December numbers; and a Special Plea to the Oregon Association of Realtors

Richard Gaylord, president of the National Association of Realtors, was interviewed on local station KXL a few weeks ago:
http://arkansasrealtors.net/files/richard_gaylord.mp3
The gist:
“I’m optimistic about the market in your area and around the country … We see sales remaining strong [in Portland], increasing 1% in 2008, and we also see prices increasing 2% in 2008.”
Well.
Here are the preliminary […]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My girls are on their way down from Seattle; to spend Christmas day with them is my idea of perfection.  Christmas is about family.
But families, extended families, come in different configurations.  This is the family with whom I’ve spent the last nine Christmas Eves, the Sanctuary Choir of Lake Grove Presbyterian Church. Aged from the twenties […]

Portland, Bumper Sticker Capital of the World

They’re everywhere.  Portlanders not only want you to know what they think, they want you to know they’re smarter than you are if you don’t think it as well.
Unfortunately all I had was my phone, but this one managed a double take:
Stanford!  Harvard!  Portland Rocks! Stand for Peace! Impeach Bush!
COEXIST!  [Find the incongruity!]
and

Underneath TREE/MAX read: “More […]

Glenn Kelman, Redfin and the Today Show; Short Version

Glenn Kelman is blessed with the genes of Harold Hill.  After his coming out on Sixty Minutes - written about here, here  and here - Kelman appeared last Friday on the Today Show to announce that he’d learned - scientifically! - that it indeed wasn’t a good idea to price a home too high.  With limited […]

November Numbers: Portland Metro

Let me reiterate some stuff first:  I’m a big fan of transparency, the corollary of which is I hate spin.  The NAR, frankly, spends too much time trying to either obscure bad news or, when it invariably appears, to put a happy face on it.  People see through that, and when rosy projections turn out […]

A Few Words about a lot of Numbers

I subscribe to a data collection service - AgentMetrics by Terradatum - that pulls information directly from RMLS, manipulates it, and allows a two year look at basic trends (there are also algorithms for Market Share and Price Analysis, for another time).  It’s excellent because it allows users to look not only at broad areas, but […]

Real [Estate] Kudos to The Oregonian

The Oregonian certainly has a lot to criticize, and I’ve done my share.  The news is tainted by du jour obsessions - right now it’s global warming - and the editors still spend a little too much energy on taking the New York Times seriously. 
But I do think there’s a sincere effort to listen to critics, […]

Miscellaneous real estate catch up; and it’s all my daughters’ fault.

It’s not that it’s been a slow real estate month for news.  And it would be nice to blame a lack of posting on the fact that buyers are oozing out of the woodwork, but it’s neither the time of year nor the time of market for that.
So the best I can do is this:  […]

October Numbers for Portland: (WARNING: May be too graphic for some!)

October numbers have pretty much settled, so here are they are in graphic form.  Again: click on the image to open a two page pdf, which will give corresponding data. 
UNIT SALES

Not attractive - down over 32% - but they are what they are.  The good news is closed sales track thirty days behind pending sales, and pending […]

Builders’ Own Homes: Great Quality, Quirky Design.

I have this listing.  Terrific, terrific home: Quality, 10.  Maintenance, 10.  2X6 framing, imported woods, solid core doors, dual furnace and AC (new), new fifty year roof, new kitchen and family room, huge rooms, triple extra high garage, 4000 sf on a mature, beautifully landscaped, fully fenced quarter acre.  All because it was built and lived in […]

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