The Whiff of Change?
The whiff of change in the Bend real estate market that was hinted at previously just didn’t happen . . . at least not this month! Instead, the numbers remained solid all the way around. As an aside, the photo above is of the boat launch at Hosmer Lake.
Solid for August
We saw the purchase of 260 homes . . . pretty close to our all-time high (no, I won’t make you listen to that silly song again) of 262; another 237 homes went “pending.”
The median price dropped a bit to a more sustainable $430,500. But affordable housing continued to be totally problematic . . . that top row of the chart above is downright sad. In August, only 12 homes sold for less than $300,000; nothing under $265,000.
Indeed, a tough time to be a first time buyer in Bend!
Auspicious Sales in Bend
A number of notable (because we made them!) sales . . . Team Kohlmoos had a pretty good month:
A wonderful multi-generational gathering place in Sunriver. 5 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 3768 square feet. $1,120,000.
Panoramic Cascade views on Awbrey Butte. 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 4821 square feet. $1,489,000.
Neat-as-a-pin single level on Bend’s east side. 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1671 square feet. $390,000.
Low End Bend
You know things are tough when the least expensive home sold in Bend was a two bedroom, one bath, 968 footer at $265,000 ($274 per square foot) not far from the Old Mill District.
I’d hesitate to call the home “cute,” and the marketing photos certainly are not.
Interestingly, the sale history of this house represents a microcosm of our Bend real estate . . . six sales, going back to 1997. Most recently, in 2006, it sold for $240,000; but in 2010, it went as a short sale at just $51,000; and finally, this month at $265,000.
Bend’s Median
Median priced home in Bend for August was $430,500 ($382,000 on the east side of town; $535,000 on the west). For that price, one could expect something like this cute (that word again!) 1920’s mill house.
Two bedrooms and two baths; 886 square feet. The home featured lots of upgrades–plumbing and electrical, new countertops, and wood-burning stove.
The house sold for slightly more than list price and closed in just 40 days at almost $500 per square foot.
Luxury Bend . . . $2,850,000
The high end rocked it again in Bend, with fully 14 homes selling for more than a million dollars. We’ve never seen a number like this!
The big winner was a magnificent home in Pronghorn (not Tetherow or Broken Top!). Three bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and 5100 square feet . . . a case of fabulous NW lodge meeting contemporary.
The home, overlooking the green, and featuring a full vista of the fifth fairway of Pronghorn’s Nicklaus signature track. It sold for $559 per square foot.
Not sure what it says about our current market, but this home had been listed on and off since 2009 (you read that right!) at prices as high as $4,499,000!
Looking Ahead
The crystal ball thinks we’ll see that market change . . . maybe even as soon as next month. Perhaps a pessimistic viewpoint, but rising interest rates (currently around 5%), low inventory, and the lack of affordable housing, all combine with the continued escalation in pricing that make things not so attractive to our feeder markets (Seattle, the Bay Area, Southern California) and thus inhibit the in-migration that has been driving our market. We’ll see.
Bend is still a wonderful place . . . enjoy it!
