Portland is abuzz with real estate activity this spring. New listings continued to rise—at 3,623, the number of new listings for the month was the greatest in any one month since August 2010. This also represented a 20.7% increase over March’s 3,002 new listings.  The increase in new listings helped inventory stabilize: the number currently sits at 3.1 months.

Average time on market currently stands at 91 days—the last time market time was that low was July 2008. Accepted offers increased this month to 2,942, an 11.9% increase over March (2,628) and 24.4% increase over April 2012 (2,365).   Closed sales are up as well, with April’s 2,125 posted sales representing a 9.8% increase over March and 16.6% increase over Apri 2012.

The Portland metro real estate market continues to have a strong year. There have been 9,314 accepted offers and 7,039 closed sales in 2013, up 16.4% from 8,000 pendings and 12.9% from 6,236 closed sales in the same period last year. The 11,678 new listings this year represent a 4.4% increase from the 11,182 entered by this time last year.

The average sales price so far this year was $293,600, up 15.3% from the same period in 2012, when the average was $254,600. In the same comparison, the median increased 15.6% from $216,200 last year to $250,000 in the first four months of 2013.  Information courtesy RMLS.

Today's chart is another one from the Keller "Vision speech" I attended.  This one is all about mortgage rates and shows their dramatic fall over the years. I remember buying my first house in the early 80's and paying 14% and thinking I was getting a good deal!  Check it out below and you will see howmuch they have dropped and why there hasnt been a better time to buy a house.

Our featured home of the month is a lovely four bedroom home close to Beaumont Middle School in Northeast Portland.  With a super high walk score and close to everything this house (which I sold to the owners 17 years ago) is a terrific buy.  You can see it at http://www.roblevy.com/Property/4011-NE-Klickitat-St-Portland-Oregon

I am really proud and delighted to report that at the end of 2012 our office was the number one office of ANY FIRM IN PORTLAND, and also our company - Keller Williams Realty - became the NUMBER ONE company in the united states in agent count.  I am very lucky to be surrouned by about 200 great agents in our office, and the synergy is dynamic.  As the market improves our team continues to grow again we are well geared up to help all our clients with their buying and selling needs in 2013, so please send us your referrals.

Check out this professionally done video I now subscribe to.  Its one of a series and is a terrific video about preparing your home to sell.  My experience over the 25+ years of selling homes is a properly staged and "showroom ready" home will alwas command a higher price and quicker sale.