Portland Short Sales

Short Sales are not as big a part of the market this year as they were in the past. For example in February of 2010 there were 1838 closed short sales in the Portland Metro area. Compared to January of 2014 with only 264 closed short sales in the Portland Metro area. Obviously, the market is moving away from short sales and is stronger than ever in the inner NE, SE, NW and SW areas. 

I closed a cooperative short sale in the past with Bank of America (BOA), and I must admit that it was very interesting.  Instead of being in an adversarial relationship, we worked together from the very beginning. In this type of short sale, the bank pre-approved a sale price, so if an offer comes in at the pre-approved price, the response from the bank should come within 48 hours.  This is quite an improvement compared to the 4 to 6 month wait usually associated with short sales. This year I have closed one short sale that was relatively easy from start to finish, so it is possible even in our recovering market. 

This page is primarily dedicated to properties that are "FOR SALE", but if you are interested in how to stop foreclosure in Portland, please give me a call 503-810-2219.

Portland Short Sales In 2013?

The mortgage debt relief act was scheduled to end on December 31st 2012, but lawmakers managed to get an extension of this law passed as a part of the "Fiscal Cliff" legislation.    The way that the law works is as follows: When a property owner sells his or her home as a "Short Sale" the bank takes a loss.  That loss could be a taxable event for the homeowner because it results in a 1099 from the bank to the homeowner for the amount of the loss.  The Mortgage Debt Relief Act extends the amount of a time that a homeowner can be exempt from this "Phantom Gain" until the end of 2013,

Short sale inventory in Portland has been drying up.  See the graph below:

As this graph clearly illustrates, the number of short sale listings placed on the market have declined substantially over the period of Jan. 2012 to Dec. 2012.   This decline may in part be to the uncertainty about whether or not congress would approve an extension of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act.

Now that the uncertainty has been removed for 2013, I expect many sellers who are still "underwater" to list and sell their homes.  Inventory in the Portland Metro Area remains low, and short sales are a significant part of overall sales.  In 2012, approximately 831 short sales were recorded in Portland.  There were about 1139 bank owned (REO) sales and there were about 6919 traditional sales.  In other words, about 9% of the sales recorded in Portland last year were short sales... about 13% were bank owned sales, and about 78% were traditional sales.