May's Portland area real estate report

Whoo wee.  Its a wild ride out there!

No question, COVID has had an affect, and has slowed the number of transactions we have.  That being said, from April 2020 to May 2020 we've seen a 20.1% increase in new listings, and a 52.5% increase in pending sales.  Wait, what?  No wonder buyers are having such a hard time getting offers accepted.  Yes, we are solidly back in the land of multiple offers, bidding wars and offers well above list price.

Add to that, a shortened market time, 38 days in May 2020, compared to 44 days in April 2020, and 61 days when compared with year to date stats from 2019.

Oh yes, and the median year to date price has gone up 4.1%, to $415,000, compared to the year to date price from 2019.  For perspective, median price increased 2.5% in all of 2019.

Read the RMLS report.

A few updates on lending: Interest rates remain quite low.  Jumbo loans, often needed on higher priced properties, do still exist.  As you might imagine, due to the rapid onset off COVID restrictions and job losses, lenders are a bit spooked.  We're seeing multiple employment verifications on active loan files (sometimes asking about the borrowers prospects of future employment), and self-employed borrowers are often required to provide audited profit and loss statements.

Forbearance, what originally might have looked like a generous offer from lenders on existing loans, has played out a bit differently.  Most lenders offered to suspend payments for three months, with the balance of those missed payments due at the end of the three months.  Not such a help afterall.  And, anyone with a loan in forebearance, will have trouble getting a new loan.  So...perhaps one might re-finance to take advantage of lower rates and lower one's house payment -  a financially responsible thing to do.  But wait, if you're current loan is in forbearance, you may not be eligible to do so.  If you even called to inquire about forbearance, but didn't sign any papers or complete any process, your loan may have been put in forbearance without you even knowing it.  You might should check.

Similarly,  many student loans were automatically put in forbearance, without the borrower even inquiring.  If so, your payments may not be applied to what would be the current payments.  If you have student loans, log on and check to be are all looks as it should.

This is very clearly, a great time to sell.  If you are thinking of doing so, get in touch.  Its a bit more challenging to be a buyer these days, though I do have some tried and true methods that get offers accepted.

Because of COVID, we are using distancing and other protocols.  Masks, booties, gloves, and hand washing stations all help keep us safe.  I have these supplies on hand.

More COVID-19 influenced thoughts

I last wrote about loan forbearance and kittens.

Since then quite a few folks have talked with their lenders, and gotten forbearance agreements for their mortgage payments.  But...many of the forbearance agreements, in the fine print, require re-payment of the full deferred amount at the end of the forbearance period.  This means, if you defer payments for three months, you'd have to pay those three months' payments after three months.  So unless you'll somehow come by that due balance all at once, I'd think twice before signing such an agreement.  It may still be worth contacting your lender to ask, but do read the fine print.

Currently, real estate activity is still permitted in both Oregon and Washington.  Open houses and brokers open houses are pretty taboo, and our multiple listing service has removed that data field, making it challenging to promote open houses.  This is as it should be.  Most offices have recommended  protocols in place for property showings including cleaning, booties, hand washing and social distancing.  Title companies are continuing to close transactions, and county recording offices are handling electronic recordings.

The City of Portland permit office is closed, so building permits, including those for sewer repair/replacement and radon mitigation systems are not available.  Multnomah County's in-person recording window is closed.  It's a challenge to get repairs completed prior to closing, and moving  companies either aren't working, or are very booked.

It sounds as though some loan programs geared toward first time and low income buyers, may be tightening their lending requirements.  Programs like FHA have traditionally allowed a buyer to have a lower down payment, lower credit score and higher debt level than conventional loans.  While these programs will remain more approachable than conventional loans, they will be requiring buyers to have an amount of financial strength.

A few blogs ago, I talked about ibuyers; Zillow, OpenDoor and others.  These companies can offer an easy button to sell your house quickly when timing or other circumstances make selling via traditional means untenable.  Now seems like a great time to use this service, if, for instance you need to sell for a job relocation, to lessen expenses during the pandemic etc.  Oh, but Zillow isn't buying right now, and I'm not sure about OpenDoor.

Who is working now, (carefully) are Realtors; licensed and doing business here in Portland.  We're taking plenty of precautions, with cleaning and distancing protocols in place.

And kittens!  What about kittens?!  Actually, today I'm thinking about puppies!

The folks at One Tail at a Time will soon have puppies available for adoption.  If a puppy seems like too much work (they are very busy creatures) One Tail at a Time has more mature dogs too.  You just might need a buddy...