2023 is in the books, so let’s take a look at how it went. Listing activity was down compared to the last 2 years, and pending and sold listings also were below 2022 and 2021 levels. Cancelled listings trended higher than the past 2 years as well, but not as significantly as the deviations from Active, Pending and Sold listings.
The List to Sell ratio, which shows how much above or below asking price homes sell for, on average, was 99.5 percent. Most homes were selling for half a percent below the list price. That is a significant change from 2022, where houses were selling for above asking price on average, at 102.4%.
Market time was significantly higher than the past 2 years when 2023 began, but by the end of the year, things were trending closer to 2022. Homes are sitting on the market for quite a bit longer than they were during the pandemic years, but are not as high as they have been in past decades when the economy was struggling.
New construction saw a boost in 2023 compared to 2022. 11.3% of residential home sales in the Portland Metro area were new construction, compared to just 9.35% in 2022.
Overall, the market has slowed significantly in 2023, but there are still transactions occurring. While homes are selling for slightly below asking price on average, and with higher market time, we aren’t seeing huge swings in the trends, and transactions are still making it to close in a historically appropriate timeframe. As winter wraps up and we head into Spring, we should see the market ramp up into a busy season once again.
