There sure is a lot of bad new out there right now and it’s easy to get down and out.  Well overall you need to think “what is happening here.”  What is important to me.  Yes there are 25,000 Vacant Home in Phoenix and Home Values are down 10% or more but that is Phoenix.  No dis-respect to the Valley of the Sun but that was a situation waiting to happen.  They constantly over build and the flat landscape there and easy permitting process makes the development and building process way to easy.  Thousands and thousands of homes have been built and when the slow down hit the inertia was still onward and upward.  Projects continued to build long after home sales cooled there.  But that is there and this is here.

What I call the “Phoenix-Effect” is happening all over the Country in places where easy land use laws and lax controls on growth allow that to happen.  It’s the same case in Las Vegas, Austin, and other big markets.  But the smaller cities where planning has limited growth are much more vibrant and limited im terms of how many units are on the market or can come onto the market at any one time.  METRO, our regional Planning Agency, has made sure that growth is often managed and painfully slow to happen.

So when we talk about growth and new homes coming up in the Portland area we talk about tens of units instead of hundreds.  Therefore this market slow down is less pronounced and will be more short lived as a result.  It is all a supply and demand issue correct?  We have an ample supply of new homes and demand is still pretty good but we sure do not have an oversupply problem.  The Early part of 2008 should clean out the last few straggler homes in most areas and if any sustained sales come about…we could be back to a short supply again.

What has happened now is that Banks have stopped funding new home neighborhoods and spec loans and builders have backed off on new construction.  Where this leaves us is in a situation where the supply is being tightened here quickly and we did not have that much to go with in the first place.  The builders caught up in what appears to be a purely psychological pause in the market are making great deals.  The Buying Opportunity appears to be be upon us.  I recommend purchasing a home in the next 1-4 months if you are planning to do so with the proviso you get a value that reflects the comps occurring this month.  The price per sf has settled down and is in a comfortable range where it seems to be settling in for the holiday run.

If you are looking to bu or sell a home you will want to call Dirk Knudsen and talk through your plans and how you can attack this market and get in on some of these buys.  We provide professional buyers brokerage and all of the tools you need to shop online and be the first to get the best buys.  We also feature an exclusive relationship with the Lendingtree and Costco Real Estate Program that can save you thousands when you buy or sell!  Call 503-799-8383 to find out more about how this works.  It really is a great deal.

Downtown Portland is Booming like Never before.  There are Millions of Square feet of Office and Condo and retail projects in the works and being built now.  A visit to downtown brings the picture into full view.  Hundreds upon Millions of dollars are being spent here now and into the Future and thousands pour in to live and work in what many believe is the Last Great Place…

read this!

Go here to catch the rest of the Story:  http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1183235113180910.xml&coll=7

So Listen Up.  We have great Planners and Planning tools here in the Portland Area.  This stuff works.  And as this region between Seattle and Portland continues to boom and has now been dubbed one of the Top Three regions to Invest into…Region now termed “Cascadia”…you have a great opportunity.  Here is a quote directly form the Portland State Center for Urban Studies 3rd Quarter Report that was just Published:

“Even as we pursue the resources for deferred maintenance of our existing public infrastructure, we face the stark demographic dilemma of how to welcome the estimated one million new neighbors who will be joining us here over the next 25 years. This faster-than-expected population growth will have a transformative effect on our region, making the need for decisive action even more urgent. Not only will our actions, or lack thereof, affect every developer, contractor, lender and broker, they will affect every resident of the metropolitan area.”

They are going into detail here about what is needed but the fact remains…They Are Coming!  What will happen to one of the tightest real estate markets in the Country when these folks get here?  Moreover we are the single best value on the West Coast!  Far less than San Diego, Los Angeles, The Bay area, and Seattle.  And yet we have the #1 rating in many years for “Most Livable”.  It has become cool to have a home or a second home in Portland.  It’s a great place to be for sure. 

The point is that investments here will bear fruit.  A home purchase here is a great idea.  We also have Duplexes, Land, Commercial, and second homes and vacation homes.  This flatneess or correction we are having will no doubt be looked upon as the best buying opportunity during this growth cycle.

If you are one of the Million inbound well I say “welcome”.  Your coming anyway so why not let us help you set down some roots.

Call me anytime at 1-800-715-6939.  I can see you down there in San Francisco, LA, San Diego.  Call me.  Will save a house or two for you!  Best wishes to you.

Oh by the way here is the Link to the Portland State Study.  Enjoy:  http://www.pdx.edu/media/r/e/RE_2007REQuarterly3q.pdf

Dirk

This week I took a look at the market for the Portland West-side. Using the Rmls data for the period of November 1st-November 7th, 2007 I pulled all the data.  Specifically I looked at areas 148,149,150,151,152.  This is NW Portland, NW Washington County (Bethany), Hillsboro, Beaverton, Aloha, Tigard, Tualatin, Forest Grove and Cornelius.  During this one week period we saw some interesting action going on and perhaps some insightful stats.  They are as follows:

New Listings:      173     Average Price  $409,000   Average Price per SF:  $195

Pending Sales:      72     Average Price  $378,000   Average Price per SF:   $185

Sold and Closed    43     Average Price  $405,690   Average Price per SF:  $192

What this shows in that we gained almost no net listings for the week.  This is a good sign.   We saw that the Market has about a 5 month supply given the current rate of Sales.  In fact we do see that the average asking Price is higher by about 1.5% than that of the Average Sale and that pending sales are going down at about 4% below asking Price.

This seems to be a situation where Sellers eventually come down a little or buyers finally make an offer and the seller accepts.  There are homes as low as $125 psf and as high as   $225 psf so these are all averages. The best advise we can give is determine a fair rice for the home based upon a range of value.  Price towards the lower end of this value and you should find a willing buyer.   This is not a buyers or seller’s market at this time.  It is actually a great time to buy in fact.  The Holidays are upon us already and this sales activity is an indicator of a decent market still bubbling under the surface of the Negative Stream of nationwide news out there.

If you in the market be active.  We can find you a decent value!  Call Dirk anytime at 503-799-8383.

Ok.  Bottom line is people are very hot on Bethany, Oregon.  Real Estate in this area is an excellent investment.  Great location with the last really great back road approach to Downtown Portland.  Award Winning Beaverton Schools are another draw as well as plentiful Parks and playgrounds, new homes, Bile Paths, and trails.  Low Washington County Taxes.  No City Taxes.  Right off the Freeway against the backdrop of the Tualatin Mountains.  Intel, Nike, Columbia Sports Wear are all very very close!  Call Dirk Knudsen today to get a market report and talk more about this great area!

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Some of the best Homes ever built near the MAX Light Rail and the 3 Time National Community of the Year, The Orenco Station, are available for purchase now at Orenco Meadows! Builder Pays Custom Homes has done a superb job of bringing together top quality materials and design at this intimate and quiet single family home neighborhood. The remaining homes range from the low $300K range to about $500K. Every home comes with top quality Materials and finishes. Right now the builder is offering some great pricing on a selection of homes with prices reduced up to $60,000. This is subject to change anytime so call Dirk or Todd Knudsen at Re\Max Metro for all of the details.