Agent Profile
Tony and Libby Kelly, MBA, M.Ed. are ranked in the top 1% of REALTORS in Portland Metro. They have been featured on HGTV's "House Hunters" 3 Episodes & "My House is Worth What?" 4 Episodes.
Portland Home Prices
Here is a look at the current home prices in Portland Oregon.
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Choosing Foreclosure
It is said that 20% of home owners are “underwater” on their mortgages and more and more homes are going into foreclosure every day. For many the best financial option is to let their home go into foreclosure instead of throw away thousands of dollars that the home has lost in value.
The prediction is that most of these home owners will do just that but some think that people aren’t always so rational.
One reason is that people tend to over value their own home. That makes it to valuable for them to just walk away from.
Secondly, people tend to place greater importance on immediate consequences than they do the long term ones. Walking away might help you out down the road but is a lot of pain and effort right now.
Then there is the morality of it. Some feel it is just plain wrong to walk away because if you borrowed the money, then you need to pay it back, it’s that simple. Check out this article with great real-life examples of home owners situations and what they intend to do about it.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/real_estate/0903/gallery.walking_away/index.html
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Portland Inventory Report
Watch for our real-time updates on the Portland Area Real Estate Market!
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Portland Market Report
January Residential Highlights
Although closed sales dragged to a new low in January, pending sales rose 52.5% over December’s total. Comparing January 2009 with the same month in 2008, closed sales dropped 32.5%. Pending sales also fell 26.1%. New listings decreased 15%. On the other hand, when comparing January 2009 with December 2008, pending sales grew 52.5% (1,235 v. 810) and new listings increased 123.2% (4,196 v. 1,880). Closed sales continued to lag, dropping 25.8% (732 v. 987) – a new record low for closed sales in a month since record keeping began in 1992. As a result of the low sales total, and a rising number of active listings (14,076), housing inventory also hit a new high of 19.2 months.
Sale Prices
The average sale price for January 2009 was down 13.3% compared to January 2008, while the median sale price dropped 10.7%. Month-to-month, the average sale price and median sale price are both down when compared with December levels; the average sale price dropped 1.2% ($297,200 v. $300,800) and the median sale price was down 1.1% ($250,000 v. $252,900).
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Time To Buy A House
No matter what the market condition, there is always going to be a group whose turn it is to be in the most advantageous position. Right now it is the first-time home buyer. This is evident by the stat saying 41% of buyers at the end of ‘08 were first-timers.
This stroke of luck is for a few reason. With the new lower prices they are able to afford better than they could before, if they could afford anything at all before. Not to mention all that inventory just sitting there, sellers are negotiating.
Then there are the low interest rates that compliment the low home prices so perfectly. It’s like stars are aligning.
Of course buyers right now have to have good credit and a significant down payment, but if a buyer has that in order they are in a great position to get a deal.
There is still a question of whether or not prices have hit bottom yet, but there will always be that risk. Perhaps it means a buyer can take the time to find the perfect deal.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123431356988570855.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
Westside Express Service
Yesterday, Monday, Feb. 2, the Westside Express Service commuter rail went on its first ride. The westside of the Portland Metro area now has its own commuter rail line. The 14.7-mile route has five stations in Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville, with trains running every 30 minutes during weekday morning and evening rush hours.
So far the busiest station has been the Beaverton Transit Center. Officials are hoping it will become popular so that it will reduce traffic on Pacific Highway, 217 and I-5.
The new commuter trains are equiped with free Wi-Fi, bike hooks and swivel seats; and the stations have some fun works of art.
It is hoped that in the future they will be able to offer some weekend hours, but that of course will depend on how much use it gets during commuting hours.
http://tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=123319608573742100
PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com
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Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere
17700 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd
Portland, OR 97224