Portland Real Estate Blog

The cost versus value of remodeling is one of the major real estate questions that homeowners face.  I wrote this post about the National Association of Realtors 2008 Cost Versus Value Report a couple of months ago.

Hanley Wood has a much more regional tool for the cost versus value of projects.  The link is to the national spreadsheet but you can drill down into regions and register to download city-specific information which is where the graph below for Portland came from.  The report provides a description of what each remodel project entails.

The graph: © 2009 Hanley Wood, LLC. Reproduced by permission. Complete city data from the Remodeling 2009–10 Cost vs. Value Report can be downloaded free at www.costvsvalue.com.

Death, taxes and Case Shiller on the last Tuesday of the month. Pretty much like clockwork but the Case Shiller Index for Portland, and other markets, hasn’t been quite as painful as the first two in recent months. The Portland real estate market remains flat, posting a .1% loss from September.

The Portland Case Shiller Index is at 149.88 [note the report lags three months so this is through September]. This represents a 49.88% increase in value from January 2000 when the Index was set to 100. The Index tracks 20 cities and Portland’s appreciation ranks sixth since then. Washington (179.71), New York (175.01) and Los Angeles (168.43) lead the way with Detroit bringing up the rear at 73.97. Detroit is the only city ranked in double digits; #19 Las Vegas is 104.70. Case Shiller reminds us: “Data presented in the spreadsheets are calculated monthly using a three-month moving average and published with a two month lag.”

Merry Christmas to all of our readers.

Charles, Jenny, Annie, Lisa, Susan and Vicki

Home Owner Association (HOA) dues are a function of most condominium complexes.  For this search in RMLS, I ran condos sold in the last 12 months between 950 and 1050 SQFT in the Pearl District’s 97209 zip code.

There were 25 results and one without the HOA dues listed so based on 24 properties that averaged 997 SQFT, the average HOA dues were $333 per month.  The average HOA cost/SQFT is $.33 and the average $335/SQFT.  At least in this case, we can take the first two numbers of the price/SQFT and get the HOA cost.  I ran a second RMLS search around 1300 feet: average HOA dues: $.33/SQFT.  There is a spread of $350-$475 per month at the 1300 SQFT range.

One thing to consider is that no two HOAs charge for the same thing or have the same costs.  Within the search results, I cannot list what each HOA includes automatically in its charges which will make it a bigger research project for another day.  There is no APR-like metric for dues like there is for financing.

RMLS reports on the lockbox activity on a bi-weekly basis.  Although real estate takes place 24/7/365, most took a break on Thanksgiving.

Showings have dropped the last three non-holiday weeks reported.  About this time last year the local real estate market ground to a near halt as winter storms shut most of the city down for nearly two weeks coupled with usual toll that the holidays take on real home selling and buying.  If we avoid a repeat the weather, the holiday season for Portland real estate should be much brighter.

RMLS Market Action was released yesterday. The last page of the Portland Metro report focuses on condos. The median sales price is down considerably but has seen an uptick the last couple of months.  Closed sales appear to be fairly consistent but the number of listed condos has declined more than 20% since November of 2008. [both graphs from RMLS]

If you want to take a closer look at the reports for other regions, follow these links:

• - All Areas (52 pages)
• - Baker County
• - Columbia Basin
• - Coos County
• - Curry County
• - Douglas County
• - Lane County
• - Mid-Columbia
• - Portland Metro
• - SW Washington
• - Union County
• - Wallowa County

I had an appointment this morning at a listing just after Market Action was published so only covered inventory in this morning’s post.  Pending sales are up over 2008 but closed sales are down.  That says that more transactions are failing in escrow.  A reminder that an accepted offer does not equal a “SOLD” sticker.  Factors that might be included:

• Appraisals not coming in at the agreed upon sales price.
• Buyer being disqualified due to changes in lending rules during escrow.
• Buyer backing out due to economic concerns.
• Increased sale fails during the inspection period (sellers are accepting offers closer to their “drop dead” price and therefore less willing to negotiate during escrow).
• Short sales (by the time a short sale is approved and changed to “pending” in RMLS, buyers are less emotionally attached to the purchase and therefore less likely to make it through escrow.

On one of the most positive notes reported this year in Portland real estate:

Closed sales were up 72.4% compared to November 2008 and pending sales rose 19.9%.  New listings dropped 7%.  The 72.4% same-month increase in closed sales is the largest percentage increase on record for the area.  The previous high was56.9% in December 1996.

Year to date listings are down by 19.2%.  This is keeping inventory levels low as inventory is a ratio of “active listings at the end of the month in question by the number of closed sales for that month.”

The average sales price is down 11.4% for the year and 3.6% for the month.  The average sales price of home is now $273,300.

RMLS of Portland just released their Portland real estate market data for November 2009.  Inventory ticked up a little from October’s 6.5 months.  The 9% increase is less than the month on month increase in 2008 but in 2007 the inventory level remained almost static for the same period.

Must run.  More later.

Target sells this CO2 detector $25.95

Portland’s “Arctic Blast” claimed one life yesterday and left a woman in the hospital reports KGW. The cause: carbon monoxide from a natural gas heater that wasn’t vented properly.

I wrote this post last year after a family of four was killed by carbon monoxide in Colorado. I bought our detector after writing that post.

A just run Google Search says that Target sells C02 detectors for $25.95.

Its worth noting again that Oregon real estate law has a provision for smoke detectors but not carbon dioxide detectors.

I woke up this morning thinking it was colder than normal in our bedroom even though the thermostat is set to run on a program. In a deja vu moment I remember that when it gets below freezing, not only do we have to turn off the out door hose spigots but also disconnect the condensate line from the furnace as the brass hose freezes solid where it exits the house. Once it freezes, the furnace shuts off. As soon as the line is able to drain into the bucket the furnace refires.

We visit all of our vacant real estate listings after weather events if the owner is absentee and this would qualify. We try to keep thermostats set above 50 so that the house is comfortable when shown and to protect against property damage in lieu of winterizing the house which includes draining water from the house. It’s a great way of minimizing monthly cost but must be undone for a home inspection and makes the house uncomfortable when shown.

Hopefully we be able to avoid last year’s ice dams that clogged rain gutters city-wide last year after the snow storms.