Each month we feature a suburb of Portland, Oregon and present its housing market as a resource for your estate planning needs. For more information, check out our Portland Suburban Real Estate Market Report to see all the suburbs we've featured. For an overview of the Portland metropolitan area real estate market, check out our latest monthly report and 2024 Portland Real Estate Forecast.
This month, we focus on the suburb of Happy Valley, located about 12 miles east of Downtown Portland in Clackamas County. Happy Valley's location gives residents easy access to beautiful natural areas around Portland, including the Clackamas River Scenic Waterway. At the same time, the suburb offers plenty of activities to do and explore within its boundaries. Happy Valley is home to the iconic Pickathon Music Festival, which attracts thousands of concert-goers each year with its unique, experiential approach. The city is a planned growth community, the result of years of planning to incorporate commercial centers, trails, and 11 city parks for residents to enjoy.
Like other Oregon cities, Happy Valley is home to a number of local favorites, including Stickmen Brewing Company and Willamette Valley Vineyards tasting room and restaurant. Another highlight is Happy Valley Station, a food cart haven with over 18 food trucks, 45 dedicated beer, wine and cider carts, and a large covered eating area where you can enjoy your meal.
So let's take a look at the numbers that shape Happy Valley's housing market.
Housing inventory in Happy Valley is starting to increase
Happy Valley's home inventory hit a multi-year high in November and has been trending downward since then. Inventory began to level out in March and has begun to increase again in April. Due to seasonal cycles in the local real estate market, inventory is expected to increase annually in late spring and into summer. As you can see from the graph below, Happy Valley's inventory has followed this trend every year (except for 2021). As the number of active home buyers on the market has begun to decrease while the number of new homes continues to increase, Happy Valley's home inventory should continue to increase throughout the summer.
Happy Valley, Oregon inventory provided by Fidelity National Title
Property prices in Happy Valley are rising slightly
Home prices in Happy Valley, calculated precisely on a price per square foot basis, have remained substantially unchanged since August 2023. As shown in the Fidelity graph below, in the local real estate market, home sales prices typically rise during the spring months, similar to 2023. However, prices in Happy Valley in 2024 did not experience the usual increase expected during the spring season and remained relatively stable. As the end of spring approaches and the number of buyers decreases while homes continue to be added to the market, there will be less competition for available homes, which should result in an overall decline in home prices.
Home prices in the Portland metropolitan area fell overall in 2023 (with a few exceptions). In Clackamas County, which includes the suburb of Happy Valley, prices fell 1.9% compared to the previous 12 months. As prices tend to continue to rise throughout the spring in the local housing market, prices in Happy Valley may continue to rise slightly in the coming weeks before beginning to decline again as summer approaches.
Price per square foot chart for Happy Valley, Oregon. Courtesy of Fidelity National Title.
Average days in Happy Valley market
As you can see from the graph below, the number of days on market for Happy Valley homes follows a seasonal pattern. Homes for sale tend to stay on the market longer during the fall and winter, typically peaking at the beginning of the year. The number of days on market for Happy Valley homes began to decrease in the spring, and homes for sale are now spending an average of 118 days on the market, longer than during the same period over the past three years. Based on predictable cycles in the Happy Valley and Portland metropolitan housing market as a whole, we expect the number of days on market to continue to decrease through the late spring and summer.
Average Days on Market Chart for Happy Valley, Oregon. Courtesy of Fidelity National Title.
Homes for Sale in Happy Valley, Oregon
Browse all homes for sale in Happy Valley using the interactive map at Portlandhomesforsale.com.
Happy Valley, Oregon Real Estate Projections for 2025
Happy Valley's increasing home inventory indicates that an active selling season is beginning to wind down, as new listings exceed sales. Meanwhile, slight increases in prices and decreases in time on the market indicate that buyers are still active. We expect Happy Valley's home inventory to continue to increase through the late fall and possibly into the winter, with prices expected to remain high or increase slightly before beginning to decline again towards the end of the spring.
The Happy Valley housing market will be impacted by the same factors that restrained market performance across the Portland Metro Area in 2023, with home prices declining by -2.4% on average from mid-2022 to mid-2023. Given slightly lower mortgage rates available in 2024, the market is expected to begin to stabilize throughout the year before gaining momentum in spring 2025 with a wave of new homebuyers and rising prices.
We continue to hope for a future federal interest rate cut that has yet to materialize. No one knows if that will happen in 2024, but it seems quite likely that it will happen at least in 2025. If that happens, there is a lot of pent-up demand that would have a positive impact on the entire metropolitan region and provide a boost for Happy Valley. Assuming that happens, home prices in Happy Valley, Oregon are projected to rise 3% in 2025, recovering some of the recent declines.
Are you ready to buy or sell a home in Happy Valley, Oregon?
Whether you're interested in buying or selling in Happy Valley or anywhere in the Portland metropolitan area, you can use our experience to your advantage. We've been studying the Portland housing market and following its trends for over 20 years so you don't have to. We charge lower commissions than the industry standard while still providing you with exceptional service. Get started today by calling our top 1% buyers and sellers agents at 503-714-1111 or chatting with the bot on this site. We want to put our experience to work for you.