What happened in our Portland area real estate market in 2020? What have we seen so far in 2021?
I don’t have a crystal ball and I certainly couldn’t have predicted everything that happened last year. When COVID hit back in March, we thought the sky was falling. There were a record number of sale failures due to so many being too scared to complete their transactions. What’s interesting, though, is that people came back to the market after just a few weeks, and by the time summer came around, it absolutely took off and gained strength as the year progressed. We went from having almost two full months of inventory to less than one in record time.
“We’ve moved on to a new year, but we’re not out of this market quite yet.”
What fueled all this? With the pandemic forcing most people to stay in their houses day after day, many of them became all too aware of the deficiencies in their living situation. Whether they were working from home, their spouse was working from home, or their kids were schooling from home, they realized they needed more space. Conversely, the lockdown also convinced many people that they needed to downsize. There were plenty of people moving in and out of state for various reasons, all of which were caused by the lockdown.
The gasoline on this fire was interest rates. We haven’t seen rates this low since 2010. If you’ve refinanced your home during this time, good for you. If you haven’t and plan on staying in your current home for three to five years, I recommend doing so (let us know if you’re in need of a good lender). Money was so cheap and buyers’ buying power so strong that they started gobbling up inventory, which therein caused prices to rise higher than normal. It’s basic supply and demand.
We’ve moved on to a new year, but we’re not out of this market quite yet. There are still a lot of buyers out there, and in most cases, there isn’t enough inventory to satisfy all of them. It’s a great seller’s market, but whether you’re a buyer or a seller, my advice is the same: Reach out to my team so we can have a strategy session on how to proceed. We look at every situation on a case-by-case basis, and your best course of action depends on where you live, what you’re looking to buy, etc. We want to ensure you have all the facts and information before taking the next step.
In any case, I wish you the best in 2021. Stay tuned for more videos analyzing the state of our Portland market. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to hear from you.
