Over the last 30 years, homeowners in the Portland metro area have enjoyed steady and meaningful appreciation in home values. Looking back just 10 years to 2015, the average sale price was $354,500. Fast forward to today, and we’re seeing prices in the $608,600–$624,100 range—depending on the month you look at in 2025. That’s an increase of roughly 71% over a decade, which aligns with Portland’s long-term appreciation trend of about 4–5% annually over 30 years.
But the story of recent years stands out dramatically. From 2020 through 2022, we experienced an unprecedented surge in home values. In 2020, the average sale price was about $494,000. By 2022, it reached a record $610,900—an increase of nearly 24% in just two years. Even extending through 2023, prices remained near record highs. In a market that typically takes a decade to see that kind of appreciation, we saw it compressed into just a few years.
Was this appreciation borrowed from future years?
That’s the question many are asking now. The extraordinary price gains of 2020–2022 may have effectively “borrowed” some of the appreciation we would have expected to see spread over the next 5–10 years. With buyers paying tomorrow’s prices yesterday, the market today is relatively flat—not because Portland has lost its appeal, but because much of the potential growth was pulled forward during that frenzy.
Since 2022, we’ve seen prices level out and even soften slightly at times. While prices today remain well above pre-pandemic levels, the market has clearly transitioned into a more affordable—or at least more balanced—environment. The affordability index, which hovered comfortably above 100 for years (indicating a median-income household could afford a median-priced home), has dropped into the 80s and 90s in recent quarters. This suggests many buyers are feeling stretched, which helps explain why price growth has stalled.
For homeowners, this affordability shift is a reminder that those massive, short-term gains of the past few years may not continue at the same pace. In fact, selling today could mean capturing some of those extraordinary gains before further softening or stagnation occurs. Even if prices hold steady from here, we’re unlikely to see another period like 2020–2022 anytime soon.
If you’ve owned your home for more than a few years, you’re still sitting on a significant amount of equity. Deciding whether to sell is about more than just timing the market—it’s about what those gains could mean for your next chapter. Whether you want to right-size, relocate, or simply cash in some of that equity, now may be your opportunity to take advantage of the gains you’ve earned.
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David Caldwell
Principal Real Estate Broker
