I recently helped clients buy this 3 bd/2.1 ba home in SE Portland . If you’ve been thinking about buying or you need to sell your home give me a call at 503.901.8100. I’m here to help you with any of your real estate needs and I always appreciate your referrals.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Cleaned up and priced to sell. Don’t miss out on this rare retail building on MLK perfect for owner user or lease as an investment property. Adjacent city parking lot and bus line. Closing subject to pending lot division expected to final 8/09. PDC renewal area. mlk client full

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Popularity: 13% [?]

On May 1st, 2009 the Home Valuation Code of Conduct [HVCC] went into effect. This new program sounds like a good idea on first glance but has some serious flaws. FAQ on HVCC guidelines HERE.

Basically it prohibits lenders from choosing an appraiser, they now have to randomly choose from a list or go through a 3rd party clearinghouse. This increases the cost but lowers the amount the appraiser actually gets for their work. It also makes the assumption that most lenders and appraisers are breaking the rules and this simply isn’t true. The biggest problem from my perspective is that it does not take into account the value in having an appraiser that knows the area or the property type. It also doesn’t allow lenders to choose someone with experience. The result of this has been appraisals coming in under value even on purchases where you have two consumers that have agreed on the price! How can anyone say that the market value is anything other than what a buyer and seller agree to? Isn’t that the definition of “market value” what someone is willing to pay on the market?

NAR is fighting to have this overturned but for now we’re stuck with this unfortunate rule.
Detailed article HERE

Popularity: 4% [?]

728 homes were sold in Portland in June, up from 571 in May. I had predicted 600 and this is one of those times I’m happy to be wrong! While not quite up to last years numbers this is a good sign considering where we were at a few months ago. Average sold price continues to hover in the low $300,000’s and inventory continues to fall. These are all factors moving the market closer to a balance again.

Wild cards: FHA increases minimum credit score, First time buyer tax credit expiring December 1st 2009.

I’m predicting around 800 closed sales in Portland (areas 141, 142, 143 & 148) in July, and expect this to be the peak month for 2009. This is now matching last years numbers so pricing will likely stay level until Winter. First time buyers are still the strongest segment in the market and well maintained homes under 275k account for many of the sales.

Sales volume is a leading indicator for price. To help predict where the market is going I publish this sales volume trend report. The wisdom is that price follows volume so when you see a market trending higher in sales, prices will soon follow up and when sales volume is low, prices will stay flat or fall.

portland-sales-volume-071509

Popularity: 4% [?]

Popularity: 4% [?]