Each week RMLS reports on the weekly activity of the Supra lockboxes that we use. The electronic, PIN number protected box tracks when Realtors open a box in real time.  The reports are for the all of the Oregon lockboxes opened RMLS subscribers.  They also publish one for Washington simultaneously on the RMLS blog website.

Showings dropped off immediately after the April 3oth expiration of the Home Buyer Tax Credits.  There were 5044 showings the weekend after the incentive compared to 7197 the weekend preceding.  Mother’s Day tweaked the following week (May 9th) as showings for that day were off nearly 1500 compared to the Sunday before and after.  Adding 15oo showings to the week of 5/3/ to 5/9  would have resulted in a decrease in overall activity, not a 6.4% increase in the last cycle.  We usually only have to open a lockbox once per visit.

The Portland real estate market saw a huge jump in pending sales in April but at this point we can’t tell how many of those will result in closed sales.  Did some buyers leap into contracts that they might have waited on otherwise?  Probably.  If their transaction failed at the end of a typical 10 business day inspection period, they may have re-entered the market last Monday so next week’s report might reflect that.  I personally haven’t heard of a buyer exiting the market because they did not get into contract by April 30th.  The Credit eligible pending transactions have to close by June 30th.