April 2026 Market Action Report: Portland Metro and Yamhill, Polk and Marion Counties
- The McCreith Team
- May 13
- 4 min read
Portland Metro and Polk & Marion Counties— beyond the numbers, here's what you should know.
April is here! And with it, the usual buzz and busyness, which is why we are getting this update out to you later than usual. Our apologies!
The numbers from RMLS are in: momentum is building, prices are holding, and the window for a well-positioned spring sale is open right now. Here's what happened in April, and what it means for you.
PORTLAND METRO ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
THE NUMBERS AT A GLANCE (APRIL 2026)
• Closed Sales: 2,013 ▲ 7.1% vs April 2025
• Pending Sales: 2,356 ▲ 5.9% vs April 2025
• New Listings: 3,396 ▲ 1.1% vs April 2025
• Median Sale Price: $550,000 — Flat vs April 2025
• Average Sale Price: $615,100 ▼ 0.3% vs April 2025
• Inventory: 3.1 months — Flat vs April 2025
• Total Market Time: 63 days ▼ 16 days vs March 2026
Let's start with the headline: closings jumped 7.1% over April 2025, and pending sales are up 5.9%. That's buyers and sellers actually getting to the finish line, which is the only number that ultimately matters. The spring season is tracking well.
Total market time dropped to 63 days, down 16 days from March. That's the seasonal acceleration we expect, and it arrived on cue. Homes that are priced well and show well are moving. Homes that aren't are sitting longer and, in some cases, failing to close. That gap is wider than it used to be, and it underscores how much strategy and preparation matter before you list.
Prices on a rolling 12-month basis are essentially flat, the average is down just 0.4% ($610,200 vs $612,500).
Inventory held steady at 3.1 months, which, if you look at the grave on page 1, that's exactly what it did last year. Question: does 2026 feel like 2025 to you? If you answered "no, not really," well, we would have to agree with you! This time last year we were not at war with Iran with gas prices soaring over $5/gallon. Buy the trends are the trends. People still have to buy and sell. We still have a slight supply-and-demand problem, and so that still leads to numbers trending in the right direction.
The $400K–$500K and $500K–$600K price bands together account for over 39% of all April closings. If your home falls in that range, you have the deepest pool of actively searching buyers in the market right now.
A note for our Yamhill County neighbors: the county's median came in at $476,900 in April, with an average market time of 89 days, a more patient pace than the overall average for the Portland Metro markets, but the rolling average sale price is up 1.5% year-over-year. Well-priced homes here are finding buyers. In fact, Amy McCormick submitted an offer for first time home buyers in Newberg last week and she was one of 3 offers received. There are still pockets of the market - desirable neighborhoods, improved homes, etc - where the market is incredibly competitive.
POLK & MARION COUNTIES ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Note: RMLS serves as a supplementary MLS for Polk and Marion Counties, so these figures reflect meaningful but not complete market activity.
THE NUMBERS AT A GLANCE (APRIL 2026)
• Closed Sales: 205 ▲ 22.0% vs April 2025
• Pending Sales: 229 ▼ 2.6% vs April 2025
• New Listings: 286 ▼ 14.9% vs April 2025
• Average Sale Price: $491,000 ▲ 3.2% vs April 2025
• Median Sale Price: $437,000 ▼ 2.9% vs April 2025
• Inventory: 3.3 months ▼ 0.2 vs April 2025
• Total Market Time: 66 days ▼ 36 days vs March 2026
That 22% jump in closed sales is real and it matters. Supply tightened, new listings dropped nearly 15%, while buyers kept showing up. That combination of less inventory and steady demand is what drives price appreciation, and that's exactly what the rolling data confirms: average sale prices are up 3.1% over the prior 12 months ($479,400 vs $464,900). Portland Metro, by comparison, is essentially flat.
Market time dropped a dramatic 36 days from March to April, landing at 66 days. Well-priced homes in Salem, Polk County, and the surrounding area are not languishing. They're selling.
With a median around $437K and genuine appreciation on the rolling data, the Salem corridor is one of the more compelling value stories in the region right now. The $500K–$600K range leads all transactions at 31.4% of April closings, a price profile that reflects both the area's growing appeal and its relative affordability compared to the Portland core.
For buyers who've felt stretched at Portland Metro price points, this corridor deserves a serious look. For sellers, the tightening supply picture is working in your favor.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
For sellers: The spring window is open and buyers are active. But active doesn't mean undiscerning. The homes performing best right now are priced honestly, presented carefully, and marketed with intention. If you'd like to have a conversation are strategically pricing and presenting your home, we're ready.
For buyers: At 3.1 months of inventory, you have more options than the lean years of 2021–2022, but that doesn't mean unlimited time. The most competitively priced, well-presented homes in both markets are still drawing real interest quickly. Have your financing in order, your priorities clear, and be ready to move when the right home appears.
For everyone: These are not chaotic markets. They're predictable, seasonal, and responsive to good strategy. That's actually a good thing, because it means you can really win with a knowledgeable, experienced Realtor working with you.
With spring comes more listings, more accepted offers, more closings, and that feels like momentum. But don't get caught up in a momentum market without a strategy.
LET'S TALK THROUGH THE NUMBERS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Whether you're thinking about listing this spring, still searching for the right home, or just trying to make sense of what these numbers mean for your specific situation, we're here for it. No pressure, no hype. Just honest guidance from people who know this market.
Amy McCormick, Principal Broker
503-310-7803 | amy@thebellacasagroup.com
Catherine Summers, Principal Broker
971-219-9858 | catherine@thebellacasagroup.com
Joni McCreith, Principal Broker
503-310-5613 | joni@thebellacasagroup.com
Molly Barajas, Principal Broker
503-310-4267 | molly@thebellacasagroup.com
Source: RMLS Market Action Report, April 2026 Reporting Period. © RMLS 2026. All Rights Reserved. Statistics are deemed reliable but not guaranteed. RMLS is a supplementary MLS for Polk and Marion Counties; data does not reflect the entire market for those areas.
Comments