Spring 2022 has been an interesting time for the Portland real estate market. A flurry of activity that started two years ago by those looking to buy or sell a home has created unique market conditions. Fortunately, our Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood has many compelling characteristics and favorable home features, both aligning with current residential real estate demand trends in our region.
As Beaumont-Wilshire residents, we love to take advantage of all that our neighborhood offers. It’s beautiful, walkable with notable architecture, and has highly rated schools. But as mentioned, there are other, more subtle reasons why the recent real estate activity in our area is above-average compared with other Portland neighborhoods.
To get a better understanding of the latest trends and differentiators in Beaumont-Wilshire, we connected with two local realtors, Carolyn Kaleel from Morgan Davis Homes and Polly Webber from The Hasson Company.
Carolyn shared trends that align with our neighborhood’s features. “Beaumont-Wilshire is positioned well to meet the needs and desires of people coming to Portland,” she explained. “They want to make their work-life work here.”
A feature of importance is a property with an ADU or space to build one to accommodate an aging parent.
“As people age, they’re less likely to want to deal with stairs, and maybe want a smaller home,” Carolyn said.
Beaumont-Wilshire’s location is also attractive to homebuyers. “There are many people that want to be near public transportation so they can enjoy accessibility to downtown Portland for a concert or an art exhibit,” she said, “or just to be able to walk to Beaumont Village for coffee and a bagel.”
Carolyn further pointed out that most Beaumont-Wilshire homes afford one of two things: old houses that have nooks and crannies for an office or an attic or basement that can be refinished.
“People didn’t typically refinish their basement, then they started to do so to get more money when they sold their home,” she said. “Now it’s wildly popular because of the pandemic.”
What Carolyn is finding is that more than in the past, people need a home office, and with kids at home more, the need for play area space has risen. Family rooms, gardens, and wine cellar space are also in vogue.
“Beaumont-Wilshire,” Carolyn said, “is wonderful Northwest living at its finest when you can walk to Beaumont Market or to Wilshire Park.”
Polly Webber, of The Hasson Company, provided some intriguing statistics: in 2014 the average sale price in Beaumont-Wilshire was $498,000; it climbed to $646,000 in 2019. For the first few months of 2022, the average is up 17% from 2019 to $754,000.
“The growth can be explained,” Polly noted, “by the fact that the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood is very popular because of our schools and has homes with features that focus on families, such as bedroom and bathroom numbers and larger kitchens with open floor plans.”
Carolyn spoke of two recent transactions on the same house that speak to this dramatic spike in interest in Beaumont-Wilshire and its increased home values.
“Owners of a two-bedroom, one-bathroom, single-family home accepted an offer on the same day they listed the home,” she said. “In just over two months, the new owners added a bedroom, listed the home again, and accepted an offer within 24 hours.”
The B-W house pictured at right recently sold twice over just a two-month period; the second sale came immediately after a bedroom had been added. Photo by Carlos Montalvo
Resident of Beaumont-Wilshire since 2020, Carlos Montalvo lives on 43rd Avenue with his partner Jaclyn, son Carlos Ollie-Boyd, Duck Tolling retriever dog Jude, and orange tabby cat Bochy. When he’s not working at a large health system as a patient experience manager, he enjoys writing, the outdoors, gardening, music, and sports.