All of the year to date numbers, that is, comparing April 2017 to April 2016, show slowing. New listings are down 7.9%, pending sales are down 10.0 %, and closed sales are down 15% .
Inventory crawled up a bit, from 1.3 months in March 2017, to 1.7 months in April 2017. April 2016 had 1.4 months of inventory. Remember, this is how long it would take to sell all the properties on the market, at the current rate of sales. The 1.7 months of inventory is still VERY low inventory. We consider a balanced market, when neither buyer nor seller have an advantage, to be around 5 or 6 months. We're a heck of a long way from there!
Prices are still going up; comparing the median price of homes sold in the 12 months ending April 30th 2017, with the median price of homes in the twelve months preceding April 2016, we have seen an increase of 11.6%, Market time is shortening; 42 days on April 2017, down from 58 days in March 2017. Increasing pirces are often attributed to a shortage of inventory.
What are the factors that could be at play? Elliot Njus, at the Oregonian, attributes the slowing to a lack of inventory. But our inventory is a bit higher than last month, and higher than it was last year at this time. Slightly increasing interest rates? Political unrest? Rent stabilization measures by Portland and Milwaukie?
What's to come? We usually see a bit of slowing in the summer, Its so gorgeous here in summer, I feel like a significant percentage of buyers and sellers are vacationing at any given time. I expect that will be the case this summer too. That will mean fewer houses on the market, and fewer buyers looking.
If you have questions about the market, or are thinking of buying or selling, give a call, text or email. leslievjones@gmail.com 503-312-8038.
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