Portland… say what?!

PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland’s housing market is booming right now, but apparently so is the luxury housing market.

In a new report from Christie’s International Real Estate, Portland comes in at number 8 on a list of the world’s hottest luxury housing markets.

“This house is listed at 2.7 million,” said Terry Sprague, as he showed a luxury home in Lake Oswego. He’s the Founder of Luxe Platinum Properties and the owner of Christie’s International Real Esatate in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

There are a number of multi-million dollar homes on the market, but they may not stay available for long.

“In Portland we enjoyed a 40 percent increase in our luxury sales last year and we’re already off to a very quick start this year,” said Sprague. “We actually doubled our business last year.”

The report said premiere properties in the Portland area were selling in less than three months.

So who’s buying? Sprague said in the last few months, he’s already done $10-15 million in sales. International buyers made up about 70 percent of that.

“They’re actually specifically advertising our properties to their billionaires in China right now,”

Overseas buyers are buying homes for all sorts of reasons. Some want to live Oregon, others want to have a vacation home, and still others want an investment they think will go up in value.

“Real estate is becoming a new currency,” Sprague said.

The rest of the luxury home buyers are often younger, successful people who many times have a well-paying tech job. The report points out that Portland is attracting entrepreneurs and highly paid workers from Silicon Valley.

“Most recently I had two-million dollar, three-million dollar properties that have sold to 25, 30 years olds,” he said.

Sprague said if trends continue, he expects to see more growth in the next four to five years, especially when it comes to international buyers.

The original article can be found HERE on KGW’s website.