It doesn’t take long to find two sides that don’t agree (NBA, NFL, US Government) and predicting a real estate comeback is no easier but if there was a front runner I’d be backing Southeast Portland right now.

The Portland Business Journal reported last week on Waverly Commons, a new 18 home subdivision at SE 35th a and SE Woodard (just south of Division).  Developer Mark Desbrow sees the need for new houses in an established neighborhood.  I agree that in the current market the majority of buyers don’t want project houses.  Even renovated homes require more maintenance and upkeep than a (well constructed) new home and that turns lots of people away from the close-in neighborhoods where they might otherwise choose to live.

Older homes often have challenging layouts for today’s family.  It’s hard to find any sort of a master suite in many older homes.  Kitchens can be small and carving space out for additional bathrooms or kitchen space can be challenging.  New construction may be the answer for some.  Garages are another issue but I have seen some pretty cool accessory dwellings created while maintaining the garage space.

I’ve had two offers accepted in close-in Southeast Portland in the last month.  Nothing impressive or noteworthy there except for that in the first case there were four offers on the table and five for the second!  The houses are at two different price points so I doubt there was any overlap between buyers on the properties.  That’s nine buyers for two listings in what the Business Journal calls the, “gloomy residential home market.”  Two listings don’t represent the market but that scenario has been virtually absent from the Portland real estate market for the last couple of years.  We didn’t hear of it happening and now we’re hearing it more often and fairly frequently.

Only time will tell if these are anomalies or the beginning of the market strengthening.