Click on the image above to explore our 2015 Real Estate grids.

Good news! Portland’s real estate market is brawnier than ever, with nearly 10,000 home sales in 2014 and a median price of $305,000—a rip-roaring 9 percent spike (or $25K) from the year before. 

As a guide to this wild scene, we once again ran the numbers on home sales, demographics, transportation, and crime for Portland’s neighborhoods and suburbs. This year, we include new stats on livability and urban migration. (Boise has the biggest share of bike commuters, and 8 percent of today’s Portlanders lived in another state or different Oregon county just last year.) 

Whether you’re a first-time buyer, looking for a bigger place, downsizing, or renting, Portland has a hood to make you happy. Just ask the city’s very busy real estate agents—like we did. Here’s where they choose to live, and where they’d bet on Portland’s long-term growth. 

MJ STEEN  - Windermere

HOME: Southwest Hills
It’s the walkability. We can walk to the park, schools, the farmers market—and we can park
downtown for any event and be home in 10 minutes.

NEXT BIG THING: The Waterfront
They’ll be creating urban neighborhoods in the old industrial areas along the east side of the river, from the Burnside Bridge all the way up—and probably in Old Town and Northwest Industrial. These will be close in; people won’t have to have cars. 

SHANNON BAIRD - Meadows Group

HOME: Sabin
I love it. We can walk to the wine bar. We can walk to Whole Foods. I built an ADU in my backyard. This neighborhood’s incredible: good for commuting, quiet, a mix of people.

NEXT BIG THING: The Classics
Remember the big boom in 2004 and 2005? Everyone was excited about Foster-Powell, Woodstock, and Cully. Then the market dropped. Now that it’s coming back, it’s Foster-Powell, Woodstock, and Cully. As if it’s a new thing.

BILLY GRIPPO - Windermere

HOME: Sabin
I’ve been living in close-in Irvington, Alameda, and Sabin for 23 years, and six years ago bought my current house. These are established, blue-chip neighborhoods.

NEXT BIG THING: Embrace the sprawl?
Right now, everyone wants to be in the city core. But maybe that won’t be as critical 30 years from now. Who knows? Maybe you could live in Hood River and be downtown in 15 minutes by bullet train.

GAVIN SHETTLER - Living Room Realty

HOME: Montavilla
My house is already worth more, and I’ve had it for only eight months. As more people move here, the “city” has gotten bigger. Anything west of I-205 is now considered inner Portland.

NEXT BIG THING: Milwaukie!
Thirty years out, little homes are going to be a million dollars; I don’t know how affordable we’ll be. It’s going to be those outlying areas, like St. Johns and Milwaukie, that will be drastically different.