You may have already read the article in the Oregonian this morning by Ryan Frank regarding the state of our real estate market.  The headline read: "It's Time To Buy!" and outlined why it may be a great time to invest in the Portland market right now.

I've included a link to the article so you can check it out when you get a moment.  It makes an interesting case for not waiting to get into the market if you are thinking about buying a home and planning on having that be your primary residence over the next 5 years....

Read the entire article:  "It's Time To Buy!"

Does Trump Really Need More Money??

We've heard alot about a slowing market...but a $100 Million sale seems to buck that trend! Came across this article on CNBC.com. Interesting interview with Donald Trump as well regarding real estate across the board.
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Business magnate Donald Trump recently sold a house in Palm Beach for $100 million, although the U.S. housing sector is still weak, he told "Squawk Box."
"I'm a little bit of a tale of two cities. I just sold a house in Palm Beach for a number of approximately $100 million," Trump said. "I bought it a little while ago and sold it for a lot of money."
"Palm Beach or Manhattan, they are doing pretty well. You go outside of Manhattan, I can't think of a community that's doing well," he added. (The entire Trump Interview can be heard here).

The U.S. economy is driven by oil, Trump added, and at the moment there are better investment opportunities abroad. "Probably the saddest thing of all is that not many people want to invest in the US right now," he said. But the situation is likely to improve soon, Trump added. "Things that I couldn't buy a few years ago, I would be buying," he added.

April Market Update

Below is the link for the updated Market Action Report for April.

http://www.rmlsweb.com/temp%2Fdocuments%2F1500-1699%20Market%20Action%20and%20Statistics%20Menu%2F1504%20Market%20Action%20-%20April%202008.pdf


Comparing April 2008 to April 2007, market activity remains slow. On the other hand, month-to-month activity (March v. April) showed growth in some categories. One area of growth from March to April was pending sales, which grew 6.8% (2,070 v. 1,938). This is the first increase in pending sales from March to April since 2005. New listings also grew 2.7% (5,295 v. 5,155). Closed sales dropped 6.4% (1,582 v. 1,691). This drop is on par with the last threeyears, though, as closed sales have dropped an average of 6.7% from March to April. On the other hand, when comparing April 2008 with the same month in 2007, transactions were down across the board. New listings fell 2.9%. Closed sales and pending sales decreased 39% and 31%, respectively.