The median sales price for homes that sold within Portland’s city limits in the first half of July is $254,000.  Roughly thirty homes sold for 500k or more, and only a single home sold for more than a million dollars. Northeast Portland’s 97211 zip code is on track to record the highest number of sales for the month, followed by 97206 and 97219.

Banks unloaded 35 homes (or 15% of the sold inventory), exceeding the number of short sales, which came in at 20 – so far.

Here are the details for selected Portland home sales that occurred in the first half of July, 2010:

• 6133 NE 9TH AVE sold for $128,500.  This is a 1,000 SQFT home with 2-bedrooms located in NE Portland, just around the corner from a Safeway and other useful amenities. Not a bad set up for a rental at that price. The seller made several attempts to sell the property as far back as 2005, pricing it in the 200s. The bank took over in late ‘09. Click here for details.

• 4215 SE 28TH AVE sold for $244,900. You don’t often see a 4-bedroom home in good condition this close-in sell at that price.  Not surprisingly this one barely lasted a week on the market and sold at full price. Click here for details.

• 3405 SW 10TH AVE sold for $242,500. Located less than 500 feet from OHSU, this 4-bedroom home is going to make a nice little rental for its new owner. Click here for details.

• 5825 SE 21ST AVE sold for $370,000. This is a 3-bed, move-in ready home in a neighborhood, where the median sales price is above 400k. Sold within a week. Click here for details.

• 2211 NW RAMSEY DR. This is what a million-dollar home in Portland looks like. Sold for 200k less than asking price at $1.1M. Located in Portland’s NW Hills on almost 1 acre of land.Click here for details.

All links are good thru 8/5. Contact me for more info.

The number of condos that sold in Portland’s city center increased dramatically during the second quarter, as buyers scrambled to meet the deadline for the federal government’s tax credit. Roughly 270 condos sold in the downtown, NW, Pearl District and South Waterfront neighborhoods, essentially doubling the volume for the previous quarter. Sales came in substantially higher than the twelve month average in April, May and June.

Sales volume was also significantly impacted by a number of auctions, notably at the John Ross. Some 45 units were auctioned off at this South Waterfront development in April, and subsequently closed before the quarter end. Sales were also high at neighboring Atwater Place, where a record 16 units closed during the second quarter. Other notables include the Meriwther (9 closings), McCormick Pier (8) and the Harrison (8).

Downtown Re-Sale Condo Inventory Back To Normal Levels

Inventory levels, which had begun to climb at the outset of the year retreated to below 10 months.  Would-be sellers wary of a double dip appear to be holding off at this point, thus keeping inventory at levels not seen since Portland’s housing market bubble burst in late 2007. Bear in mind, these numbers largely reflect re-sale inventory. Several new construction projects still have 40-50% vacancies (e.g. Atwater, John Ross).

In the Pearl District condo re-sale inventory remains high at the Bridgeport (13 listings), Marshal Wells (11) and the Elizabeth (9).  Roughly 25 downtown Portland condos for sale are now bank-owned, and more than 65 units are listed as short-sales. The latter has been on the rise at several Pearl District condo developments such as the Pinnacle and the Elizabeth.

Condo Pricing Continues Downward Trend

Portland’s downtown condo prices had ticked upward at the beginning of the year, but appear to be continuing on a downward trajectory as we head into the third quarter. Median price points (twelve-month rolling average) in Q2/2010 remained around 270k, about where they were in the last quarter of 2009 and roughly 12% below where they were a year ago.

Once again, the John Ross Auction contributed to lower overall price points as a result of a number of sales in the 160k range. Other entry level contributors include the Empress Condos (starting at $55,000) as well as Hamilton Arms and Cardinell View Lofts. Entry-level does not necessarily mean small; the majority of condos that sold during the second quarter were larger than 1,000 SQFT, but only 7% of all sales were in the +2,000 SQFT category. Banks unloaded 36 downtown condos during the second quarter, equaling roughly 12% of all sales that occurred during this time, significantly less than during the first quarter.

According to a recent New York Times article, more luxury bank owned homes are expected to hit Portland’s real estate market – along with other housing markets throughout the nation. The report, which is based on CoreLogic Data, shows that:

More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent [...] By contrast, homeowners with less lavish housing are much more likely to keep writing checks to their lender. About one in 12 mortgages below the million-dollar mark is delinquent.

The chart below shows the delinquency rate for mortgages in excess of $1M compared to those below $1M. Homeowners (and investors in particular) with large loans have stopped paying their mortgages at a rate that is almost twice as high as those with sub $1M loans.

Luxury Homes Sales In Portland Up 22%

Almost 500 homes in the Portland-metro- area sold for more than 500k in the second quarter of this year. That’s about 100 more than during the second quarter of 2009. Roughly 7% of these homes were owned by banks. That number is expected to rise as we head into the third quarter. Here’s a snapshot of some of the bank-owned luxury home sales that went down in Q2/2010:

• 2434 SW 17TH AVE sold for $1.2M. This 4-bed/4-bath 1909 home in Portland’ s Southwest Hills sold for 200k less than asking price. The previous owner paid $1.7M for it in mid 2006. Click here for details.

• 3820 SOUTHSHORE BLVD sold for 900k. After more than two years on the market this 5,000 SQFT home in Lake Oswego’s South Shore neighborhood sold for 700k less than the original list price. Click here for details.

• 23200 SW STAFFORD RD sold for 975k. This Stafford View Estates home on five and a half acres had been on the market since Feb 2009. The price was recently adjusted 150k downward. Two days later a deal was struck at 50k below asking price. Click here for details.

Roughly 50 Bank Owned Luxury Homes Currently For Sale

Fifty homes with a price tag greater than 500k are currently listed for sale in the Portland-metro area. Only half a dozen are actually priced above $1M., most are located in the Tualatin-Sherwood-Lake Oswego corridor.

Click on the button below to find our more about the top 10 bank-owned homes (by price):

(Top Ten)

This new condominium neighborhood located near Delta Park and Jantzen Beach consists of four buildings, each with 36 units. Only the units located in Building 1 will be available at the upcoming auction.

Arguably Portland’s most poorly timed condo project, this one failed to attract any interest from buyers at all. With no time to lose, sales efforts have been taken to the next level off the bat at what is now billed as “The Grand Opening Auction”.

Here’s a breakdown of what will be available at auction:

Plan A is a one bedroom with den and one bath, approximately 768 square feet with minimum bid of $99,000.  Plans B, C, D are 2 bedroom+ den and two baths.  Plan B is approximately 989 square feet with min. bid of $139,000.  Plan C is approximately 1,109 square feet with min. bid of $149,000 and Plan D is approximately 1,258 square feet with min. bid of $179,000.

All units are single level with balcony, nine foot ceilings, vaulted ceilings in selected plans, hardwood floor in entry and kitchen, state of the art appliances, granite countertops and stylish cabinetry.  North Harbour Vista homes offer standard high-tech conveniences including a keyed entry system, intercom system with foyer entrance and are pre-wired for phone, data lines and cable TV hook-ups.

The auction commences at 4 PM and will be held at the Red Lion Hotel On The River at Jantzen Beach, Portland, OR. Registration is required, broker participation encouraged. Find out more about the auction here, or drop me a note to learn more about other home sale auctions in Portland.

That conflict of interest is likely to remain, however, some of the tension has been taken out of the process as a result of the federal government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives, or HAFA, program. HAFA, which went into effect on Apr 5 and is expected to last through the end of the year, establishes streamlined short sale rules and incentivizes borrowers and lenders to work together to speed up the short sale process and avoid foreclosure.

Key Changes To The Short Sale Process

Lenders now must offer a short sale in writing to the borrower within 30 days if the borrower does not qualify for or complete a loan modification. Borrowers then must respond within 14 days to the lender’s short sale agreement.

Borrowers receive pre-approved short sale terms from the lender prior to putting the home on the market.

HAFA’s Impact On Portland’s Real Estate Market

Not all lenders are required to participate in the HAFA program. As a result, some areas will see a greater impact through HAFA than others. It’s probably still too early to confirm the impact HAFA has on Portland’s real estate market, however, closed short sales as a percentage of all transactions over the last three months are up from late last year, and although this is only anecdotal, my own experience with recent short sale deals would certainly seem to suggest things are moving along faster.

Current Short Sale Deals

Not every listing in Portland that is billed as a short sale, actually has a chance of closing under HAFA’s terms or any lender’s terms for that matter. It pays to have some insight into the lender’s practices when dealing with a short sale – as a buyer or seller. Here’s a shortlist of short sales (no pun intended) in the city of Portland that are priced and well and are on track to move along quickly:

Interested in more short sales? Drop me a note!

Owning a vacant home can be a costly endeavor. In the absence of rental income, owner’s of vacant homes must meet monthly payments  for mortgage, taxes, HOAs etc. out of pocket. As the financial pressure mounts, seller’s become increasingly motivated.

Vacant Homes With Significant Price Reductions (vs. Previous Week)

Prices were once again adjusted downward for a number of vacant homes for sale in Portland last week. Here’s a short list:

• Council Crest, 4-bed/2-bath home on 0.65 a acres. The asking price has been on a downward trend ever since this home was put on the market more than a year ago for 935k. Last week the price was reduced another 50k, bringing it down to 695k. Click here for details.

• Renovated contemporary home in Kings Heights, 2850 SQFT, 3-bed/3.1 baths.  This house has been on the market since 4/2009 and recently went under contract. Buyer then backed out. It’s back on the market with a 35k price adjustment at 689k. Click here for details.

• New construction home in Mississippi area. This 4-bed/3.1-bath home was listed at 340k just last week. The seller is now asking for 300k. Click here for details.

• Starter home in close-in Boise-Eliot neighborhood. After three months on the market and several price adjustments, the seller reduced the price again by 5% for this 3-bed home now listed at 275k. Click here for details.

• Hollywood/Rose City home most recently priced at 269k, now available at 249k. This is a 2,000 SQFT detached home near Trader Joe’s, 24hr Fitness and Whole Foods. Click here for details.

Interested in learning more about vacant homes for sale in Portland? Drop me a note.

Current pending home sales appear to be confirming the downward trend; for the week 119 homes went pending v.s. 150 for the previous week.

Southeast and West Portland/Raleigh Hills are on track to sell the most homes within the city limits for the week.

Here are the details for selected Portland home sales over the last week:

• John Ross Condo, unit 1902 sold for $158,000 or roughly half of what the original owner paid for it in 2007. This bank-owned studio loft, facing NW sold for less $/SQFT than any of the comparable units that were auctioned off in April. Click here for details.

• Starter home on a 0.1 acre lot in Burlingame sold for $183,000. This 2-bedrm home with a bonus room in the basement was originally priced at 299k. Click here for details.

• Civic Condo, unit 1502 sold for $260/SQFT. After more than a year on the market, this corner unit was re-listed by its new owner (the bank) and sold above asking price. Click here for details.

• Alberta Arts craftsman home at 5311 NE 18TH AVE sold for $346,900 after just six days on the market. Click here for details.

• Historic Victorian in NW Portland sold for 75k less than asking price. Click here for details.

More than 80 homes sold in the 200-300k segment, an additional 60 homes sold for less than 200k. Both numbers suggest that first-time home-buyers continue to account for the bulk of home sales in Portland. Less than 7% of all the homes that sold over the last week within Portland’s city limits went for 500k or more.

Here are the details for selected Portland home sales over the last week:

• Bank-owned, 3-bed/2-bath at 9124 NE GLISAN ST sold for $90,000. This fixer near Multnomah College had originally been priced at 132k.  Click here for details.

• Laurelhurst 2615 SQFt home at 3052 NE PACIFIC ST sold for $360,000. This 3-bedroom home was on the market for less than 2 weeks before selling at a 5k discount over asking price. Click here for details.

• After 50 days on the market, 1923 N WATTS ST sold for 265k. This is a four bedroom home near Kenton Park. Click here for details.

• Unit 606 at the Marshall Wells Lofts sold for $339/SQFT or $372,000. On the market for less than a week, this Pearl District condo sold at full price. Click here for details.

• The deal closed at 9936 NW SKYVIEW DR for $58,000 less than asking price. This 4-bed/4-bath Skyline home sold for 785k after having been on and off the market for more than 2 years. Click here for details.