My Blog

Join Riverscape Properties and the Northwest Food and Wine Festival for a fall event hosted in the Pacifica Tower at Riverscape.
Enjoy a pinots and ports tasting as well as a great selection of food items.  Art by local area artists will also be on display.  We'd love to see you there!
RSVP appreciated by October 21, 2008 .. Call 1 800 422 0251 x3006 or email me at blake@ellisnw.com to let me know you're coming!

Below, you'll see the August 2008 numbers for the Portland area Real Estate market.  Our current inventory of listed homes is holding steady at 9.9 months.  The average sale price for August 2008 was down 6.7% compared to August 2007, while the median sale price dropped 7.3% (the table below will illustrate this for you as well).

If you would like to see more detailed information on your specific area, or are interested in Buying or Selling, feel free to call or email me any time!  blake@ellisnw.com 503 473 5097

I'm back!  I've been out of the country for a bit - in Syndey and Kuala Lumpur, but I'm back working away! 

According to a recent article published by Business Week, the Portland market is the #5 best performing market in the country!  Despite a difficult year in the real estate and financial markets, Portland is still a good place to be.
I've attached a link to the article for you to check out.

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/105707/Where-Homes-Are-Selling-Fastest 

Also, great news with regard to interest rates lately.  With the news of the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, rates reacted favorably this week.  I've included our most current price quotes, courtesy of Countrywide Home Loans in the Pearl District.**

        30 yr fix conforming 5.750% at zero points and 5.500% at 1.000 point.
        5/1 Arm conforming is 5.125% at 1.000 point
        30 yr fix non-conforming 6.875% at zero points and 6.500% at 1.000 point.
        5/1 Arm non-conforming 6.125% at 1.000 point

As always, if you or anyone you know is considering buying or selling real estate, I'd love to help!

blake@ellisnw.com

**For any additional financing related information, please contact Jeff Bernhard, Countrywide Home Loans, jeff_bernhard@countrywide.com

YUM! I was finally able to try Le Pigeon, a new(er) Portland restaurant on E Burnside and 7th that has been very well received by Portlanders and food critics alike.  This small new restaurant has already been written up by New York Times food editors, and was packed to the brim even on a Monday night at 10pm - for good reason.

It's SO GOOD!

I enjoyed a foie gras appetizer which was finished with some cherries and a sweet cherry sauce, and then had a main course of Beef Cheek Bourguignon.  This is food that makes you take a deep breath and sit back in your chair.  Also, the space is pretty fun.  Seating is communal, so you'll share your table with other Portlanders and visitors. The kitchen is open to the dining area, and if you sit at the bar, you'll get to see the chefs in action.  Take a trip, I promise you'll be glad you did.  (Take me with you!! :) )

738 E Burnside St
Portland, OR 97232 (503) 546-8796
www.lepigeon.com  

Portland, Oregon's Pearl District has another new restaurant - 50 Plates.  Located on NW 13th and Flanders, this is an upscale take on classic American diner food.  Lots of homestyle comfort food favorites and of course, the desserts.  Dressed up versions of ho-ho's, snowballs, fried cherry pies and of course devil's food cake.  We hosted a birthday dinner here for a frined this past week, and had a really good time.  The space is low key, but dressed up, and the food was pretty good, too.  I've been twice so far, and have tried their "mac and cheese and chicken and fennel" and their "po boy sandwich".  Both were pretty good, but I'd say go for the mac and cheese!

Here's what the founders of the restaurant have to say about their place:
"50 Plates is a restaurant showcasing the cuisine of the American tradition. Of memories – real or imagined – of grandmother’s pies, state fair fries, of date shakes and cheese steaks; a Kentucky bourbon fueled culinary road-trip beyond Route 66, from Smithfield Hams to Ipswich Clams. 50 Plates is the best of red states, blue plates, and everything in between."

Take a trip to 50 states!
333 NW 13th
Portland, OR 97204 (503) 228-5050
www.50plates.com/

RMLS just released the July 2008 Market Action Report yesterday afternoon.  According to the new report, numbers from July pretty closely mirror what we saw in June 2008.  Inventory in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area did tick up just a bit to 10 months of inventory.  This means that at our current rate of closed sales, it would take 10 months to sell out of our current inventory.  See below for a little more detailed information regarding our most current listings and sales numbers for the Portland, Oregon real estate market.
Click here for the full report.