Portland Oregon Buyer’s Market or Sellers Market

Last week during a showing a group of a charming Victorian home in Portland Oregon the Buyer asked me ” Do you think the Seller would be willing to take less?  ” Now I have answered this question thousands of times over the last 20+ years usually with a simple answer like” I don’t make decisions for the Seller’s, perhaps we should put it in writing and see what they have to say? ”.

However because of the tone in the Buyer’s voice, a tone that gave me the impression he thought that he deserved a reduction in price, I asked ” What causes you to ask that “? His straight up answer was “ Because it’s a Buyer’s Market Right? ”.

In Portland Oregon over the last year we have had a decrease in market prices and an increase in inventory. The only problem with his question was that this home had been on the market for less than 12 hours and it had real estate agents and thier Buyers crawling all over it. I recognized many of the agents and could see in their eyes the excitement. This truly was an amazing property and very very agressively priced.  A victorian such as this will get multiple offers.

The question asked earlier in the day by me Buyer started me to thinking about the differences in a Buyer’s Market and a Seller’s Market. I have touched on this subject once before on my Portland_Flips_Business_Blog  .

So what are the elements? Well certainly over the last several years as the market has continued to expand, one would have to conclude that was a Seller’s Market. Prices were constantly going up, speculation was often the name of the game and Seller’s were reaping relatively quick rewards for their properties.

So then to be a Buyer’s Market the opposite must be true? One of falling sales prices, rising inventories and strong competition to make your property the most attractive with little or no profits at all for the Seller’s perhaps even selling at a loss as it has been in many parts of the country for the last couple of years or so. 

In this type of market you would conclude that Buyer’s following sound business principles of Buy Low and Sell High would then be in a Feeding Frenzy. Especially in areas that have been notoriously expensive to purchase. While interest rates are relatively low and prices are down you would think that all of the people who had hoped to purchase and were unable to during the Seller’s Market would be all over this Buyer’s Market. The pent up demand for those who have wanted to buy and had been priced out certainly would propel the amount of sales in a Buyer’s Market well past any number done in a Seller’s Market.

That however is not the case. In fact it has not been the case at all in the last 20 years. I have watched as markets went through there normal cycles of highs and lows.The reality is that Buyer’s tend to make more purchase’s in a Seller’s Market often times competing for the same homes while driving up the prices even further.

So what about this Buyer’s Market then? Well if Buyer’s don’t or won’t take advantage of the conditions then by it’s own default there can be no Buyer’s Market.

Do you Agree or Disagree? For me I think there is no such thing as a Buyer’s Market or for that matter a Seller’s Market. There is Just a Real Estate Market.

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