Sales Hit a New High

689 homes were sold in Portland in June, up from 624 in May. I had predicted 700 sales.

Wild cards: Inventory has hit a new low point at the same time sales hit a high point. This will continue to drive inventory down which could mean price increases. The close in market under $300,000 is really moving and we’re seeing multiple offers in the first few days again. This is one of the first years without government incentives and is showing a more normal seasonal peak in Summer.
I’m predicting around 700 closed sales in Portland (RMLS areas 141, 142, 143 & 148) in July. Seasonally speaking, average prices generally start to drop after the summer peak, bottoming out in winter.

Sales volume is a leading indicator for price. To help predict where the market is going I publish this sales volume trend report. The wisdom is that price follows volume so when you see a market trending higher in sales, prices will soon follow up and when sales volume is low, prices will stay flat or fall.