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- Our Future’s So Bright?
Agent Profile
My job is service...service to you and your real estate transactions! How can you benefit from my 25 years of experience and expertise? What can I offer to make the process more productive?
* Current information on available housing...comparative and competitive market pricing and analysis
* Daily involvement in the local real estate marketplace.
* Thorough, comprehensive knowledge reflecting years of helping others complete their real estate business.
* Extensive network of professional resources to make the process as smooth as possible.
My commitment is to you! Being available to you...returning your calls...answering your questions...addressing your concerns...respecting your money...matching your timeline...meeting your expectations...helping accomplish your real estate goals!!
JANEESE JACKSON: 503-709-0802 or jj@janeesejackson.com
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Portland is listed as the 8th city in the nation where it is smarter to buy than rent in a recent Forbes magazine study. To rank the cities, Forbes computed the premium to buy (the spread between what a consumer would spend to rent and what they would pay for a mortgage) and also identified locales where economists predict home prices will go up the most over the next five years. “Portland is a picturesque, culture-driven city with good local services and amenities”, noted the article. Check it out: Forbes Magazine Article and the part about Portland . So, I do believe in Portland (I’ve been blogging recently about “vacationing in my own backyard” in earlier posts). But, I also believe it will take a few years to dig out of this hole. A family hoping to put down roots here would normally pay a 62% premium to go from renting to buying. In the third quarter of 2009, however, that premium shrank by 16 percentage points. At this same time, Moody’s Economy.com anticipates that home prices will jump 19% over the next five years. That sounds about right to me. I’ve been using a conservative 3% appreciation rate when projecting for my personal real estate investments. See a recent post on “What’s the Buzz…Tell Me What’s-a-happening”
Sales activity in the Portland Metro area continued to show improvement in February 2010 compared to a year ago. Closed Sales were up 18.4% and pending sales rose 45% compared to February 2009. But, a portion of those closed and pending sales were foreclosures and short-sales (which skew the statistics slightly in my opinion). Inventory levels rose from last month, so that at this month’s rate of sales it would take approximately 12.9 months to sell the existing active listings (the highs were 19.2 months of inventory in January 2009 and 16.6 months in February 2009).
The average sales price for February 2010 was down 8.5% compared to February 2009, while the median sale price declined 9.3%.
As expected at its meeting on Tuesday of last week, the Fed held the fed funds rate steady and the accompanying statement contained few changes. The statement retained the language about the fed funds rate remaining at extremely low levels for at least several months. The Fed’s assessment of the economy was a little more upbeat at this meeting, but pointed out that “economic improvement will occur slowly”. The continued to signal that the $1.25 trillion MBS (Mortgage Backed Securities) program will conclude at the end of March. With less than two weeks of Fed MBS purchases remaining, investors will be watching closely to see if the Fed’s exit has an impact on mortgage rates. This week’s inflation data showed that inflation is not a concern right now. The current low inflation environment makes it easier for the Fed to continue to hold the fed funds rate low to stimulate the economy.
As always, information is VERY neighborhood specific, so contact me for info about your area. Don’t forget you can track your neighborhood or find your new home or investment by using the “Just Search Listings” or “Sign up for Daily Listings” in the navigation bar of this page.
About the Author | Janeese Jackson
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