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Susan's Online Guide to Portland Let me Help You Find a Home and a Neighborhood |
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Welcome to my Web site about the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. It's my way of helping you become acquainted with the neighborhoods and communities of the Portland metro area and to inform you about the Portland area housing market. Your comments and suggestions about my Web site are always welcome. If you have questions or if you are interested in buying or selling a home in the Portland area, contact me online or call me at (503) 497-2984.
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Real Estate Market Trends |
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Sales of U.S. new homes unexpectedly decline in December January 27 − Sales of new U.S. homes unexpectedly declined in December for the first time in four months, capping the slowest year on record for builders. Purchases (NHSLTOT) of single-family properties decreased 2.2 percent to a 307,000 annual pace, figures from the Commerce Department showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists called for a rate of 321,000 home sales. Last year marked the worst year for the industry in records going back to 1963. The threat of further price declines may be dissuading some Americans from buying a new home even with mortgage rates near all-time lows and more people finding work. Following a lull in 2011, a wave of foreclosures may hamper the recovery in real estate as more distressed properties are put on the market. Read more... New housing task force will zero in on Wall Street January 26 − After failing to produce any major prosecutions stemming from the housing crisis, an expanded federal task force is planning a new tack, cracking down on financial firms suspected of improperly bundling home loans into securities for investors, officials said Wednesday. The Obama administration tried to instill confidence in the effort by installing Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York state attorney general who is viewed by liberal groups as a crusader against big banks, as one of the leaders of a new unit within the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. But skeptics still doubted the sincerity of the new effort. Read more... RealtyTrac: Portland-area foreclosure sales pick up in 2011's third quarter January 26 − Portland-area foreclosure sales picked up in the third quarter of 2011, but a rally in home sales overall meant distressed homes made up a smaller portion of all transactions. And while the sales of bank-owned homes fell 2.1 percent, pre-foreclosure sales -- often a short sale -- climbed nearly 14 percent. Third-quarter sales figures, released after a delay, are the most recently available. According to the foreclosure listings site RealtyTrac, 1,702 "distressed" properties with foreclosure filings in Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton sold from July to September, a 3.6 percent increase from the same period a year earlier. They made up nearly one in five home sales during the quarter. Read more... |
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Home & Health |
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Forest Grove home in historic district
Neighbors in North Portland like the idea that the New Seasons store on Williams will bring jobs January 27 − In recent years, development has resisted the recession and blossomed along the long-dormant stretch of vacant lots and old warehouses that make up North Portland's Vancouver/Williams corridor. Now, plans for a 30,000-square-foot, $8 million New Seasons Market at Williams Avenue and Fremont Street are pushing the area one step closer to becoming Portland's next hip neighborhood. The most common reaction in the area is that the store is a welcome addition that will add jobs and attract redevelopment. More debatable has been whether the store -- which some say is the latest example of gentrification -- will address what some call a "food desert" where low-income residents struggle for access to fresh food. Read more... Students build greenest home in Canada
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News |
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Only two in three Oregon high school students graduate in four years January 27 − Oregon high schools again failed to graduate one of every three students last year, figures out today show. More than 11,000 young people in the high school class of 2011 dropped out. State school Superintendent Susan Castillo cheered the increase in the state's on-time graduation rate, which rose from 66 percent for the classes of 2009 and 2010 to 67 percent for the class of 2011. But Gov. John Kitzhaber called the 67 percent rate "unacceptable." Most of Oregon's large and medium-size districts failed to get even 70 percent of the students who entered high school in fall 2007 to earn a diploma within four years. Read more... Portland firefighter wedding: Fate or luck brought them together -- and $340 made sure of it
Homeowners help USGS track quake danger in 'NetQuakes' project January 27 − On this day, January 26th, in 1700 an earthquake as big as Japan’s 2011 quake rattled the coasts of Oregon and Washington. It created a devastating tsunami. The U.S. Geological Survey is now trying to figure out which urban areas would be most at risk in a big quake. And as Oregon Field Guide's Ed Jahn reports, they're enlisting the help of some Portland homeowners in the effort.When Darrick Wong moved from San Francisco to Southeast Portland several years ago, he didn’t leave his fear of earthquakes behind. Wong recalls, "When I was 8, the 1989 earthquake happened, and I was actually riding home from school with my mother at the time and I remember we had just gotten off the freeway, and then all of a sudden we were pointed at the opposite lane of traffic .. and everyone was just kind of looking at each other out of the windows of their cars and going 'What the hell was that?'" Read more... Innovative design comes in new Boxx
Wanted: Landmark urban agriculture project January 27 − In many ways, Oregon is playing a critical role in the urban agriculture movement. The increase in demand of local food by city dwellers has led to the surging popularity of community-supported agriculture farms and farmers markets. Leadership from organizations like the Food Alliance and Oregon Tilth has helped raise the profile of the region as a place to redefine the food supply chain. And platforms like CleanMetrics' food impact calculator and Ecotrust's FoodHub have expanded the reach and brand of Oregon in this space. But with all that momentum in place, Oregon is missing one critical element: business innovation. Read more... Portland-area unemployment drops to 8.6 percent, lowest in three years
Eastern Oregon biofuel refinery wins federal loan backing to make ethanol from poplar trees January 26 − In a few years, you could be filling up with fuel made from Oregon poplar trees, wheat straw and corn stalks. Financed in part with a $235 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today, ZeaChem plans a $390 million biofuel refinery in Boardman capable of producing up to 25 million gallons of ethanol per year. The Colorado-based energy company expects to be producing fuel and valuable by-products by late 2014. It's the third U.S. commercial-scale advanced biofuel refinery on the drawing boards. The plant in Boardman, a town of about 3,500 along the Columbia River in eastern Oregon, will make what's called cellulosic ethanol. Unlike conventional corn ethanol, it uses wood, switchgrass and agricultural waste instead of food for fuel. Production also generates considerably less greenhouse gas, ZeaChem said, and uses less water. Read more... Joe Dobbes, Oregon winemaker, named the nation's No. 1 'hot brand' winner of 2011
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Susan
Marthens |
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Copyright © Moving to Portland Web by Dasan Design ● Telephone (503) 819-0011 |
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Located
in the historic neighborhood of Forest Grove, this well-built house has
an open floor plan with many upgrades that add up to easy living.
The new windows throughout provide extensive light. Behind is a wonderful
back yard with low-maintenance native plants, a new cedar garden shed, and
wonderful places to sit, all surrounded by a cedar fence. It is just
a short walk to the many delights of a charming small town--city park, downtown
shops, and Pacific U, to name a few. Directions: West on HWY 8 (Pacific
Ave in FG), South on Elm, west on 16th. MLS 11664015.
January
27 − What’s planned for construction by students on an infill lot and aiming
to meet the Living Building Challenge with LEED Platinum certification?
That would be Canada’s Greenest Home in Ontario. Students enrolled in The
Endeavour Centre’s Sustainable New Construction: Building a New Future program
will build the 2,000 square-foot home during a five-month period this summer.
The home is expected to use a fraction of the energy of a conventional home
and will have an energy-efficient foundation, prefabricated straw bale walls,
grid-tied photovoltaics, solar hot water, rainwater collection, greywater
recycling, composting toilets, and natural paints and finishes. Canada’s
Greenest Home will go on sale at the end of the program and proceeds will
be used to help offset tuition costs. Before that, though, there’s a lot
to follow — including a blog with student feedback and commentary on the
build.
January
27 − When Portland firefighter Morgan Long runs into burning buildings,
the man is so calm that his hands never tremble. But last spring, two simple
words -- "you're next" -- made his palms damp. The 29-year-old, never at
a loss for words, stammered when he tried talking his way out of a jam that
he knew would likely lead to one of his life's most embarrassing nights.
His name should never have made it onto the list. He'd mistakenly clicked
the wrong icon on the Facebook page. He was two hours late and had missed
the official instructions. It didn't matter. You're next. The last thing
28-year-old Robin Jacobs wanted was a night out with the girls. The certified
public accountant was buried under paperwork and deadlines as the 2011 tax
season drew to a close. All she wanted to do this night was to go to the
gym and then head home to watch television. But her girlfriend insisted
that Jacobs attend her big birthday party, which she was throwing at downtown
Portland's Rock Bottom Brewery.
January
27 − If Steve Jobs designed an electric moped, it might have had the look
and sensibilities of a Boxx. Largely shrouded in secrecy until its public
unveiling at this week’s 2012 Portland International Auto Show, the Boxx
resembles a giant upright iMac with wheels, handlebars and seat attached.
In a style reminiscent of innovator Jobs, the recently departed Apple visionary,
Portlander Eric Vaughn has orchestrated the custom design of every component
of his new moped, including the Boxx body, motor, tires, lights, all-wheel
drive and electronic controls. “I design, from the ground up, every detail,”
says the 36-year-old Boxx design engineer, founder and chief executive officer.
Vaughn even wrote 80-page drafts of several patent applications, with editing
help from a lawyer.
January
26 − Greater Portland continues leading Oregon out of the economic woods,
with unemployment falling to 8.6 percent in December – the lowest rate in
three years – as the metro area added 1,600 jobs last month, seasonally
adjusted. Over the year, metro-area employers added 14,200 jobs for a gain
of 1.5 percent. That increase exceeds 1.1 percent job growth for Oregon
as a whole. Many rural counties remain mired in double-digit unemployment.
Amy Vander Vliet, an Oregon Employment Department economist in Portland,
said the numbers released Wednesday were encouraging, but not enough to
portend job growth of 2,000 to 3,000 a month from here on out. "I still
don't feel we have a firm foundation or enough momentum to look forward
and think we're going to see consistent job growth," Vander Vliet said.
"I still think it's going to be uncertain and erratic" as Europe's financial
crisis plays out and as growth slows in Asian markets.
January
26 − Industry recognition for Oregon winemaker Joe Dobbes, both financial
and, now, testimonial, just keeps on coming. Dobbes, based in Dundee, learned
late Tuesday that Wine Business Monthly has named his company #1 Hot Small
Brand of 2011. The prestigious announcement, expected to be made public
Thursday, comes just months after Dobbes' Wine by Joe secured a deal with
Bacchus Capital Management of New York providing significant resources for
new equipment and national and international marketing efforts. "I'm an
overnight success after 30 years," said Dobbes, who actually has worked
as a winemaker for the past 26 years, 24 of them in Oregon. "But, honestly,
we've been running a good, smart company and making high-quality wines and
it's nice to get some recognition for that." He spoke by telephone from
Sacramento, only hours before heading to Napa, where he has just signed
Old Bridge Cellars as his sole national sales and marketing representative.
