About the Milwaukie, Clackamas / Happy Valley and SE Portland Real Estate Market 

Portland Metro Real Estate Market: January 2007

Now that 2007 is upon us, we would like to make some comments with regard to the Portland Metropolitan real estate market and what to look forward to this coming year.

First of all, it makes good press to talk about the "real estate bubble" and the national real estate market:

Let it be known that there is no national real estate market. There are regional and local real estate markets which behave in accordance to regional and local economic conditions, pricing structure, and affordability.

The Portland Metro area and the state of Oregon are governed by state and local land use laws that govern and control the availability of land for development. No other state or metro area in the country has land use laws, as ours, that regulate development or available land. (Portland and Seattle were the only major metropolitan markets on the west coast that gained ground in property appreciation in 2006.)

The average sale price in 2006 for the Portland metro real estate market was $332,600 vs. 282,900 a year ago at this time. The median price by year's end was $270,500.

At the end of December there were 9,569 active residential listings in the Portland metro area. Given the month's rate of sales these listings would last approximately 4.5 months if no other homes were listed between now and then.

Average market time for the Portland metro area in December of 2006 is 55 days as compared to 41 days for December of 2005.

All of this is great news for home buyers. For one, there're more homes to choose from and they won't have to worry too much about getting into a bidding war as we have seen in recent years.

Sellers have finally recognized that they won't be able to demand a premium price unless they are one of the best homes in their neighborhood.

Here are average and median sale prices measured over the past 12 months, as well as appreciation:

Area	YTD Average Sale Price	YTD Median Sale Price	12-Month Appreciation
Lake Oswego / West Linn	$528,100	$443,800	16.7%
West Portland	$452,300	$378,100	10.3%
NW Washington County	$397,600	$359,000	7.6%
Tigard/Tualatin/Sherwood/Wilsonville	$356,400	$322,000	8.6%
Milwaukie / Clackamas	$353,100	$307,200	20.3%
Oregon City / Canby	$326,200	$286,000	15.6%
Northeast Portland	$302,500	$265,000	15.4%
Beaverton / Aloha	$277,800	$251,000	12.7%
Hillsboro / Forest Grove	$282,300	$260,000	15.9%
Southeast Portland	$266,700	$234,500	15.8%
Gresham / Troutdale	$265,200	$248,000	15.2%
Yamhill County	$264,700	$229,900	18.3%
North Portland	$245,400	$235,500	17.5%
Columbia County	$227,900	$219,800	14.5%

Request our Free Relocation Package. Full of maps, school reports, and local information, this will give you valuable information on the Portland area before you start your home search. Remember: we'll send it to you for free and without obligation.

Which neighborhoods offer the best values? What is the outlook for 2007? Ask us any question, or request our FREE relocation package. There's no obligation, and we promise to respond quickly...