month for the last 14 consecutive months.
Last month’s tally for resales of single-family detached houses increased 0.5% compared with June 2008, marking the first year-over-year gain for that category since February 2006, when sales rose 4.8 percent.
The regional median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos combined in June was $245,000, up 2.1 percent from May but down 12.5 percent from $280,000 a year earlier. The June median was the highest since it was $247,750 this February, but was 15.2 percent below the peak $288,858 median in August 2007.
The median price paid for resale single-family detached houses rose on a month-to-month basis for the second consecutive month, to $247,960, but was 12.6 percent below a year ago and 16.2 percent below its August 2007 peak.
The median sale price measures appear to have risen month-to-month for three reasons, mainly: Foreclosure resales, which tend to sell at the largest discounts, represented a lower share of total sales. Sales in the mid-to-high price ranges picked up a bit. And more traditional buyers – not just hardcore bargain hunters looking for the deal of a lifetime – have been active in the market. The latter is a seasonal norm reflecting buyers, including move-up buyers, purchasing because of a job change or to find a bigger house or one situated in a more desirable area. Many want to move before school starts.
Another price gauge, the median price paid per square foot for resale detached houses, posted its second month-to-month increase in June: Buyers paid a median $147 per square foot, up slightly from $143 in April and $145 in May, but down 15.8 percent from a year ago and down 21.4 percent from the $187 peak in June 2007.
The Portland area’s median sale price declines remain well below those in many U.S. markets, especially in the West. Portland’s 12.5 percent annual drop in its overall median price in June compares with a 26.4 percent drop in Southern California, a 41.3 percent decline in Las Vegas and a 36.6 percent decrease in Phoenix. However, Portland’s decline was greater than the Seattle area’s 9.6 percent annual drop in June.
Last month about 38.8 percent of all Portland-area buyers used government-insured FHA loans, a popular choice among first-time buyers, according to an analysis of public records. Absentee buyers, including many investors, made up 15 percent of all purchases – a relatively low percentage in the West and a reflection of the relatively small number of low-cost foreclosures on the market in Portland. In addition to investors, absentee buyers include any others who will have their property tax bills go to an address other than the one for the home they just purchased.
DataQuick’s Portland area statistics reflect sales in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA*
| Number of sales | Jun-08 | Jun-09 | %Chng |
| Resale houses | 2,461 | 2,473 | 0.50% |
| Resale condos | 195 | 191 | -2.10% |
| New homes | 623 | 424 | -31.90% |
| All homes | 3,279 | 3,088 | -5.80% |
| Median sale price | Jun-08 | Jun-09 | %Chng |
| Resale houses | $283,835 | $247,960 | -12.60% |
| Resale condos | $179,000 | $175,000 | -2.20% |
| New homes | $287,150 | $250,000 | -12.90% |
| All homes | $280,000 | $245,000 | -12.50% |
*Data reflect sales in Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark County in Washington.
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157
Copyright 2009 MDA DataQuick Information Systems. All rights reserved.