Price Appreciation in Portland’s Pearl District?
There are several sources that suggest condos in Portland’s Pearl District (along with other PDX sub-markets) are still appreciating. These statements aren’t necessarily false. Year-to-date the Pearl District experienced a substantial amount of new construction sales, particularly in the high-end category courtesy of The Casey, The Metropolitan or The Waterfront Pearl – all of which have driven up median prices for the Pearl District as a whole. Compare these median prices to the same period in 07 and you will indeed find that median prices have gone up.
Eliminate the high end, new construction category and focus only on re-sale in the < $1 million category and you get a different picture. Whereas median prices in the Pearl District as a whole increased by 8% (year-to-date 07 vs. year-to-date 08), the median price in the re-sale, sub $1 million market suffered a double digit decrease.
To get a sense for values, it generally makes more sense to compare prices per sq. ft. As you can see, there is less ambiguity from this point of view.
