Are Bend Oregon Real Estate Sales Returning to Normal?Are we getting back to a normal, seasonal adjustment to Bend real estate sales? Typically Bend single family home sales drop off in the fall once children start back to school and regular fall activities resume.  Bend's usual homebuyer in the fall includes retirees, the second home buyer and investors.  However, Bend home sales fall of 2020 did not drop off with homebuyers snapping up available property at amazing levels through the end of October. Sales remained above normal even through the holidays.As we reported in an earlier blog this year, Bend home sales started shifting from the frantic buying seen over the past 12 months to a more normal level in July, 2021 and this trend has continued through September. Although well priced... 10/08/2021

Experts Predict a Changing Bend Real Estate Market It is a bit of a puzzle to figure out how the Bend Oregon real estate market will wrap up the year.  Experts are really struggling right now when it comes to forecasting where our market is headed in terms of home prices and interest rates.  As put by CNBC, "Fall is usually the start of the slower season for the housing market, but nothing is usual in today's pandemic-driven housing market." 2019 was an excellent real estate year across the country, but the 2020 market was truly unique when the pandemic initially tanked Bend real estate sales and then on the rebound, sales were escalated beyond what had ever been seen.  Work from home orders provided an opportunity for homeowners to rethink where they lived. This resulted in locations ... 10/06/2021

Bend Oregon Real Estate Trends MixedAs we move into Fall, Bend home sales typically slow as those who need to move prior to school starting have already purchased and the normal slight uptick we see in September and October with retirees and second home buyers has not yet begun. In 2021, August single family home sales on less than an acre for Bend reflected a mixed market with prices and new sales up, but closed sales and new homes for sale down. When August 2021 home sales are compared with August 2020, the following changes are seen: Average sales price up 18.7% to $776,735* Median sales price up 19.8% to $635,063 New listings up 5.8% to 273 Homes for sale down 56.1% to 276 Pending sales up 41.3% to 431 Sold homes down 23.7% to 232 Median days on market down 40% to 6 Months of supply... 09/09/2021

Buyers and Sellers Have Different IdeasAfter months of seeing record breaking prices where multiple offers, bidding wars, and buyer panic was the norm, we are finally seeing this historic balance between buyers and sellers start to reverse both nationally and in our Bend Real Estate market. The major reason for this… Buyers have simply had enough! Although those saying it’s a good time to sell reached another record high according to a recent Fannie Mae survey, home sellers saying it’s a good time to buy also reached an all-time low. We are certainly seeing this trend locally as well with an end to the recent “panic” buying and even a lot of “price improvements” as buyers are no longer willing to pay thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars over asking price.Souring buyer sentimen... 08/12/2021

Bend OR Real Estate Trends Starting to ShiftAsk most Central Oregon Brokers what happened with July 2021 real estate sales, and they will tell you that they saw a change to the market during the month. Although prices were up considerably over those from a year ago, compared with June, 2021, prices actually were down on average.  A good number of price reductions were seen on a daily basis and the pace and number of multiple offers on listings were dramatically down. Compared with a year ago, the trends we have seen over the past year remained consistent, but not at the extreme levels experienced during the Covid lockdowns. Some offers on properties are now experiencing counter offers and the days on market are lengthening.  It remains to be seen whether or not these trends will continu... 08/11/2021

Bend OR Luxury Home Sales Have Spiked in 2020 When we think of luxury homes in Bend, we have a vision of a grand property with stunning mountain or river views, lots of elbow room, and fabulous amenities. Easy location to access the Bend lifestyle, which includes proximity to downtown, the mountains, the river, and the Old Mill also checks a lot of homebuyer's luxury wish lists. Having an up-to-date architectural design and interior features are also important to many who are making Bend their home. Yet with so many people moving to Bend over the past year and with inventory supply not keeping up with demand, homes that are not considered luxury have pushed the million dollar market into never before seen figures. The chart below outlines the last ten years of million dollar home sales ... 07/28/2021

Bend's Market Starting to Show Positive Moves for Homebuyers To say Bend has been in a seller’s market for some time now would be an understatement. There has been so much demand in our local market that Bend single family home prices are up roughly 40% from a year ago. Much of this is spurred by this new “Zoom” generation where, thanks to the pandemic, people are realizing they don’t have to live and work in the metro areas. Instead, they can live where they want and work from home and meet with people with teleconferencing software like Zoom. However, amidst what has seemed like an impossible situation in Bend for home buyers who have missed out writing offers on numerous homes… and still not getting any offer accepted… there are a couple signs of hope. The supply of homes in Bend is ... 07/22/2021

Bend Real Estate Prices Escalated During Covid We typically look at Bend real estate trends based on comparisons each month - seeing what the data shows the same month a year previously.  This has resulted in some startling information, especially when trends over the past year are reviewed. The Covid pandemic impacted the Bend Real Estate market in ways we never anticipated when the initial stay at home orders were given. However, to get a full idea on what has happened to Bend home prices, it is often very helpful to look at a longer timeline.  Ten years ago Bend was just starting to turn around from the Great Recession in which poor lending practices led to the mortgage melt down. Real estate brokerages' businesses consisted of working with short sales and foreclosures. It was a ver... 07/16/2021

How High Can Bend Oregon Home Prices Go?The sales figures for June, 2021 have been published and Bend home prices continue to rise as demand is still outpacing supply. However, there appears to be a slight softening of the market as we enter July with extreme heat and the normal real estate trends connected with graduation and vacations coming back as the state moves out of Covid restrictions. Whether or not these trends continue have yet to be determined.Bend OR Real Estate Costs a Lot More Than It Used ToWhen comparing June 2020 Bend single family home sales on less than an acre to June 2021, the following changes can be seen: Average sales price up 40.3% to $842,157 Median sales price up 38.5% to $640,000 New listings up 19.1% to 299 Homes for sale down 75.9% to 181 Pending sales up ... 07/08/2021

Bend Oregon Home Prices Continue to Rise The May 2021 Bend real estate single family home sales reflect a continued strong seller's market with home prices significantly up over the year before and lack of inventory impacting buyers' opportunities. Homes are often selling over asking price and bidding wars remain a challenging part of the home buying process. In some cases, buyers are losing out on multiple offers many times before finally obtaining an acceptance on an offer. However, if buyers can be flexible on location and condition, persistence is paying off for Bend home buyers. The following list reflects the changes from May 2020 to May 2021 for Bend single family home sales on less than an acre: Average sales price up 30.2% to $715,922* Median sales price up 40.5% to $628,000 A... 06/15/2021

Bend High End Home Sales on the RiseWe have reported how Bend Oregon home prices have risen over the past year, but we haven't looked exclusively at the trends for Bend Luxury homes. The demand for Bend's high end homes has escalated over the past year with the number of closed sales up over 100% in all the price categories we follow.* For homes over $2,000,000, the price per square foot is now over $600.  The months of supply for million dollar Bend homes is roughly four, a seller's market, and the median days on market is 11. Luxury homes listings are receiving their asking price on average 99.9% of the time. Multiple offers and bidding wars are normal for many Bend luxury homes when they hit the MLS hot sheet. If a million dollar Bend listing is truly a luxury home, we are seeing gre... 05/25/2021

Bend Or Home Prices Historically HighIn some way, it feels like we are like a broken record that keeps repeating the same line. Bend home prices are way up and inventory levels are way down. Each month we wonder if we have reached the top (or bottom), but each month we are setting another record - and we don't see the trends changing anytime soon. This is by far the strongest seller's market we have ever seen in Bend with desperate buyers bidding home prices up to levels we have never seen.When April 2021 is compared with April 2020, Bend single family home sales on less than an acre reflect the following: Average sales price up 32.2% to $769,314* Median sales price up 41.2% to $651,000 New listings up 32.6% to 256 Homes for sale down 81.99% to 119 Pending sales up 149.7% to 427 Sold ho... 05/10/2021

Multiple Offers the Norm for Bend  Real Estate Sales If your offer to purchase a home in this highly competitive real estate market was rejected, it often is because a cash offer was accepted over one with a loan contingency attached. According to a recent NAR survey of Realtors®, the presence of a competing all cash offer was the second largest reason for an offer not being accepted, accounting for more than 25% of all real estate transactions. Other buyers making a higher offer is still the major cause of rejection. Here in Bend, we are seeing similar trends with multiple offers and bidding wars the norm rather than the exception for most Bend single family home sales. These bidding wars continue to push Bend home prices upward with early figures for April 2021 single family home sale... 05/03/2021

Lack of Inventory Triggering Escalating Sales Prices for Bend Oregon HomesThe figures are in for Bend single family home sales in March 2021. It has been a full year since Covid-19's impact on Bend home sales initially was felt and the resulting demand for Central Oregon homes began impacting our local housing market. We have had a year of tremendous buyer demand and Bend real estate sales which have broken records. Multiple offers and bidding wars have pushed Bend home prices to never before seen levels with cash offers typically beating out any offer involving financing. Entry level buyers have found Bend unaffordable and have determined Redmond, Prineville, LaPine and Madras may work better for their finances. The housing boom in Central Oregon is very real and it remains to be seen ... 04/08/2021

According to the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) annual Priced-Out Estimates released earlier this month, 71.5% of Bend residents have been priced out of the Bend real estate market based on a median priced home of $409,281. The household income needed to qualify would be $102,710.  Although the NAHB figures are fairly recent, this number is roughly 73% since the median price of a home in Bend today is closer to $520,000. And for every $5000 increase in the median price for a Bend home, another 700 local residents will be priced out of this market.These Bend numbers are higher than the national median home price of $346,757, resulting in about 75 million households, or roughly 60% of all U.S. residents, being priced out of the U.S. market. Just an additional $1000 increase i... 03/19/2021

Amazing Bend Home Sales in February 2021It has been a full year since the Covid-19 pandemic hit America and the resulting Stay at Home orders were implemented in most states. When the pandemic first came to the Bend real estate market, we thought that sales would be impacted negatively - and this was the case initially. When businesses shut their doors and laid off employees, brokerages followed suit and turned to the internet and virtual connections with clients.  Within Bend Premier Real Estate, the use of our Matterport 3D tours became a major tool to enable buyers to "see" homes without actually entering the property. Bend Premier brokers looked to utilize virtual tools as much as possible to keep business going.However, unexpectedly Bend real estate sales started to soar with lack ... 03/08/2021

Strong Home Sales in Bend Continued in January 2021If we were to use one phrase to summarize January 2021's Bend single family home sales on less than an acre, it would be "more of the same." The 2020 Bend home sale trends since getting over the initial shock of the Covid-19 pandemic have been monumental and the start in 2021 appears to be continuing the movement.When January of 2021 is compared with January 2020 for Bend single family home sales on less than an acre, the following data can be noted: Average sales price up 28.2% to $666,293* Median sales price up 31.5% to $577,500 New listings down 12.3% to 135 Homes for sale down 84.1% to 89 Pending sales up 104.4% to 280 Solds up 12.4% to 154 Average days on market down 76.9% to 18 Median days on market down 90.2% to 4 Months of suppl... 02/08/2021

Lack of Inventory a Major Issue for High End Sales2020 was a year that will be remembered in the history books. In January and February 2020, real estate sales were great across the country with low interest rates leading the way enabling buyers to afford more than they could in the past. Low inventory levels were making sellers realize that listing in the winter could be a good decision and Bend Oregon real estate sales were breaking records.  Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit and the subsequent recession and work-from-home orders made many believe Central Oregon real estate sales would drastically drop. However, after the initial shock, Bend home sales came roaring back when the pandemic made people realize that if they were to work from home, home could be where they really wanted to li... 01/28/2021

2020 Had Unexpected Results for Bend Single Family Home Sales Who would have thought when 2020 began that we would be hit with a world wide pandemic, recession, work from home orders, and a Bend real estate market that was unprecedented in its volume of sales, increase in home prices and lack of inventory. When 2020 is compared with 2019, the following reflects the sales of Bend Oregon single family homes on less than an acre: Average home price up 15% to $611,764* Median home price up 11.6% to $502,000 New listings down 3% to 2623 Number of homes for sale down 32% to 552 Pending sales up 21.2% to 2838 Sold homes up 10.9% to 2596 Median days on market down 52.2% to 11 Months of supply down 35.7% to 2.7  Average price per square foot up 10.2% to $291 Median price per square foot up 10.3... 01/11/2021

With snow falling in the Cascades, it is becoming harder to find places to take a long hike in Central Oregon without snow shoes or cross country skies. Last Saturday we decided to re-hike the 1.4 mile, 500 foot elevation gain Bessie Butte trail located off China Hat and then take the Swamp Wells Trail through the Deschutes National Forest to Kelsey Butte, located roughly 5 miles south of Bessie Butte. The trail, lightly covered with snow, was easy to follow and our research on the hike showed it to be one for mountain bikers as well as hikers.  The Swamp Wells Trail, if followed its entire length, eventually will end at Newberry Crater after 20 plus miles with a lot of elevation gain in that final push.  During our hike through the woods we saw only one other person, a woman with her d... 12/31/2020