Wow, Activity is WAY up!

Well, I was sitting here and realizing that I've been a complete slacker when it comes to my blogging. It's amazing how activity will suddenly make you start pushing things off of your calendar. Over the last couple of months I have seen a huge amount of action in the Portland real estate market. I will use a collective 'we' in talking about all of the local agents, and we had a rough first part of the year. With the snow, the presidential change, the bailout, and the stimulus, people didn't know what to do. Now that the dust has settled suddenly everyone is doing it all at once.

Oregon is a cyclical state in general so some additional activity is to be expected. When the sun comes out and the schools are done for the summer break, people come out of the woodwork. However, I have never seen it go from so little to so much so quickly. I think the fact that rates are good but going up also helped to give a little nudge. If you were waiting for better rates, or for prices to come down, you could be missing the boat. As rates go up, it can more than make up for any additional drop in price. I've seen rates go from 4.5% up to about 5.25%. If they get up around 6% or higher the effect on monthly payment will far outweigh the loss in value. Do the math, it's worth it.

With the sun out, I hope everyone is enjoying it in Oregon. There is no better place in the world than Oregon in the summer!