Despite an increase in sales, the price of homes in the Portland area declined four percent over the last year -- according to new figures from the Case Shiller housing indices.
Case Shiller has three indices that track real estate prices. The first looks at 10 of the largest cities, the second looks at 20 cities (including Portland) and the third looks at the nation as a whole. Maureen Maitland of Standard and Poor's says all three indices have dropped to their lowest levels since the housing crisis began in 2006.
Maitland explained, "Prior months and prior years, we had thought they had already hit bottom. We thought that the 10 city had hit bottom in 2009, and the national and 20 city composite had hit their bottoms earlier this year. Now all three are below those levels. Which is not good for the housing market."
Maitland says while there were signs that prices were stabilizing last year, neither the economy nor consumer confidence seemed strong enough to move the market in a positive direction. Over the last few months in Portland, however, there have been some positive signs. For example, the average time a home stays on the market has dropped from 160 days to 136 days.
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Source: http://news.opb.org/article/sales-prices-down-portland-real-estate/
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