The Portland-area housing market finished out a record-breaking year with a record-setting month in December.

The 2,710 closed home sales in the region were the most recorded in any December since the Regional Multiple Listing Service began issuing its monthly reports in 1992, the service said. And inventory reached a staggeringly low 1.2 months, the lowest inventory since at least 1999. The figure estimates how long it would take for all current homes on the market to sell at the current pace.

"In a healthy, balanced market you typically see 4 to 6 months' supply, so this illustrates how little there is for sale right now," said Matthew Gardner, chief economist at Windermere Real Estate, in an email. "The resulting demand for homes is driving up prices closer and closer to the pre-recession record that was set back in 2008."

The 2,710 closings represented a 21 percent increase over the previous December and a 25.9 percent increase over November 2015. Overall, closed sales rose 20 percent in 2015 compared to 2014.

The average sale price in 2015 rose 6.5 percent higher than the previous year, from $333,000 to $354,000. The median sale price increased by 7.9 percent, from $285,500 to $308,000.

Southeast Portland was the most active area tracked by the listing service, with 320 closed sales in December at an average price of nearly $370,000. Not far behind were West Portland (266 closed sales at an average price of more than $490,000) and Beaverton/Aloha (255 closed sales at an average price of $301,000).

July of last year also set a record for closed sales, and the regional housing market posted its highest numbers since 2005 in each month from August through November.

-- Luke Hammill

lhammill@oregonian.com

503-294-4029

@lucashammill