May 2015 numbers are in for the Portland Metro Area’s real estate activity. Let’s take a look.
While anecdotally May is a month where we expect to see inventory creep up for the spring selling season, this year the inventory dropped for the fifth month in a row: Just 1.7 months. You will recall that a well-balanced market contains about six months of inventory. The market remains an exceptionally strong seller’s market. Some would even say a “frenzied” sellers’ market. As I stated last month as well, if ever there were a time to list your home, the time is undeniably now.
May saw 4,161 new listings come onto the market throughout the metro area, while 3,546 listings went pending and 2,942 listings sold. By the month’s end, there were just 5,125 active listings to choose among in the metro area. Total days on the market dropped to 55 days, compared to 61 days last month, and 75 days in the month before that. There are still a number of “hot” neighborhoods where listings sold in less than a week, if not in a matter of hours.
May 2015 Residential Single Family Real Estate Data*:
| Active Listings | New Listings | Expired Listings | Pending Sales | Closed Sales | Average Sales Price | Total Market Time | |
| N Portland | 154 | 170 | 15 | 147 | 155 | $342,900 | 30 |
| NE Portland | 278 | 350 | 47 | 307 | 266 | $373,000 | 39 |
| SE Portland | 416 | 473 | 57 | 412 | 344 | $334,200 | 39 |
| W Portland | 584 | 457 | 78 | 339 | 320 | $491,000 | 51 |
*Source: RMLS Market Action Report (May 2015)
I look forward to providing an update next month to show what has been happening locally in the month of May. Spoiler alert: the market, and the weather, will be hot, hot, hot.