Sales Prices are Up!

Sales prices are up! Who Knew?

So it is only a 1% increase in price comparing August of 2010 with August of 2009, but an increase is an increase right? Comparing July to August of this year we also saw an increase in the sales price of homes in the Portland Metro Area. Again, the increase was small but the average sales price went from $297,000 to $299,300. Baby steps!

If we are seeing these increases then why does the news keep talking about the gloom and doom of the real estate world? While prices are up, the number of houses actually changing hands and closing is down. Way down. When comparing August of 2010 and August of 2009 we have 25% less sales and an increase of inventory that would last us 11 months! That is the down side.

To recap: prices are up, sales are down. That sounds like something straight out of my Econ 101 class in college. I didn't like econ then and I don't like econ now. Let me try to translate this. If you are selling or buying you can expect prices to be about the same as they were a year ago or maybe a little bit more but sellers are facing a lot more competition so houses need to be impeccable or priced correctly for any blemishes....

Call or email with questions about this latest information that just came out this week.

Jen and Cindy