We returned home on the morning of Sunday, August 1st, and discovered this young cat in Aloha, just outside of Beaverton, a few blocks south of the TV Highway near 170th.  My neighbor says he has been around for a couple of days.  He is very affectionate, clean, and healthy.  He is not wearing a collar and does not have a tracking microchip. Please contact me if you have lost this wonderful cat.

Here is my link for him on Craigslist.
Dan

503-267-8370

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Going forward, I will be more actively working with my wife at Jessica Shepard Photography.

Best regards,

Danny

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On to real estate market conditions…  With the extended and expanded home buyer’s tax credit expired, real estate market trends were fairly predictable.  The final push of buyers who took advantage of the credit explained a small increase in closed sales.  With the lack of a government incentive to purchase, the expired credit also explains the astonishing drop in pending sales.  Portland-Metro real estate market activity remained improved last month over the same period a year ago for closed sales that were up 43% versus May 2009.  Pending sales decreased by 24.1% and new listings by 10.2%.

Comparing last month to April 2010, closed sales increased by 5.6% while pending sells plummeted by 50.1%.  New listings continued to slide by an additional 26.2%.  The decrease in new listings and small increase in closed sales were seen in active inventory, which is calculated by dividing the total number of active listings for a month and dividing it by the number of closed sales, that has fallen to 7 months.  Still, 6 months is commonly stated as a healthy balance for active inventory indicating that it is still a buyer’s market.

Sales prices comparing 2010 to 2009 are following the same trends, which were still down by 5.5% while the median sales price was also lower by 4.4%.  Month to month improvement has ended with May 2010 sale prices down when compared with April 2010 with a 2.3% decrease, along with a small drop of the median price by 0.4%.  The effect of the tax credit on the real estate market was not exaggerated.  Now that it is gone, previous gains in home values have already begun to slide even though the market is near its typical peak of activity.  The bottom to the market no longer appears in sight as home values are continually pushed lower due to circumstances beyond real estate transactions, such as persistently high unemployment and tighter lending practices.

If you are in the market to purchase a home, now is a great time to buy.  There are plenty of properties available, sale prices continue to drop (more than I had expected with the expiration of the credit), and interest rates are still low.

Unless you are looking to upgrade to a larger property or have a strong incentive to relocate, now is definitely not the time to put your home on the market.  Just like any other financial asset, the value of your home may be less than what you would like, maybe even less than what you paid; but this loss is not realized unless you actually proceed to sell your home.

Danny Shepard

I am a realtor of Oregon First, licensed in the state of Oregon.

All statistics listed are quoted from the May 2010 issue of RMLS Market Action. The Regional Multiple Listing Service releases the previous month’s statistics near the 15^th of the current month.

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On to real estate market conditions…  With the extended and expanded home buyer’s tax credit expired, except for some active duty military personnel in which the credit will continue to be available for one year, real estate market trends were fairly predictable.  There was a final push of buyers taking advantage of the credit and successful closes following the increase in March 2010 pending sales.  Portland-Metro real estate market activity remained improved last month over the same period a year ago.  Closed sales were up 49.1% versus April 2009 and pending sales increased by 60.8%!  In addition, new listings increased by 23.8%.

Comparing last month to March 2010, closed sales increased by 7.9% and pending sells continued to improve by 24.5%.  I was surprised to see that new listings dropped by 5.5%.  The pace of home sales and decrease in new listings was seen in active inventory, which is calculated by dividing the total number of active listings for a month and dividing it by the number of closed sales, that has fallen to 7.3 months.  Still, 6 months is commonly stated as a healthy balance for active inventory indicating that it is still a buyer’s market.

Sales prices comparing 2010 to 2009 are following the same trends, which were still down by 3.1% while the median sales price was also lower by 4%.  Month to month had a second month of improvement with April 2010 sale prices up when compared with March 2010 with a meager 0.6% increase, along with a rise of the median price by 0.5%.  Last month’s commentary remains the same; the tax credit may have increased real estate transactions, but the amount of sales activity may have finally pushed home prices up from their bottom values of this market.  Hopefully, real estate activity will continue in this direction, signaling an overall improvement in our economy and the values of homes for their owners.

If you are in the market to purchase a home, now is a good time to buy.  There are plenty of properties available (14,182 as of April 30^th), sale prices are still relatively low and continuing to go up (although I predict a small decrease in sales prices with the expiration of the tax credit), and interest rates are still low.

Would you like to receive more detailed information about?

• Realtor services?

• Short Sales or Foreclosures?

• Your neighborhood or others that you are interested about?

Please contact me at:

dannyshepard@oregonfirst.com

www.dannyleeshepard.com

503-267-8370

I am a real estate agent with Oregon First, licensed in the state of Oregon.

All statistics listed are quoted from the April 2010 issue of RMLS Market Action. The Regional Multiple Listing Service releases the previous month’s statistics near the 15^th of the current month.

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During Mother’s Day Weekend on Saturday, May 8th.  The Beaverton Farmers Market will open for the season.

For more information, go to http://www.beavertonfarmersmarket.com/

If you would like more information about living in Beaverton, Oregon or elsewhere in the Portland Metropolitan area, please contact me at dannyshepard@oregonfirst.com or call me at 503-267-8370.

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