Survey: Hawthorne area among nation’s most competitive home-buying markets

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Portland’s Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard area is one of the hottest neighborhoods in the nation, according to Seattle’s Redfin real estate brokerage.

A handful of neighborhoods around Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard — Sunnyside, Buckman, Richmond, Hosford-Abernathy and Mt. Tabor — were lumped together on Redfin’s list of the 30 most competitive neighborhoods to buy a home in 2015.

The list, released Wednesday, Dec. 30, said Portland’s “Hawthorne” neighborhood was the fifth most competitive market in the nation.

(There is no formal “Hawthorne neighborhood” in Portland. The Southeast Hawthorne business district is represented by the from Southeast 12th to 60th avenues. That touches five city neighborhoods and the Central Eastside Industrial District.)

Redfin’s 2015 list was made up of neighborhoods in just four cities: Portland, Boston, Seattle and San Francisco. The real estate brokerage said those cities’ tech hubs were making local real estate markets competitive and pricey.

“These four metro areas have set themselves apart in terms of attracting and creating high-wage jobs in tech, pharma and finance, and that has heated up the local housing market,” said Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist. “When a short supply of homes collides with high-income homebuyers, you get this hot, hyper-competitive climate.”

Inman Square in Cambridge, Mass., was the most competitive neighborhood in Redfin’s ranking, followed by Overlake in the Seattle suburb of Redmond.

Here’s the list of the 10 most competitive neighborhoods for homebuyers in 2015:

1 Inman Square, Cambridge, Mass.

2 Overlake, Redmond, Wash.

3 Brighton/Allston, Boston

4 Roosevelt, Seattle

5 “Hawthorne,” Portland

6 Spring Hill, Somerville, Mass.

7 Grass Lawn, Redmond, Wash.

8 Central Sunset, San Francisco

9 Phinney Ridge, Seattle

10 Cambridgeport, Cambridge, Mass.

Redfin’s report comes at a time when Portland is wrestling with the issue of affordable housing. Portland’s City Council has considered plans to fund affordable housing projects using urban renewal money as a way to combat rapidly rising rents and gentrification that is pushing some people out of their longtime homes and neighborhoods.

was formed by people in Seattle’s high-tech industry. The company handles sales in major U.S. markets and has closed nearly $20 billion in home sales.

To rank the most competitive neighborhoods to buy a home, Redfin analyzed seven factors in 30 metro areas where Redfin has transaction and offer data. Neighborhoods must have had at least 50 home sales during 2015 to be included on the list. Only condo, single-family home and townhome sales were included.

Redfin economists looked at: Year-over-year median sale price growth; percentage of listings that sold above asking price; median days on market; average ratio of sale price to list price; percentage of sales that were all cash; percentage of Redfin offers that faced bidding wars; and average number of competing offers Redfin agents faced in the bidding wars.