Home prices appear to be on the rise. The median sales price of a home in Portland rose 6.6 percent between May of last year and May of this year, according to the Regional Multiple Listings Service (RMLS).
A sold sign in NE Portland.
Rebecca Roberts Galloway / OPB
Last May, the cost of the average Portland home was about $264,000 dollars. This May, it's up to $274,000
Real estate agent, Bill Willis of ERA Freeman, says he's seeing sales begin to pick up across the state.
Willis said, "There are an increased number of buyers who are recognizing what's going on in the marketplace, and with the record low interest rates and everything that's going on in that realm, we're seeing a significant come back."
Willis had one word of caution for buyers and that's the shadow inventory. Banks own thousands of distressed homes and homes that have been foreclosed. As prices pick up, economists think those banks are likely to release that inventory onto the market, keeping prices down.
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