Windermere Economist: Portland homes selling in less than a month in Q3

Homes in Multnomah and Washington Counties on the market less than 30 days

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Nov 12, 2015, 09:00 ET

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SEATTLE, Nov. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Matthew Gardner, Windermere Real Estate Chief Economist, found Portland homes were on the market an average for just 27 days in the third quarter of 2015. This represents a drop in 10 days from the second quarter. Multnomah and Washington Counties also saw homes sell in less than a month.

"The average time it took to sell a home in the region was 92 days, with the Portland market in particular dropping from 37 to 27 days. This shows that the hot Portland economy is causing the demand to keep supply flying off the shelves," said Gardner. He added one caveat, "There was a decline in state employment in September and the unemployment rate did rise, but I do not see this as a trend so much as a temporary blip."

Looking at how the situation compares to the same time last year, the supply shortage drove home prices 6.1 percent higher year-over-year to $309,565. "What's more impressive, sales activity rose by 21.6 percent when compared to the third quarter of 2014, exceeding the 20.9 percent year-over-year growth rate that we saw in the second quarter," said Gardner.

As a result, Gardner believes that the housing market has tipped even further in favor of sellers. For Portland area buyers, this means it's more important than ever to do the prep work to be able to move fast when buyers find a home they wish to buy:

Get pre-approved for a mortgage in advance (unless making an all-cash offer), and be ready to document the funds to be used for a down payment.
Retain an experienced buyer's agent, who knows the local area and whom you trust. Go with them to see properties within 24-48 hours of listing.
Have advance discussions on what to write into offers: escalation clauses, quickness of home inspection, and even offering to rent the home back to the seller after the sale to give them more time to move. If the buyers and their agent have already confirmed those decisions, they can move faster in writing up the offer when the time comes.

Matthew Gardner joined Windermere Real Estate in July 2015 as its national Chief Economist with over 25 years of professional experience both in the U.S. and U.K. Gardner has watched the Oregon economy and housing market for his entire career, specializing in residential market analysis, commercial/industrial market analysis, financial analysis, and land use and regional economics.

To read more from the third quarter Gardner Report and about Matthew Gardner, visit http://www.windermere.com/blogs/.

About Windermere Real Estate

Windermere Real Estate is ranked the largest regional real estate company in the Western U.S. with over 300 offices and 7,000 agents serving communities in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Mexico. Last year, Windermere closed over 77,000 sides for more than $27 billion in dollar volume. The Windermere family has a proud heritage of serving our neighbors via the Windermere Foundation, which funds services for low-income and homeless families. Since 1989, the Windermere Foundation has contributed more than 30 million dollars towards improving lives in the communities where we live and work. For more information, visit www.windermere.com.