Hillsboro & Washington County Real Estate Report Shows Housing Market Holding Strong

The report came out today for January 2025 with some year-over-year local real estate statistics.  The RMLS (Realtors Multiple Listing Service) has released the numbers comparing January 2024 to 2025.   Interpreting the market is the trick.  Sales and prices were up a decent amount.  However, those numbers would be driven by sales activity in October and November because real estate deal closings averaged about 45 to 60 days.  Here are my thoughts on where we are as a real estate market as we are past the first month of the new year.

Here is the report for the overall Metro Tri County Areas.

• The number of Homes for sale is up 13.6% over January 2024.
• Pending Sales are up 15.2% when compared to January 2024.
• Closed sales were up 8.3%.
• Average sales prices were up by 6% year over year.
• The median sales price was up 6%.
• The listing inventory is at 3.7 Months.
• The total market time for homes to be listed and closed was 88 days from start to finish for those that closed. That was two weeks longer than the same month in 2024.

Here are the numbers for the last 10 days –

Being a broker here in the market for the last 43 years, I have learned that markets are different within a few blocks and, for sure, City by City.  Hillsboro, Oregon, has its own real estate forces and markets that we must look at to be empowered.  Diving deeper into the numbers in the city, with the biggest subdivision in Oregon’s history being built (South Hillsboro), we see more details.  Let’s look at the Altos Research data supplied by our friends at Chicago Title Company.

Weekly Data 2-3 to 2-10 2025 for 97123

As seen above, the 97123, which is all of the Middle to Southern parts of Hillsboro and the southern countryside, is experiencing:

• 126-day market times to sell.
• 51% of all listings decreased asking prices some last week.
• The sales price per square foot is dropping.
• The numbers include mostly new homes built by several National builders in Reeds Crossing and Butternut Creek communities in South Hillsboro.

Market Tips- 97123- This zip code is tricky to read as it is primarily driven by home builders who carefully control pricing by offering below-market interest rates, closing cost packages, and amenities.  Builders can not afford to have prices move down in a new home community as the ripple effect can be disastrous to future sales and the bottom line. Right now, things look stable and are not likely to rise or fall significantly, but they will remain stable.

Weekly Data 2-3 to 2-10 2025 for 97124

As seen above, the 97124, which is all of the Middle to Northern parts of Hillsboro and the Northern upslopes, is experiencing:

• 125-day market times to sell.
• 44% of all listings decreased asking prices last week.
• The sales price per square foot is dropping but the same as 97123 – $324 per square foot.
• The numbers include Orenco and the greater Jackson School areas, where prices are higher, and the Central inner city, where more modest homes can be found.

Market Tips- 97124- This zip code has been very tight regarding Inventory this past week, being 40% lower than the 97123 region.  In addition, the Median asking price is over $50,000 lower than the 97123.  Both numbers are skewed by the new construction across town in the 97123.  Also, in 97124, we have seen a lot more long-term owners lock in those 3% interest rates from 3 or 4 years ago, and as a result, they are not going anywhere.

Hillsboro has been whacked by job losses – thousands of them in 2024.  Intel is on the mat, and AI is displacing workers at employers like Sales Force in Orenco, where over 225 people lost their jobs after the company announced it was moving to an AI model and closed up shop here.

There is a lot of chatter on NextDoor and Facebook Groups that Hillsboro is toast and that the real estate market will collapse with Intel’s fortunes, et al.  But I see a City ready to settle in for the future, enjoy slower growth, and a place that people from Portland, Los Angeles, and many Red States fall in love with.  Our greatest asset is still our people, environment, proximity to local food sources, friendly corporate environment, and more.  Climate Refugees are something I experience weekly as people with money and a desire to leave communities that are burning and overheating show up on Main Street to explore near my offices.

While I do not promote my real estate practice often, if ever here at the Herald, and most of you know my writing to be strongly community-oriented and not always rah rah “big business” like most Realtors, it has been my life’s work.  I am proud of the difference I have made, the community projects I have leveraged my real estate career to help shape, and the many good friends I have helped.  I sell about 50 properties a year here in Hillsboro and Washington County and have been in the top 1% of brokers in Oregon for decades.   My approach is always as an advisor and consultant, focusing on the outcome you need- not the process per se.  That part is easy!

Should you need me, you can find out more at https://www.calldirk.com/services

DIRK KNUDSEN Article