875 homes were sold in Portland in May, up from 793 in April. I had predicted 900 sales and almost hit the bulls-eye. I estimate that about 30% of closings were due to the tax credit.

Wild cards: Big dip in pending sales in May and June will mean a delayed Summer sales peak. Foreclosure numbers have gone up and shadow inventory appears to be holding at a 2 homes owned by banks to every 1 on the market.

I’m predicting around 700 closed sales in Portland (RMLS areas 141, 142, 143 & 148) in June. Watch for a large increase in new homes on the market all spring and rising activity through the summer.

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. PORTLAND sales volume 070110