The Associated PressA home for sale in Portland.The Portland housing market made its strongest showing in years in May as home sales continued to rebound and sale prices — by all measures — turned into positive year-over-year territory.

The 2,098 homes sold in May were the most reported by the Regional Multiple Listing Service since August 2007. The month’s numbers, released on Thursday, even beat a tax credit-fueled buying frenzy in mid-2010.

The number of sales represents a 20.4 percent increase compared with the same month a year earlier. Buyers signed sale contracts on another 2,522 homes in transactions that will close in coming months.

At the May sales rate, the 8,742 homes on the market would sell in 4.2 months.

That shows a market tipped toward the sellers’ advantage, with six months generally considered a balanced market and anything higher a buyer’s market.

“For the last few months, we have been writing a copious number of competitive offers,” said Jeff Bale, a managing broker for Redfin in Portland. “Buyers are continually caught in competitive offer situations.”

That’s driven higher prices. In May, the median sale price was $234,500, a 6.6 percent increase compared with a year earlier and 4.2 percent higher than in April. The average sale price rose 7.2 percent compared with a year earlier to $281,400.

Although the average or median sale price have turned positive this year, May was the first month both showed gains since 2010.

The number of homes newly listed for sale, however, fell 2.1 percent compared with a year earlier. So far this year, new listings lag 2011 by 8.4 percent.

The time homes spend on the market is falling. Among homes that sold, the average time on market was 114 days, 31 days fewer than a home sold in May a year ago.

–Elliot Njus
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