“Mortgage rates should trend lower throughout the year as inflation pressures ease and the Fed begins to cut short-term interest rates.”  – Greg McBride, Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst

The Fed has indicated that it may start cutting the federal funds rate this year, which would remove a lot of upward pressure off of mortgage rates and allow them to fall more substantially. But inflation has remained higher than expected in recent months, so we might have to wait until the fall for a Fed rate cut. This means mortgage rates will likely remain elevated in the near term.

“More supply is clearly needed.”  – Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at the National Association of Realtors

Low home inventory is a chronic problem in the U.S. This has generally kept home prices up, even as mortgage rates peaked near 8% and home-buying demand plummeted last year. Demand may increase this year as rates go down in the second half of 2024, so even if home prices were to drop in 2024, they likely wouldn’t fall enough to significantly improve affordability on their own.

Oregon Housing Market Trends

Oregon is the country’s 27th most populous state. Also, it has a strong economy. As a result, the demand for housing has increased over the years.

In addition, Oregon has some of the country’s highest property taxes. Therefore, owning a home is costly.

Here’s more information to understand the Oregon housing market trends and make informed decisions about real estate investments in this state.

Oregon Median Home Prices

As mentioned, the median price of a home in Oregon was $486,800 in March 2023, following a 4.8% drop compared to last year’s figures.

In March 2022, homes in Oregon sold for a median price of $511,100. Therefore, the drop means more lower-priced residential properties were purchased last year.

However, the median price of a home reported in March of this year is the highest in the first quarter.

Housing Inventory

The Oregon real estate market had 12,121 homes for sale in March of this year after a 0.5% year-over-year rise. However, the number of new listings dropped.

According to Redfin’s March statistics, only 4,767 homes were listed in March 2023, which accounts for a 30% drop year over year.

As a result, the average months of supply remained the same at two months.

Demand

Around 28.8% of properties sold above the list price in March 2023. Compared to last year’s figures, it accounts for a drop of 27.1%.

By contrast, 24.9% of residential properties had price drops, up from 10.0% of houses in March of last year.

The sale-to-list-price ratio, which is the average sale price divided by the average list price, fell 3.6% year over year to 99.2%.

Homes Sold

In March 2023, the number of houses sold fell by over 30% to 3,791 units. However, the figure shows that homeowners have sold 1,500 more properties than in January of this year.

Compared to March 2022 reports, the number of homes sold fell from 5,658 to nearly 3,800 at the end of this year’s last quarter, which accounts for a 32.9% drop.

Median Days on the Market

The amount of time homes spent on the market before a real estate purchase transaction also increased.

In March 2022, the median days on the market was 14 days. However, it was up by 22 days in just one year.

Based on March 2023 reports, homes have been on the market for an average of 36 days.

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