Portland Real Estate Market Update: What 2025's Inventory Surge Might Mean for the Rest of the Year
If you’ve been watching the Portland real estate market over the past few years, you’ve seen it shift from frenzied to frozen and now, in 2025, something a little more nuanced.
As of April, new listings across the Portland metro are up—10,307 homes have hit the market YTD, a 6.5% increase from last year. For context, that’s the highest we've seen since 2022, when the market was still riding the tailwinds of pandemic-era momentum.
But here’s what matters: supply is growing faster than demand.
Pending sales? They’re essentially flat—up just 0.7% year-over-year. Closed sales have ticked up by 4.7%, but we’re still well below the levels we saw in 2021 and 2022.
Let’s break it down:
🏡 New Listings Are Surging
After two slower years, sellers are returning. Whether it’s because they’re tired of waiting or just adjusting to the new mortgage rate normal, we’ve seen a 25.9% jump in new listings from March to April alone.
This kind of surge typically signals more choices for buyers, which is a good thing—unless it leads to an oversupply in the months ahead.
🔍 Buyer Activity Remains Cautious
Pending sales have barely budged from last year’s numbers. That tells us demand isn’t accelerating at the same pace as supply.
And with inventory now at 3.1 months, and more importantly, over 6,000 homes actively for sale at the time of this blog post, we’re no longer in a red-hot seller’s market. If this trend continues—and it likely will through the summer—we could shift into more balanced territory where price reductions, seller credits, and contingent offers start to re-emerge.
📊 What Does This Mean for the Rest of 2025?
The market is recalibrating.
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For sellers: Pricing right matters more than ever. Overpricing based on 2021 comps is a quick path to sitting stale.
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For buyers: You’ve got more leverage now than you’ve had in years. More homes to choose from, more time to decide, and a bit more power at the negotiation table.
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For everyone: This market is heading toward a more traditional rhythm—seasonal swings, reasonable timelines, and negotiable terms.
Expect continued inventory growth into summer, steadier pricing, and a greater emphasis on property condition, value, and presentation.
If you’ve been waiting to buy or thinking about selling, this market offers opportunity on both sides—it just takes strategy and timing. If you want help navigating it, let’s connect.
