Market Update

Q4, 2019: It’s a Good Time to Buy or Sell!

We’ve seen a slow return to a saner housing market in Portland, but that doesn’t mean that everything is normal. Despite a less competitive market than we’ve had in the past, inventory hasn’t gone up a whole lot.

Inventory is definitely still skewed in favor of sellers, but this is nothing new; it’s been this way in Portland for quite some time. If you’re a buyer, lower inventory likely means that you have to decide what’s most important to you and settle in some regard. Even so, it’s easier to be a buyer in Portland than it’s been for the last few years, and there is slightly more inventory than there has been in the past.

With the housing market more stable than it’s been in years, it’s a good time to buy or to sell!

Home Prices

The median sold price for homes in Portland was $410,000 during the fourth quarter of the year, which is down from the $413,400 median price during the third quarter of 2019. We’re still seeing modest home price increases, however, since this is up from $391,000 from the fourth quarter of last year.

But the good news is that the skyrocketing price increases seem to have abated for now. This, combined with exceptionally low mortgage rates, means that buyers still have substantial buying power, even in a market where prices continue to go up.

Days on Market

In good news for buyers, homes are sitting on the market for just a little bit longer than they have been. Currently, homes are on the market for a median of around 24 days. Buyers shouldn’t feel quite as rushed to make an offer on a home, though they should still move briskly if they find the right fit (particularly if it’s on the less-expensive end of the spectrum).

Homes Sold

There were 7,243 homes sold during the fourth of this year, which is down from the busy third quarter at the end of the summer and the beginning of fall. The numbers during the fourth quarter of last year is 6, 795, so we’re up slightly above that this time around. This likely due to the slightly increased inventory I mentioned earlier.

Interest Rates

Many experts predicted much higher interest rates for the end of 2019 than we’re currently seeing. Some really nice rate drops are giving buyers the ability to purchase more expensive homes. This is especially helpful in markets like ours.

Interest rates as mid-January rates have been since 2013! The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed is 3.65%. At this time last year, that was 4.45 %. That makes a large difference in monthly payments, helping people purchase more expensive homes for less money.

Ready to Buy or Sell?

Buying or selling in a market like ours comes with plenty of good and bad for both buyers and sellers. If you’re wanting to buy or sell in the near future, give me a call! I’ll be happy to sit down with you and help you come up with a plan for either selling quickly or for finding the home of your dreams.

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Words of Praise

My wife and I recently had Marika Feibel do a comp check for our house in SE Ladd’s Addition and were very satisfied with her help and assistance during the process. Marika is a great communicator and helped walk us through the process in a way that was very easy to follow and understand. The comp check that she ran came in very close to the appraiser’s value and we left feeling good about the agreed-upon sale price. Marika was also the real estate agent that helped us find the house back in 2010 and we’ve also selected her to help us with the sale of our condominium on SW Jefferson St. We would highly recommend her to anyone.

Tony Tranquilli

Marika has worked with our family on several projects. In each instance, she has demonstrated that she is Professional, Knowledgeable, and Competent. She has the ability to communicate in a clear and concise manner addressing all of our concerns. The very first time that I was able to work with Marika she was assisting our family with a difficult situation. Her guidance and direction were key to bringing about a quick and positive resolution for our family. The most recent instance involved providing research and guidance concerning the selling of our family home, her input allowed us to understand what we should expect for our property and what to expect from the process ahead of the family. I do not and would not hesitate to use Marika Feibel as my Principal Broker.

John Mikkelson

I highly recommend Marika and her team. We had an aggressive time frame in which to sell our home and Marika and her team absolutely crushed it! From market analysis to open houses and everything in between, Marika was a true professional and always available to communicate via our preferred medium. We will look to her for our future real estate needs.

Desiree Inaudi

Marika came to us as a reference from a close friend who moved to Portland from the LA area late last year. Being in a similar circumstance to him (eg. No strong connections to the area, no idea as to reputability, first-time home buyers), we were grateful for the reference for someone he obviously trusted impeccably. Any and all expectations/preconceptions we had were entirely blown away. Marika was a paragon of professionality. She remained patient, amiable, flexible and always smiling despite the grueling amount of properties and questions we threw at her. She even took the time to scout out potential listings up to 3 months before our big listing visit days to better direct our focus and optimize yield for a limited time frame. When we finally found a property, Marika held our hand each step of the way: from offering to escrow. She was there during the inspection, and there for the assessment. She was always there for us and our future home.

Finding a home can feel like a pitched battle. Everything has weight. Everything is time sensitive, urgent, and profound. It’s easy to stress out to the point of shutting down. Had it not been for Marika’s organizational skills, advice, and guidance, my wife and I honestly don’t know how we would have found our way through this process.

So, with all of that being said, I would recommend Marika without hesitation to any and all potential clients. She really made it a good experience.

Eric Schub

I highly recommend Marika and her team. We had an aggressive time frame in which to sell our home and Marika Feibel absolutely crushed it! From market analysis to open houses and everything in between, Marika was a true professional and always available to communicate via our preferred medium. We will definitely look to her for our future real estate needs.

Steve Inaudi

During the summer and early fall of 2017, Marika was my real estate agent for the sale and also purchase of a house in Portland. What impressed me the most about Marika is that she was very responsive and available when needed or a question came up. Marika’s list pricing strategy was wise and resulted in many over asking offers. Marika was on site and arranged many of the details needed to get our house sold. She is efficient and keeps the ball moving forward and remains calm and professional throughout the entire process. Marika did a great job keeping me informed about the details and what to expect next. I would not hesitate to use Marika’s services again.