How Can You Make the Most of the Portland Market?

There are many great Portland area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home,click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (503) 427-9233 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.
Today, Stellar Realty's principal broker is here to give us an update on the Portland market!

Right now, the market is great! We're very lucky here in Portland, as we're on a list of the 13 best places to move to! Last year, Portland and the surrounding areas gained about 7% in the real estate market, and prices are predicted to continue rising for at least the next three years. During their current ascent, average home sales have risen from $311,000 to $333,000.

Another thing we've noticed is that inventory has been quite low, it's currently only at 3.5 months! Homes that are priced well and in great condition are being snatched up incredibly fast, which has been very frustrating for some of the buyers we're working with. Despite the difficult conditions, buyers are still trying to submit lowball offers, and while that worked four or five years ago, no one is having much luck with conditions the way they are. Homes are disappearing before we have time to look at them and write a proper offer. 

Sellers currently have the upper hand. The most important thing for them to decide is whether they want to get top dollar for their home by making some repairs or put it on the market right away and see what they can get for it. Either way, you should be able to get buyers to pay a fair price for your home. You need to ask yourself where you're looking to go after the move - do you want to upgrade or downsize? Here at Stellar, we have the experience and expertise to help you make your decision an informed one! 

If you have any questions about the Portland area market, or if you would like our assistance in any way, please don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to hear from you! 

Is the Winter a Good Time to Sell a Home?

There are many great Portland area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (503) 427-9233 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Is the Winter a Good Time to Sell a Home?

Today we are here to answer the question to whether or not you should still continue to list your house during the winter season. We actually think it is a great idea to list your home during the winter season, although conventional wisdom might tell you otherwise. 

The big advantage to selling in the winter is that buyers are more serious at this time of year. Let's be honest, if you are looking for a home in the cold winter weather during the holidays, you are going to be serious about buying a home.  In our experience, buyers are definitely more serious during this time of year.

If you have any questions for us at all, give us a call or send us an email. See you next time!

Portland Real Estate Market Update for Summer 2014

There are many great Portland area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (503) 427-9233 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Portland Real Estate Market Update for Summer 2014

There is so much going on in the Portland real estate market right now.It's been so crazy that we haven't had time to update you with a video in quite some time. We're back now and decided that now is a great time to catch you up to speed on what's going on in Portland real estate. 

We have been getting some panicky messages from sellers who have heard that the market has cooled off. That is not necessarily the case. According to the Case Shiller Home Price Index, while appreciation and home prices have slowed, they are still appreciating in value, both nationally and locally. We can't have 12% appreciation every single year, so this is not the end of the world.

Most economists realize that inventory plays a big part in this market trend. When we talk about "months of inventory" we are referring to how many months it would take to sell the current inventory assuming nothing new comes on the market. So, for example, if we have 6 months of inventory, that means we have the same number of homes coming off the market as there are going on it. In some of our local areas in Portland, the inventory we have is 45 days or less. This has forced buyers to back off of their home search for a while due to limited choice. This is having an effect on how fast our market is appreciating.

Right now is an amazing time to sell. We have just realized double digit appreciation in most of our local markets and interest rates continue to be at historic lows. Neither of these things may continue in the near future. New construction will start increasing as the economy grows, and we'll be competing with brand new homes and new properties on the market. If you want to figure out what your home is worth, we can give you an instant  valuation right here on our site, or you can give us a call and we can give you a free, no obligation detailed home valuation.