High End Condos in NW Portland, Oregon
The high end condominium market in the northwest quadrant of Portland, Oregon is the most active condominium market in the city. It also has, on average, the most expensive condominiums in Portland.
This quadrant of the downtown area consisted primarily of old, little used multi story industrial warehouse buildings that had fallen into disfavor as the industrial warehousing market moved to the suburbs. The old multi story, elevator served, close in industrial storage and distribution uses faded as the one story, suburban, high square footage, dock high, fork lift served industrial product took over.
In the wake of the warehousing exodus, the northwest downtown quadrant was very under used. Lots of the first floor space in the old warehouse buildings was occupied with the upper levels unused.
Then came the residential renaissance that began in the middle 1980’s. The first “experiment” with “artist loft” housing was in the old McKesson/Robins building between Hoyt and Irving on NW 14th Avenue. This project pioneered the new high rise condo market in NW downtown Portland. With its completion, and eventual sell out in the middle 1980’s the way was paved for other development. Today there are lots of condominium projects in this area. Some are high rise, some mid rise. Some re-used existing buildings. Many are new buildings. During 2007 it was common to see 6 - 12 cranes on the skyline, erecting new buildings.
This is now one of the best accepted areas of town with lots of single family condominium housing, served by lots of shops and restaurants. A true renaissance.
The recent real estate sales activity and price history is presented in the charts and graphs below. The segment studied was that of condominiums with a sale price over $1,500,000.
High End Condominium Sales in NW Portland
| Time Frame | Ave. Sales Price | Ave. Days on Market |
| First Half 2006 | $1,736,063 | 50 |
| Second Half 2006 | $1,790,000 | 88 |
| First Half 2007 | $1,906,348 | 44 |
| Second Half 2007 | $1,938,424 | 113 |
| Current Listings | $1,988,434 | 281 |
As can be seen from the chart, the sales prices have steadily risen. The Days on Market were relatively low, until 2007, when they nearly tripled. And, the current Days on Market for listings is at 281 days. And, these haven’t sold yet.
The following graph paints the picture.
(The Sales Price and Days on Market are Averages)
The graph shows the relationship between sales price and Days on Market. Sales prices had leveled off with a trend for a slow increase. Days on Market were low, then jumped in 2007. The Listing’s Days on Market have risen a lot. As that trend might continue, it would produce a downward pressure on sales prices.
It should also be noted that this High End market does not have a lot of sales activity. The sales activity for each of the time frames examined was: First Half 2006 = two sales; Second Half 2006 = 4 sales; First Half 2007 = seven sales; Second Half 2007 = nine sales. Also, there are now 28 listings in this category. If we look at the Second Half of 2007, with total sales of nine units over $1,500,000, and divide that into the current listings, we derive a suggestion that there is just over a three month supply of this category of housing. Of course, the market is changing speed, and perhaps course. The statistics at the end of the first quarter of 2008 will be very telling of where this market is headed.
Ralph K. Olsen, Appraiser
Pacific West Appraisal Services, Inc.
pwas.net
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