My mother-in-law returned home during severe weather last Saturday in the Northeast. We are grateful that she made it home safe after a long and difficult return flight and drive from the airport. We had a great visit. Having a usable guest room made a world of difference towards livability for all of us during a long stay. I had the pleasure of showing her several condominiums in Hillsboro and Northwest Portland on the last couple of days of her stay. Her granddaughter Mackenzie has put up a strong argument for her to convince grandpa to relocate from out of state to this area. Our weather only improves our cause.

Our new cat Cougar and resident cat Gracie Joy have become good friends, though Cougar still thinks of the guest room/office as his room while Gracie spends most of her time downstairs. We are alternating between using the front door and garage to prevent Cougar from exploring his new neighborhood too soon.

This past month, I earned the Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource designation from the National Association of Realtors. There is no such thing as a distressed property; it’s the owners that are distressed. If you know someone that is facing foreclosure, there may be options available and I would appreciate your referral to assist them. If you are looking for an even better deal in this buyer’s market, short sales provide an opportunity to help someone in financial trouble. If the time table for a short sale does not suit you, banks are eager to remove foreclosed properties from their balance sheets. These types of transactions are significantly different from more traditional home transactions; but I am aware of these differences and knowledgeable on the best methods to successfully navigate purchasing short sales or foreclosed properties.

Portland-Metro real estate market activity remained improved last month over the same period a year ago. Closed sales were up 18.4% versus February 2009 and pending sales increased by 45%! In addition, new listings increased by 12.4%. The tax credit appears to have successfully jump-started spring real estate activity.

Comparing last month to January 2010, pending sales were up 20.5% and closed sells improved slightly to 2.9%. New listings dropped a mere 1% after an increase of 87.1% between January 2010 and December 2009. 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, increased by 0.3 months and is now at 12.9 months with 13,101 active listings.

All sales price indicators continued the same trends. Sale prices were down compared to February 2009 by 8.5%, and the median sale price also decreased by 9.3%. February 2010 sale prices were also down when viewed against January 2010 with average prices dropping by 3.3% while the median price decreased by 2.1%. The tax credit may have increased real estate transactions, but the high number of properties available continues to push prices down.

If you are in the market to purchase a home, now is still the perfect time to buy. There are plenty of properties available, sale prices have still continued to drop, and interest rates are still low. Additionally, if eligible, the extended and expanded home buyer’s tax credit is still available if in a purchase contract by April 30, 2010 and closed by June 30, 2010.

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 February 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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