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Displaying blog entries 31-40 of 136

A Real Estate Boom, Powered by POT!

by Rob Levy

This article in the New York Times recently talks mostly about the boom in Denver (a city with similar price increases and inventory woes as Portland)  But I can tell you as a Realtor for almost 30 years now in Portland while we have always been known as "pot friendly" and I have always had 3-5 people a year asking me about grow operations this last 12 months or so its coming up all the time!  Oregon has some specific laws on what you can do personally (grow up to four plants) but we have had several real estate sales recently for buyers in the cannabis industry.  You can see the article here...

April Update

by Rob Levy

March Residential Highlights The Portland metro area hada sunny month for new listings this March. At 3,604, new listings outpaced March 2016 (3,409) by 5.7% and February 2017 (2,521) by 43.0%. This was the strongest March for new listings in the area since 2010, when 4,987 were offered for the month.  Pending sales (3,043) warmed 28.5% over last month in February 2017 (2,369) but fell 1.1% short of the 3,076 offers accepted during this month last year in March 2016.  Closed sales, at 2,494, similarly outpaced February 2017 (1,669) by 49.4% but still ended 2.8% cooler than in March 2016 when 2,565 closings were recorded for the month. Total market time decreased by four days this March, ending at 58 days.

Inventory decreased as well, ending at 1.3 months. There were 3,313 active residential listings in the Portland metro area this March.  Average and Median Sale Prices Comparing the average price of homes sold in the twelve months ending March 31st of this year ($404,300) with the average price of homes in the twelve months ending March 2016 ($361,100) shows an increase of 12.0%.  In the same comparison, the median has increased 12.2% from $315,000 to $353,500.

This months chart shows the inventory of available homes in the Portland Metro area dating back to January of 2015. A "balanced" market as defined by HUD and the National Assn Realtors is 5.5-6 months of inventory, and as you can see we are far short of that with only 1.3 months of supply right now.  If you have been considering selling your home, now might be the time to do so.

This months featured home is an amazing estate on the Willamette river in West Linn.  This 4,436 square foot custom built home sits overlooking the river with a huge great room with Brazilian cherry floors, and an incredible gourmet kitchen with a massive island and American cherry cabinets and much more.   There is a formal dining room plus a small master and office on the main floor.  Upper level has the spacious master suite, plus two additional bedrooms and a bonus room too. All bedrooms have their own balconies. This home also sits above a five plus car garage, with a pull through door leading to a boat ramp the river, and has a dock too!  Check it out at http://www.roblevy.com/Property/4993-MAPLETON-DR-West-Linn-17380137

This article in the Oregonian last week talks about even though the Portland area has grown, we have recently been leapfrogged by both San Antonio, Texas and Orlando, Florida in population.  The Portland metro area's population now is over 2.4 million, up 1.7% from last year.  You can read the article here, which has information on other area cities and within the arcticle there is a fascinating link to the US Census bureau statistics which rate fastest growing areas all around the USA.  Its interesting reading!

A Real Estate Boom, Powered by POT!

by Rob Levy

This article in the New York Times recently talks mostly about the boom in Denver (a city with similar price increases and inventory woes as Portland)  But I can tell you as a Realtor for almost 30 years now in Portland while we have always been known as "pot friendly" and I have always had 3-5 people a year asking me about grow operations this last 12 months or so its coming up all the time!  Oregon has some specific laws on what you can do personally (grow up to four plants) but we have had several real estate sales recently for buyers in the cannabis industry.  You can see the article here...

Portland Oregon Real Estate Update April 2017

by Rob Levy

 

March Residential Highlights
The Portland metro area had
a sunny month for new listings
this March. At 3,604, new listings
outpaced March 2016 (3,409) by
5.7% and February 2017 (2,521) by
43.0%. This was the strongest March 
for new listings in the area since 
2010, when 4,987 were offered for
the month.
Pending sales (3,043) warmed
28.5% over last month in February
2017 (2,369) but fell 1.1% short of 
the 3,076 offers accepted during this month last year in March 2016.  Closed sales, at 2,494, similarly
outpaced February 2017 (1,669) by
49.4% but still ended 2.8% cooler
than in March 2016 when 2,565
closings were recorded for the
month.
Total market time decreased by
four days this March, ending at 58
days. Inventory decreased as well,
ending at 1.3 months. There were
3,313 active residential listings in
the Portland metro area this March.
Average and Median Sale Prices
Comparing the average price of
homes sold in the twelve months
ending March 31st of this year
($404,300) with the average price
of homes in the twelve months
ending March 2016 ($361,100)
shows an increase of 12.0%. In the
same comparison, the median has
increased 12.2% from $315,000 to
$353,500.

 

March Residential Highlights The Portland metro area hada sunny month for new listings this March. At 3,604, new listings outpaced March 2016 (3,409) by 5.7% and February 2017 (2,521) by 43.0%. This was the strongest March for new listings in the area since 2010, when 4,987 were offered for the month.  Pending sales (3,043) warmed 28.5% over last month in February 2017 (2,369) but fell 1.1% short of the 3,076 offers accepted during this month last year in March 2016.  Closed sales, at 2,494, similarly outpaced February 2017 (1,669) by 49.4% but still ended 2.8% cooler than in March 2016 when 2,565 closings were recorded for the month. Total market time decreased by four days this March, ending at 58 days.

Inventory decreased as well, ending at 1.3 months. There were 3,313 active residential listings in the Portland metro area this March.  Average and Median Sale Prices Comparing the average price of homes sold in the twelve months ending March 31st of this year ($404,300) with the average price of homes in the twelve months ending March 2016 ($361,100) shows an increase of 12.0%.  In the same comparison, the median has increased 12.2% from $315,000 to $353,500.

This months chart shows the inventory of available homes in the Portland Metro area dating back to January of 2015. A "balanced" market as defined by HUD and the National Assn Realtors is 5.5-6 months of inventory, and as you can see we are far short of that with only 1.3 months of supply right now.  If you have been considering selling your home, now might be the time to do so.

This months featured home is an amazing estate on the Willamette river in West Linn.  This 4,436 square foot custom built home sits overlooking the river with a huge great room with Brazilian cherry floors, and an incredible gourmet kitchen with a massive island and American cherry cabinets and much more.   There is a formal dining room plus a small master and office on the main floor.  Upper level has the spacious master suite, plus two additional bedrooms and a bonus room too. All bedrooms have their own balconies. This home also sits above a five plus car garage, with a pull through door leading to a boat ramp the river, and has a dock too!  Check it out at http://www.roblevy.com/Property/4993-MAPLETON-DR-West-Linn-17380137

Here is a great article from USA Today with a solid 50 things that a home buyer (and also seller who is selling to buy) can and should do to prepare for the exercise.  I can honestly say in my almost 30 years as one of Portland's top selling Realtors that every one of these can trip someone up.  Check out the list on the USA Today site.....  http://usat.ly/2mf2DSl

Search Portland Homes from Your Smartphone!

by Rob Levy

At the Rob Levy team we are proud of our new iPhone and Android APP, and have had many clients download and use the APP.  Surveys show people love the fact they can pull up in front of any house and it shows most of the MLS stats on any house around them.  On the app you can also search homes and save the search, as well as contact us directly.

You can download the iPhone version here.... CLICK HERE

You can download the Android version here....  CLICK HERE

Note, read this newsletter on your phone to download directly onto your phone.  The address 

August Market Update

by Rob Levy

Check out my new chart below, I am now showing average and median sales price changes.  All areas of real estate activity are positive when comparing July 2012 with July 2011. There were 2,372 accepted offers, 23% more than the 1,928 reported in July 2011 although down slightly (-2.6%) from last month. The 1,973 closed sales represent a 15.4% increase over the same month last year, when 1,709 were recorded. This represents the highest numberof closed sales in the month of July since 2009.

New listings rose 7.5% from 2,942 to 3,162 when comparing July 2011 to July 2012 but were down slightly (-1.4%) from the previous month.  Overall real estate activity is positive when comparing July 2012 to the same month last year but down slightly from the previous month. We’ve seen a similar pattern in prior years with activity dropping in July from June highs.The unsold inventory in months ticked up slightly from 3.9 in June to 4.6 in July and is lower than any July since 2006. It would take only 4.6 months to sell the 9,041 active listings at the July rate of sales.

Home sale price measures were all positive in July. The median sales price rose 7.8% when comparing July 2012 with the same month in 2011 and 1.2% when comparing it to the previous month. When comparing the percent change of the last 12 months with the previous 12 months we see a 0.7% gain in the median price.

Short Sales Surpass Bank Sales First Time Ever

by Rob Levy
For the first time ever, according to Bloomberg short sales have surpassed bank owned (REO) sales for the first time ever. It seems banks have come to realize they can make more money on a short sale than going through the entire foreclosure process. (see link to article at http://tinyurl.com/7mt7f82 ) For home sellers this is a good thing because a short sale has a far less detrimental effect on their credit report, making life a lot easier sooner. The Rob Levy Team is well versed in short sales whether representing a buyer or a seller. Much of our business is short sale related, and we have taken many classes to always be up to date on the latest trends in getting the deals through. If you have any questions regarding a short sale - whether that be buying one or selling one - please contact us today!

Portland Listed as Kipplinger "Comeback City"

by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties

As the US comes out of the recession, it seems some areas are doing better than others and Kipplinger this week gave some encouraging news when it picked the top 11 cites in the USA to make a comeback, it listed Portland, Oregon as one of them.   The full article can be READ BY CLICKING HERE

Also good news for the Pacific Northwest is Seattle was also on the list.   The Portland area is prime for a comeback according to Kipplinger due to the investment in clean energy, and the high tech field.  There have been many solar power companies putting facilities here, and Intel (the states largest private employer) announced it is bringing 1000 new jobs too.  These jobs tend to be well paying, and bring in an educated workforce.

Portland's location as a city of about 2.25m people and next to a state of 37m people (California) seems poised for more growth once the economy improves, and this is a great step in the right direction.

Displaying blog entries 31-40 of 136

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