January 2012 in Bend
Winter finally arrived in Central Oregon, with over 8 feet of snow falling at Mt. Bachelor from 1/16-1/20. The housing market in Bend wasn’t as happy as the powder hounds; as it cooled a bit. We saw the sale of just 111 homes in Bend Oregon in January
. . . off almost 24% from the 146 sold in December of 2011. Also, down about 15% from sales of houses in Bend a year ago. The median price rose a bit to $187,500 . . . perhaps a testament to the disappearing inventory priced below $200,000.
Low Priced Leader
The low-priced leader in Bend for the month was one that, at $55,500, was especially close to my heart. Over the past years, I must have driven by it a million times as I circled the roundabout at 15th. and Bear Creek . . . I always wondered about the boarded-up windows and ghastly color (that never ceased to evoke images of “Barney):
Turns out that the 3/2.5, 1876 square foot home is on City of Bend property and encroaches on the setback in two places. Still a tremendous bargain at less than $30 per square foot (that ‘s not a typo!).
The home sold “as is.” And as the listing agent put it so succinctly, “Bring a flashlight!”
High End Bend
No homes n Bend sold for over a million dollars this month. The grand prize winner for January was a 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath, 4823 square foot home on Awbrey Butte. It sold for $900,000 or $187 per square foot. It featured wonderful Cascade mountain views.
The home in Bend offered the normal exquisite trimmings–African Ribbon mahogany cabinets, Metropolitan Museum alabaster light fixtures
(with alabaster mined near the banks of the Ebro River south of Zaragoza Spain), a gourmet kitchen, and a Crestor sound system.
This home in Bend was on the market for almost two years. Additionally, in 2007, it was listed for $1,945,000 . . . ouch!
Bend Real Estate Trends
Despite less than stellar sales figures in January, activity and interest are up; there is a genuine scent of optimism in the air. Interest rates remain remarkably low, the unemployment rate has dropped, Notices of Default remain at a three year low. Likewise, the percentage of distressed sales remained at just 47% (28 bank-owned, 25 short sales), down from numbers in the 60 percent range just a few month ago. It’s a great time to buy a home in bend
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