Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Portland real estate market has stabilized compared to last year. But, as Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, home prices still seem to be dropping.

Home sales increased 49 percent between last April and this April -- according to new figures from the 'Real Estate Multiple Listings Service.'

Agency chairman, Gary Whitting, says the massive increase is a reflection of how bad things were last year.

Gary Whitting: "Now it's not that things are rocking and rolling, like 2004, 2005, 2006. We're just getting closer. We're slowly improving. It just shows that we're so much better than a year ago."

The average price for a Portland home decreased three percent -- to about $280,000.

Whitting says the markets fluctuates significantly between neighborhoods. Those closer to downtown are doing better.

But there's a caveat -- the market for condominiums in Portland is a wash in sales and there are not that many buyers.