Residential Highlights For March

Market Activity in the Portland Metro Area seems to have slowed down when comparing March 2007 with March 2006. New listings increased nearly 24% in the past month, while accepted and closed sales dropped by 9.7% and .8% respectively. The 10,557 active residential listings at the end of March would last approximately 3.8 months at the month’s rate of sales.

First Quarter/Year-to-Date
When comparing market activity through March 2007 to the same time in 2006, the first quarter appears to be off to a slow start. The number of closed sales decreased 6.2%. Pending sales also dropped 4.8%. However, new listings have jumped 20.3%.

Appreciation
To c a l c u l a t e s a l e p r i c e appreciation, the average and median sale prices for the twelve months that ended with March 2007 are compared to the prices for the twelve months ending in March 2006. Using those time periods, the average sale price appreciated 12.2% ($327,800 v. $292,100). Using the same date range to compare median sale price we see a 12.4% appreciation rate ($275,500 v. $245,000).