Approaching Balance

Everything in life favors balance. Yin & Yang. Work hard/play hard. Even the cells in our bodies trend towards a balanced, isotonic state on either side of the cellular membrane. Establishing and maintaining balance is a practice that can take a lifetime and there is no final destination. Overly commit to a new passion and your marriage can suffer. Too much work can yield a robust bank account and some new physical ailments. You get the idea. Finding that place with the appropriate mix of all the elements of life can create a fleeting magic and an adulthood of pursuit.

As a Libra, thinking about balance gets me all mystical and then I’ve got to bring it back around to: what does this mean for Portland Real Estate?

Tucker, Summer, 2025…pretty balanced.

On paper we are still in, what would be considered by the statistics to be, a seller’s market. And in real life, ask any seller, and they’ll tell you that we are. If you pose the same inquiry to a seasoned buyer and they’ll tell you that the market is theirs. At this moment, I tend to agree with the buyers.

There are still some listings that will get a few offers and go pending in a few days. These properties are generally properly prepped, property staged and properly priced. The homes that do not meet these criteria are starting to accumulate and produce some background inventory. This leads to more choices (sometimes too many choices) for buyers which produces more negotiating power on the front end with the initial offer price and the backend with repair negotiations. Rates are still high, yes, and that sucks. But there is so much to gain on getting a good deal and getting repairs done that the monthly payment blow is significantly softened. It is a really good time to be a buyer.

All of that said…it is still a good time to sell…just not as good as it was in mid-Covid-times. I’ve found myself bursting bubbles and using direct + assertive language to dispel perception in my listing consultations these days. Most folks get it, and at the end of the day, people still would like to move.