Cougar continues his acclimation to our family.  He is a 4 year old blue gray cat that we adopted from the Oregon Humane Society over two months ago.  Last month, I stated that we were alternating between using the front door and garage to prevent him from exploring the neighborhood too soon.  Since then, we have purchased his first collar and are letting him have some nice weather romps instead of him dashing outdoors on the wettest of days.  Our other cat Gracie Joy is glad to be able to go outside again and have someone play with her.

My wife Jessica of Jessica Shepard Photography now has a studio! More information is available at: http://jessicashepard.com/2010/photography/with-a-jump-and-a-leap-portland-photography-studio/

My daughter Mackenzie has moved up from baby-board-books to toddler books.  After a couple of readings, she will tell you the story as she turns the pages.

On to real estate market conditions…  The extended and expanded home buyer’s tax credit is in its final days.  If otherwise eligible, a home buyer must be in contract by April 30^th.  These home purchases must be closed by June 30^th.  For some active duty military personnel, this credit will continue to be available for one year.

Portland-Metro real estate market activity remained improved last month over the same period a year ago.  Closed sales were up 51.9% versus March 2009 and pending sales increased by 46.7%!  In addition, new listings increased by 35.3%.  The tax credit appears to continue to spur on early spring real estate activity.

Comparing last month to February 2010, closed sales rocketed upward by 77.2% and pending sells continued to improve by 29.8%.  New listings increased by 27.8%.  The pace of home sales has outpaced new listings as seen by 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, dropped to 7.8 months.

Sales price indicators are no longer following the same trends.  Sale prices were still down compared to March 2009 by 5.6% while the median sale price also decreased by 3%.  Month to month has improved though with March 2010 sale prices up when compared with February 2010 with a 2.6% increase, along with a rise of the median price by 1.6%.  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 still the perfect time to buy.  There are plenty of properties available (14,042 as of March 31^st), sale prices are still relatively low and starting to go up, and interest rates are still low.  Finally, if eligible, the extended and expanded home buyer’s tax credit is still available for a very short time.

Would you like to receive more detailed information about?

• Realtor services?
• The extended and expanded home buyer’s tax credit?
• 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 realtor of Oregon First, licensed in the state of Oregon.

All statistics listed are quoted from the March 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.

Tax credit information provided by the IRS at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=215791,00.html?portlet=7

Additional tax credit information provided by the National Association of Realtors FAQ on Homebuyer Tax Credit Changes, available on request.

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