by Wendy Culverwell, Portland Business Journal
Portland area homes sold faster in January as prices and the inventory of for-sale properties dropped.
The Regional Multiple Listing Service said Wednesday homes sold in January spent an average of 136 days on the market, down 14.6 percent from the 160 days it took to sell a home a year ago.
At the same time, new listings dropped by 16.5 percent to 2,613, while the average price was relatively unchanged at $249,100 and the median price dropped 3.5 percent to $207.500.
RMLS said there were 1,823 pending sales in January, a 22.4 percent increase, and 1,224 closed sales, an 18.3 percent increase.
There were 8,514 unsold homes in January, enough to satisfy current demand for seven months, a sharp drop from the 11.3-month level posted one year ago and the 12.6-month level posted two years ago.
