707 homes were sold in Portland in April, up from 642 in March. The close-in market volume is on the rise even with very low inventory, while numbers in the suburban markets flattened out. Stories about the low inventory are now commonplace and many price points are garnering multiple offer situations and less than one month on market. I expect to see a substantial rise in average sales price into summer.

Wild cards: Multiple offers are back with inventory at a 5 year low.

I’m predicting around 750 closed sales in Portland (RMLS areas 141, 142, 143 & 148) in May. Seasonally speaking, average prices generally start to drop after the summer peak, bottoming out in winter.

Sales volume is a leading indicator for price. To help predict where the market is going I publish this sales volume trend report. The wisdom is that price follows volume so when you see a market trending higher in sales, prices will soon follow up and when sales volume is low, prices will stay flat or fall.

Q. What’s the good news about shorter waits on short sales?

A. Fannie and Freddie which own or insure half the mortgages in the USA are requiring that responses be made to short sale offers within 30-60 days.

Q. That still sounds like a long time, is that really better?

A. MUCH better. In most cases short sales take 3-6 months and in many cases longer just to get a yes or no on an offer.

Q. How many short sales did Fannie and Freddie approve last year

A. In 2011 they did 125,000 short sales.

These new rules take effect June 15, 2012

Q. Why the big shift to move up buyers?

A. Many people have been waiting for the market to start recovering before selling and making the move. Match that up with interest rates still being around 4% and timing for moving up is becoming better and better.

Q. What’s the hardest part for people selling homes and moving up?

A. The hard part is timing. If you find a home you want to buy before your homes sells you’re not in the best position to buy. If you sell and can’t find the right house then you need to rent while you keep looking. I’d say it’s about 50/50 for a one time move and renting and looking. Most of my clients actually enjoy the departure while they keep looking and it takes some of the stress out of the move.

Q. Are people buying and then selling?

A. Not as much as they used to – most people want to know what they’ll have when they move. The third version of the move up is keeping your current home as a rental which works for some but certainly not everyone.

With new listings decreasing steadily while pending and sold homes continue to rise inventories of homes have dropped to levels not seen since 2006. This is creating a seller’s market and, in many close-in neighborhoods, new listings are getting multiple offers with average prices going up in many areas. Even suburban markets are returning to balanced levels.

This localized home inventory report helps give context to the metro statistics that often make headlines. Real estate is a local affair and this report shows which parts of town and which types of property are selling and which ones are sitting. Inventory is figured in months with 6 months being balanced, less than 6 months favoring sellers and more than 6 months favoring buyers. I use current active listings and 6 months of sold data from the RMLS to create this report.

Now that a federal judge has approved a multi-billion dollar foreclosure settlement, foreclosures make a 13 percent jump from February. Here to talk about what that means to the Portland market is real estate expert Nick Krautter from Keller Williams real estate and Sellpdx.com

Q. Do you think this rise in foreclosures will create a wave of bank owned homes this year?

A. I don’t think we’ll see a huge wave of bank owned homes on the market this year. The banks have been slow to get these homes on the market. I also don’t think we’ll see any big changes until after the election.

Q. What’s the latest news on HARP 2.0 to help underwater homeowners refinance?

A. This new program just started and its designed much better than the first version. One of the big things they’ve been pushing is principal reduction but Fannie and Freddie are resistant because of concerns it will create more defaults.

Q. Could more foreclosures hurt the recovery we just started?

A. The inventory is still so low and buyer demand so high I don’t think it will change the upward move in prices we’re starting to see.

With prices and interest rates at lows and rents rising real estate investing is hitting new highs. Here to talk about this dramatic change is real estate expert Nick Krautter with Keller Williams and sellpdx.com

Q. Just how much have investment purchases gone up?

A. It’s huge. In 2010 it was about 750k sold and last year it jumped to almost 1.25 million. That’s close to doubling.

Q. Why is the jump so dramatic?

A. There’s a fundamental shift back to a larger part of the country renting. Add in low prices and interest rates and rents which are up 8% in Portland over last year and cash flows are looking great.

Q. Isn’t it hard to get financing for rentals?

A. The down payments range from 10-25% and interest rates are slightly higher but half the investment homes purchased in 2011 were bought with cash. A lot of people are using 401k and IRA money to invest in real estate.

539 homes were sold in Portland in March, up from 524 in February. The close-in market volume is being held down by low inventory, while numbers in the suburban markets saw a jump in sales. Stories about the low inventory are now commonplace and many price points are garnering multiple offer situations and less than one month on market. I expect to see a substantial rise in average sales price into summer.

Wild cards: Multiple offers are back with inventory at a 5 year low.

I’m predicting around 650 closed sales in Portland (RMLS areas 141, 142, 143 & 148) in April. Seasonally speaking, average prices generally start to drop after the summer peak, bottoming out in winter.

Sales volume is a leading indicator for price. To help predict where the market is going I publish this sales volume trend report. The wisdom is that price follows volume so when you see a market trending higher in sales, prices will soon follow up and when sales volume is low, prices will stay flat or fall.

Q. What’s the biggest myth about multiple offers?

A. The biggest myth is price. The highest price doesn’t always win. There are so many factors in an offer that matter as much as price.

Q. What are the other big factors?

A. It’s critical to know if the seller wants to sell quick or have time to find their next house. You don’t want to offer to close in 2 weeks if the sellers need time and vice versa.

Q. What about secrets to winning that aren’t on the offer?

A. Trying to communicate who you are as a buyer is important. A photo and a letter to the seller go a long way. I’ve heard of people sending videos of themselves. At the end of the day you need to write a solid offer and do what you can to stand out from the crowd.

Q. Most people think of kitchens and bathrooms when they remodel – what return can someone expect for those projects?

A. Both those projects return 75% of the cost. That’s surprising for many people but it doesn’t increase values more than the cost. A minor kitchen remodel returns 91% of cost. This is why I recommend doing these big projects early on so you can enjoy them.

Q. What’s the worst return for improvements?

A. A home office remodel and sunroom will only return 50% of the cost.

Q. What projects do you think have a positive return?

A. I think repainting, cleaning, and staging have positive returns when you’re selling. They can also speed up the time on market which almost always yields more money for a seller.

Click here for the full report: Cost vs Value Report

With new listings decreasing steadily while pending and sold homes continue to rise inventories of homes have dropped to levels not seen since 2006. This is creating a seller’s market and, in many close-in neighborhoods, new listings are getting multiple offers with average prices going up in many areas. Even suburban markets are returning to balanced levels.

This localized home inventory report helps give context to the metro statistics that often make headlines. Real estate is a local affair and this report shows which parts of town and which types of property are selling and which ones are sitting. Inventory is figured in months with 6 months being balanced, less than 6 months favoring sellers and more than 6 months favoring buyers. I use current active listings and 6 months of sold data from the RMLS to create this report.