March Residential Highlights
While sales activity was down in March 2011 compared with March 2010, activity increased compared to the previous month of February 2011. Additionally, inventory in the Portland metro region was 0.7 months lower than March 2010, reaching the lowest inventory level for the area since May 2010. Closed sales were down 10.2% in March 2011 compared to March 2010. Pending sales were down 16.2%, and new listings dropped 38.7%. See residential highlights table below. Comparing February 2011 with March 2011, closed sales jumped from 1,074 to 1,615 (50.4%). Pending sales also increased from 1,592 to 2,014 (26.5%). New listings grew from 2,883 to 3,056 (6%). At the month’s rate of sales, the 11,458 active residential listings would last about 7.1 months.
Sale Prices
Average sale price for March 2011 declined 6.8% compared to March 2010. Median sale price also fell 10%. See residential highlights table below. Month to month, comparing February 2011 to March 2011, sale prices increased. Average sale price went up from $244,500 to $261,100 (6.8%) while median sale price also increased from $213,700 to $215,000 (0.6%).
First Quarter Report
Comparing the first quarter of 2011 with the same period in 2010, sales activity was down. Closed sales decreased by 1.5% (3,834 v. 3,892). Pending sales went down by 11.9% (4,915 v. 5,576), and new listings fell 29.8% (9,172 v. 13,072). Additionally, the average sale price fell 9.2% ($252,800 v. $278,300), and the median sale price dropped 9.5% ($215,000 v. $237,500).