Properties Appreciating In The Portland Metro Area
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5/24/2007
Here is a great article written by the Associated Press regarding the Portland metro housing market:
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - 12/27/06, 6:07 P.M.
PORTLAND REAL ESTATE PRICES BUCK NATIONAL TREND
By Tim Fought
(AP) — PORTLAND, Ore. — While residential real estate prices have turned south in much of the United States, Portland's housing stock continues to appreciate, and by double-digit percentages.
Why? Young families looking for hip, yet livable, places. Retirees following their kids around. Wads of cash inherited from the World War II generation. Tight supplies caused by the planning and zoning restrictions that lead to "livability." Easy terms for even first-time buyers. Relatively higher prices next door in California.
Explanations from those in the real estate business are abundant, which itself may help to explain the continued rise in prices.
The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index for 20 major markets in the United States released on Tuesday showed homes in Portland, along with its bigger Pacific Northwest neighbor Seattle, posting strong gains, 13.2 percent in Portland, 14.1 in Seattle.
The average among the 20 cities, measuring annual rates through October, was 2.9 percent, and six markets showed declines, including markets as diverse as San Diego and Detroit.
Native Portlanders may be shocked at the valuations on their houses, but the surprise among people looking at the market from the outside is how cheap it is, said real estate agent Charles Turner.
"One of the prime reasons is still California," he said. "The difference between what their dollar buys down there and what their dollar buys up here is huge." That attracts not only buyers, such as retirees, looking to "cash out" of pricey homes in California, but also comparison shoppers in the rest of the country looking all along the West Coast.
Portland's reputation — heavy on brew pubs, bicycling, high tech, outdoor recreation — attracts young people.
A 2004 study, titled "The Young and the Restless," by two economic consultants identified Portland as among half a dozen U.S. cities gaining population among young people 25 to 34 years old, key to building high tech and "knowledge-based" businesses.
"I think one word: hip," said broker Francine Corriere. "I really think our Gen Yers want hip."
But they want hip on traditional terms, she said.
Coming out of college, grad school or house-sharing with other young people, man
Kim | Bethany, OR