Report: Portland led nation in monthly housing price gains between July and August

By Luke Hammill | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Portland-area home prices increased 1.1 percent between July and August – more than any other metro area measured by the monthly Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, released Tuesday.

Portland home prices also posted annual gains at the third-fastest rate of the 20 metro areas surveyed, at 9.4 percent. Only San Francisco and Denver had bigger year-over-year gains, at 10.7 percent each.

Nationally, prices increased by 4.7 percent year-over-year and 0.3 percent between July and August.

Bill Banfield, vice president at mortgage lender Quicken Loans, said in an emailed statement that the “small pool of available homes on the market has continued to push prices higher.”

“Those who are waiting to list may be influenced by this sustained home price growth, giving a boost to home inventory,” Banfield said. “An increase in inventory could be exactly what is needed for first-time home buyers to find the home they’re waiting for.”

Svenja Gudell, chief economist at Zillow, noticed the national housing market settling “into a nice groove over the past few months with steady appreciation.”

“This relative stability should continue into the foreseeable future,” Gudell said in an emailed statement.

Earlier this month, the local Regional Multiple Listing Service found that the metro area saw 3,010 closed sales in September, the most of any September since 2005. The same was true for August. In July of this year, the Portland region set a record with 3,452 homes sold.

Closed sales in September were down 2.8 percent locally compared to August but reflected a 26.6 percent increase over September of last year, the Regional Multiple Listing Service found.