Portland's housing market was still red-hot in 2016 but remained very much a seller's market.

Lack of supply continued to hobble the number of listings, pushing prices significantly higher and trimming days on the market to an ever slimmer shopping opportunity for buyers.

SEE SLIDESHOW: Portland's hottest neighborhoods

The top of this pack was dominated by neighborhoods in the suburbs, with many representatives from Washington and Clackamas counties, but some of Portland proper's more residential neighborhoods chimed in as well.

Among the top 25 in the slides, a total of 18,269 homes were listed, down slightly from 18,460 in 2015.

That follows a broader trend. In terms of quantity of houses listed, Portland super-tight inventory was only able to maintain almost the same level of listings as 2015 — dropping 1.1 percent to 32,894 homes sold in all Portland-area ZIP codes tracked by RMLS.

That inventory pressure helped boost the average price of listed homes across Portland's market a whopping 11.4 percent to $394,998. That's a pretty steep price tag for most of Portland's residents, whose median household income in 2015 was just $55,003 according to the Census Bureau.

The frenzy of buyers looking for homes also reduced the average time homes were on the market in all ZIP codes to 41.1 days in 2016, versus 53.9 in 2015, a 23.7 percent reduction. Buyers had to act fast: Those with cash offers enjoyed a big advantage.

As 2017 kicks off, hopefully Portland's inventory will grow and sate the appetite of all the hungry buyers, improving affordability and livability in these highly desirable neighborhoods.

Brandon curates the Business Journal's weekly lists and the annual Book of Lists. He also sifts through local economic data to tell stories important to the region.