According to Realtytrac, Oregon foreclosures were up 44% in August over July. Multnomah County reported 412 properties with foreclosure filings for the month, making it the highest in the state. Clackamas County followed with 342 filings., while Washington County came in third, at 305 properties.
This is not great news for sellers, since foreclosures tend to negatively impact pricing. But wait–Cashe-Schiller reported that Portland was one of the few metro areas that actually witnessed a slight pricing gain in the third quarter.
It’s hard to say for sure what this all means. A recent article in DS News says that while the shadow inventory is getting smaller, there’s still a 45-month supply of foreclosed homes, which means it would take nearly four years to sell what’s out there right now.
But that’s the national picture. For Portland real estate, there’s not a lot of traditional inventory out there that’s listed for sale. Buyers don’t have a lot to choose from if they don’t want to mess with a short sale or foreclosure, and sellers are keeping their homes off the market in the hope pricing will increase. That means the data is not as reliable as it could be, because the ratio of distressed homes/traditional homes is off.
