Portland Metro Housing Market: November 2026 Update

Portland metro indicators. Median price, months of supply, and market time from the RMLS-based September 2026 report; the rate is the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey reading for the week of November 5, 2026. See the sources at the bottom of this page.

What Has Changed Since October

Three things moved between our October update and today, and none of them was a surprise or a reversal:

• Rates eased for a third straight week. The 30-year averaged 7.40% for the weeks of October 8 and 15, then 7.32%, 7.24%, and now 7.18%. A pause in a climb that left rates near a three-year high, but the first sustained relief since late summer, and the lowest reading since early October.
• The Fed held, and December stayed on the table. The FOMC kept its target range at 3.75% to 4.00% on October 28 by a 10-2 vote, and markets price roughly a 73% chance of a hike at the December 8-9 meeting, the last scheduled decision of 2026. The window before then is when today's rate environment is most likely to hold.
• The election passed without a housing measure. Oregon's ballot carried no statewide housing measures this cycle, and the metro has already returned to its normal seasonal economics. Winter normally brings fewer, more serious buyers and a seller's edge to well-priced listings; nothing about the vote has changed that, and we walked through both sides in our note on Election Day.

The September market figures below are still the most reliable full picture of the metro. RMLS typically releases its Market Action Report covering October data around the 18th to the 20th of the month, so the next full read on the market is due before Thanksgiving. Until then, these are the numbers to plan against.

What the Numbers Mean for Buyers

For buyers, the November market finally pairs two things that rarely lined up this year: more inventory and lower rates.

• Rates are finally moving the right way, at least for now. At 7.18%, the average 30-year fixed is the lowest it has been since early October, and it is the first three-week run of declines since before the summer. On a typical $436,000 loan (20% down on the $545,000 median), principal and interest run near $2,950 a month, roughly $20 below last week and about $270 above the same week a year ago, when the 30-year averaged 6.22%. Real relief at the margin, still a costly market at the level.
• The market is balanced and it is turning in your favor. At 4.2 months of supply, the highest inventory of the year, buyers have genuine choices and time. Half of active listings carried a price reduction at last reading, average market time is 68 days, and contingencies, inspections, and financing windows are all back in contracts. November has historically been a leverage season, and the election is over, so the market is back to normal economics without a news cycle in the way.
• The October report lands this month and should be better. RMLS typically publishes its Market Action Report around the 18th to 20th of the month, so the report covering October data, with pending sales, prices, and market time, is due before Thanksgiving. Pending sales ran 17.9% below a year ago in September, and a lower rate backdrop through October could begin to steady or reverse that, though it is too soon to call.
• The tools still move the needle more than the rate headline. Temporary buydowns, seller-paid concessions, and Oregon's down payment programs all lower the cash and monthly strain of buying, and they matter whether rates hold at 7.18% or drift back toward 7.4%. Our note on Oregon down payment assistance walks through up to $60,000 of state help.

Where does all that leave a typical payment? A median-priced home around $545,000, purchased with 20% down and a 30-year fixed loan at the early-November average near 7.18%, brings a principal and interest payment of roughly $2,950 a month, before property taxes, insurance, and any HOA dues, about $270 above the same home a year ago. If you have read our buying versus renting comparison, you know the full monthly number is what matters, not the mortgage line alone.

What the Numbers Mean for Sellers

For sellers, the November market is less about a rate headline and more about the habits that earn a better outcome in a buyer-leaning season:

• Price against the buyer who is actually qualifying. A buyer who qualified at 6.22% a year ago now carries roughly $270 more a month on the same median-priced loan, and a December hike would push it further. Homes priced against current, closed comparables still draw showings in the first two weeks; homes priced a year ago sit, and the data show they get cut.
• November buyers are fewer, serious, and often ready to move. Inventory dips after Thanksgiving, and the buyers who remain are frequently pre-approved and in a position to move before year-end. That is a good thing for a well-priced, well-presented listing: fewer lookers, but a higher share who can actually close.
• Concessions close more deals than price cuts. Contributing to a temporary buydown or covering a share of closing costs can turn a rate-conscious buyer into a contract, often for less than an equivalent price reduction, and in a market with real inventory, buyers ask for exactly that.
• Presentation separates listings more than ever. With average market time at 68 days and price reductions on roughly half of active listings, the home that shows at its best, clean, staged, photographed well, and marketed with intent, is the one that sells on its timeline. Our note on selling with a boutique team explains why process wins in a balanced market.

Our seller's guide to the 10 decisions before listing walks through the prep, from pricing to presentation, if you are thinking about the November window. And on the practical calendar, Oregon property tax payments are due Monday, November 16 (the statutory November 15 falls on a Sunday this year); pay in full by then for the state's 3% discount, or start the three-installment schedule.

The Rate Picture, and December 9

Our note on the Fed holding rates walks through the vote, the dissents, and what a December move would mean for the Portland market, and the note on rates easing to 7.24% explains the mechanics behind the recent declines. The short version: treat the window before December 9 as the period when today's rate environment is most likely to hold, and make plans against the payment you can manage now.

On a typical $436,000 loan, a quarter of a point moves the payment by roughly $70 a month, a real line in a monthly budget but rarely the thing that tips a decision by itself. What matters more is the shape of the loan you qualify for, the size of your down payment, and whether a fixed rate at a number you can live with makes your target payment work in the community you actually want to live in. If you would like a referral to a lender we trust and a run of the current rates for your situation, ask us; pointing buyers to the right lender is part of the job we do every week.

What That Looks Like in Our Service Areas

The metro median is a useful starting place, but the value of a local team is the local picture. Here is how the balanced, rate-sensitive market tends to play out around the communities we serve:

Every one of these communities has its own rhythm, and the full map of our service areas shows the range we cover, from the metro core down the Willamette Valley. Our current listings show what is actually on the market right now, priced for this rate environment.

Sources

The figures in this update come from these public reports, retrieved November 6, 2026. Monthly payment figures are the team's own estimates from the prices and rates cited, and are not quotes.

• Freddie Mac News Release: Mortgage Rates Decline for Third Consecutive Week to 7.18%

  Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week of November 5, 2026: 30-year fixed at 7.18%, down from 7.24%; 15-year fixed at 6.57%, down from 6.60%. A year earlier the 30-year averaged 6.22%. Chief economist Sam Khater said rates 'continued their downward trajectory this week.' Retrieved November 6, 2026.

• Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey

  Weekly national average mortgage rates, including the 7.18% reading for the week of November 5, 2026. Retrieved November 6, 2026.

• The McCreith Team: October 2026 Market Action Report, Portland metro

  RMLS-based September 2026 figures: median sale price $545,000, flat year over year; average sale price $630,500, up 2.2%; about 4.2 months of supply, the highest of the year; 68 days average market time; pending sales down 17.9% year over year to 1,760; closed sales 1,752. Retrieved November 6, 2026.

• Frederick Mac: Mortgage Rates Hit 7.40%, a Nearly Three-Year High (prior reading)

  Context for the week-by-week climb: 7.40% for the weeks of October 8 and 15, 7.32% the week of October 22, 7.24% the week of October 29, before 7.18% on November 5. Retrieved November 6, 2026.

• FRED: Market Yield on US Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity

  Daily 10-year Treasury yield series, which drove the mortgage-rate picture in October and early November, settling off the roughly 5.3% early-October peak while retesting 5% in recent weeks. Retrieved November 6, 2026.

• Federal Reserve FOMC calendar

  The FOMC held its target range at 3.75%-4.00% on October 28, 2026 by a 10-2 vote; the final scheduled 2026 meeting is December 8-9. Retrieved November 6, 2026.

• Nora Real Estate: Interest Rates Hike Odds for December 2026

  CME FedWatch fed funds futures price roughly a 73% chance of a quarter-point hike at the December 8-9 meeting. Retrieved November 6, 2026.

• Multnomah County: Property tax payments are due November 16, 2026

  Oregon property taxes due Monday, November 16, 2026 (the statutory November 15 falls on a Sunday): pay in full for a 3% discount or pay in three installments (November 16, February 16, May 17). Retrieved November 10, 2026.