It has been said before that real estate is local. One market does not necessarily predict another. National numbers have not reflected Portland; Portland was definitely late to the “party” as property values fell. But what about within a single market itself? Ryan Frank of the Oregonian published this graphic on his Front Porch blog. It is used here with his permission. Click on the graphic to enlarge.

Oregonian_housing_market

Even within Portland, what is going on in one area is not a representation of the overall Portland housing market. The spread between the hardest hit areas and those actually seeing some appreciation is nearly 12 points. From the Oregonian I put this data together (which is sourced from RMLS). The spread confirms much of the anecdotal “close-in has done better than the suburbs.” Does Location, Location, Location serve as the matra to this or are markets that have done okay late to Portland housing decline?

NW Washington County 2007  $  385,000
2008  $  375,000 -2.6%
West Portland 2007  $  379,000
2008  $  400,000 5.5%
Beaverton/Aloha 2007  $  262,500
2008  $  252,000 -4.0%
Tigard/Wilsonville 2007  $  340,500
2008  $  325,000 -4.6%
Lake Oswego/West Linn 2007  $  465,000
2008  $  455,000 -2.2%
Oregon City/Canby 2007  $  304,000
2008  $  286,000 -5.9%
Milwaukie/Clackamas 2007  $  301,000
2008  $  290,000 -3.7%
Gresham/Troutdale 2007  $  260,000
2008  $  247,000 -5.0%
Southeast Portland 2007  $  251,700
2008  $  249,900 -0.7%
Northeast Portland 2007  $  283,000
2008  $  283,500 0.2%
North Portland 2007  $  251,300
2008  $  253,000 0.7%

Thanks again to Ryan Frank and the Oregonian for the graphic.