Generally, the RMLS™ statistics for June 2014 follow the prior few months of improvement. The only static figure is low inventory, which has not budged in three months, but for some reason does not seem to have adversely impacted the other trends.
June 2014 Summary
- Closings increased by 4.2% (2,617) over June 2013 (2,511). This was the strongest June for closed sales since 2007 (2,731).
- Pending sales, i.e. accepted offers (2,965), were up 5.7% from June 2013 (2,804); this was down 0.8% from May 2014 (2,989).
- New listings (4,078) were up 8.7% from June 2013 (3,751); this was down 2.7% from May 2014 (4,192).
- There are 7,250 active residential listings in the Portland Metro area.
- Total time on the market dropped to 59 days from 67 days in May, 2014.
- Inventory remains at 2.8 months – the same figure for the past three months.
Year-to-Date Summary
- New listings for the first six months of 2014 (20,248) are up 4.4% compared to the same period in 2013.
- Pending sales (14,705) and closed sales (12,518) are down 0.9% and 0.1% respectively compared to the same period in 2013.
Average and Median Sale Prices
- The average price for the period January – June 2014 is $328,900; this was an increase of 8.7% for the same period in 2013 when it was $302,700.
- The median price for the same period in 2013 increased 8.7% from $257,500 to $280,000 in 2014.
*Inventory in Months is calculated by dividing the Active Residential Listings at the end of the month in question by the number of closed sales for that month. This includes proposed and under construction homes.
Random Thoughts. By almost all measures, the numbers are generally good – except inventory, which remains stubbornly low. There are many theories for why this is – from the banks holding inventory from the market to keep buyer demand high, to the continuing high numbers of foreclosures, which ties homes up in a 12-month queue, while the foreclosure mills struggle to keep pace, and the banks struggle to provide the necessary documents and numbers required for accurate paperwork. The truth could be a little bit of each theory.
An interesting side bar story to the low inventory phenomenon is the effort by some brokers and companies to hoard upcoming listings [i.e. those not yet formally listed through the RMLS™] and then sending out teaser messages with the banner “Coming Soon!” This is ostensibly to gin up excitement and bidding wars. Of course, the practical effect is to also keep the commissions in-house. See my post, Whisper Listings, here. ~PCQ
