Published October 4, 2026 in Market Update

North Portland / St. Johns keeps moving even with rates above 7%

By Tony Apa

Real estate, North Portland / St. Johns

Rates are high. Buyers are still showing up. That is the short version of what happened in North Portland / St. Johns this summer. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 319 pending sales across ZIP codes 97203, 97217 and 97231 in the three months ending July 31, 2026. That is up 10% from the same three months in 2025. Demand did not disappear when rates crossed 7%. It adjusted.

CNBC reported that Mortgage News Daily put the 30-year fixed rate at 7.58% on one day in late September 2026. That is a real number. It changes monthly payments. And yet the Real Estate Data Aggregator still counted 300 homes sold across North Portland / St. Johns in the three months ending July 31, 2026, up 5.3% from a year before. Pricing and timing still move the needle here.

Fewer new listings came to market, down 2.3% from a year ago. Fewer homes were for sale, down 1.8%. That kept supply tight even as buyers kept coming. When supply falls and pending sales rise, the homes that are priced right move fast.

How each ZIP code read in the three months ending July 31, 2026

ZIP 97203: St. Johns, steady and quick

The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 117 homes sold in ZIP 97203 in the three months ending July 31, 2026. That is up 3.5% from the same period in 2025. The median sale price came in at $465,500, down just 0.5% from a year ago. Prices dipped a little, but the market did not stall. The median home went under contract in 17 days. That is 2 days faster than a year before. And 43.2% of homes went under contract within two weeks of listing.

ZIP 97217: Kenton and Arbor Lodge, the strongest numbers in this market

ZIP 97217 is where the numbers stand out most. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted 171 homes sold in the three months ending July 31, 2026, up 11% from a year before. The median sale price was $540,000, down 1.8%. Prices eased a little, but buyers did not slow down. The average home sold at 101.8% of list price, up 1.2 points from 2025. Nearly half of all homes, 44.4%, sold above list price. That share rose 6.1 points from a year ago. The median home went under contract in 14 days. More than half of all homes, 51.2%, went under contract within two weeks of listing.

ZIP 97231: Skyline and Linnton, a different story

ZIP 97231 is a small, thin market. The Real Estate Data Aggregator counted only 12 homes sold in the three months ending July 31, 2026. That is down 33.3% from the same period in 2025. With only 12 sales, one or two unusual homes can move every number. The median sale price dropped 29.5% to $583,000, but that swing reflects the small sample, not a collapse. Homes for sale rose 40.5% and months of supply jumped to 13.3 months, up 7 months from a year ago. Not every home here sold fast. Only 25% went under contract within two weeks. That said, pending sales rose 50% from a year ago. Buyers are looking. They are just being selective.

What rates above 7% mean for this market

Realtor.com reported that mortgage rates topped 7% in September 2026. CNBC put the average 30-year fixed rate at 7.30% for conforming loans at the end of September. Those are real costs. They do filter out some buyers. But the Real Estate Data Aggregator shows that in ZIP codes 97203 and 97217, homes still sold fast, still sold above list price, and pending sales still grew. Realtor.com also reported that 31.3% of Portland metro listings had a price cut in September 2026. That means sellers who price too high are feeling it. Sellers who price right are not.

High rates also shape the rental side of this market. Realtor.com reported that the median asking rent in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area was $1,603 in August 2026, down 2.3% from a year before. Rents are easing. That is worth knowing if you are weighing whether to sell, hold or rent out a property.

These numbers cover three ZIP codes. One street can read very differently from the whole ZIP. The age of the home, the block, the condition, all of it shifts the picture. As of October 4, 2026, that is what the data shows.