We’re a quarter of the way through 2024 (I know, right?) so let’s pretend we’re on Wall Street and take a quick look at our Q1 numbers:
What you’re looking at: on Portland’s west side, 2,444 new listings came on market in the first three months of this year. This is a 7% increase over last year, which is a welcome development. Last year was pretty, pretty bad for new inventory, as the recency of the interest rate hikes was keeping sellers from selling their houses. We’ve now had some time to get used to those six or seven (sometimes eight) percent interest rates, and things seem to be stabilizing. It may still be a far cry from where these levels were prior to 2023, but still– glass half full.
When looking at the last 13 months, we’re seeing things happen the way they’re supposed to happen. Listings and sales start to pick up coming out of the winter freeze, which they’re doing now. Pending transactions– which are a great way of looking at recent activity, since they tell us in real time how many houses are finding buyers– were 9% higher in March 2024 vs the prior year.
In other words, compared to 2023 more houses are coming on market and more houses are finding buyers. The real test though is at what price?
Prices are holding up. While March 2024 came in just slightly ahead of the previous year, the first quarter as a whole was 3% higher than 2023’s Q1. We also saw something this March that we hadn’t seen since last summer: the median sale price was higher than the median list price (by a whopping .7%). When a house sells over its list price, it generally means that there was more competition for it, which is another sign of a healthy market.
Listings slightly up. Pending transactions slightly up. Prices steady. There’s now been time to adjust to what might be the new normal of interest rates with a seven in front (give or take), and guess what? The sky hasn’t fallen.
