Portland city leaders have touted a good future for the city and surrounding areas with a new report out regarding the region’s economic projections.

Economic forecaster Global Insight of Philadelphia, recently released the report which compares Portland and nine other west coast cities. With a forecast of nearly 100,000 new jobs in the next five years and a population spurt of 8 percent to nearly 2.4 million, the real estate scene should continue to thrive as well.

Currently, condominiums in the region are up 11 percent over the same period last year, according to the quarterly pricing index from the National Association of Realtors. The average condo price stands at $214,000, up an average of $45,000 from the same time in 2005.

In addition, pending sales have continued to increase as well with the latest Portland figures up 6.3 percent.

The study showed that Portland is a strong place to do business for various reasons.

Gross regional product is predicted to grow 29 percent in the next five years.

The Portland region boasts the second-lowest average price for industrial space among the ten cities.

Overall cost of living is cheaper than in Seattle and the five California cities surveyed.

Average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $875, third-lowest, behind only Denver and Albuquerque; and The median housing price is the fourth-lowest of the cities surveyed.

Published: July 30, 2008

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Mr. Carr is an award-winning real estate broker in Northern Virginia and authored "Real Estate Investing Made Simple: a commonsense approach to building wealth." He also contributed to Donald Trump’s book, "The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received," and is an active trainer and coach of top producers in the Washington DC market. As a sought-after expert on real estate, Mr. Carr has been featured on CNN, various broadcast outlets and was the former real estate editor for The Washington Times. He accepts questions at his blog www.RealEstateOlogy.org.