The photo above was taken from Sandy’s office at Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty . . . not a bad view!
Bend Oregon Real Estate
Aside from the spring-like weather and absolute lack of precipitation, December was pretty nice. The Bend Oregon real estate market was active . . . with 140 sales. That’s up about 10% from last month’s (Bend Home Sales–November) total of 125, but down about 10% from a year ago.
Median Price in Bend . . . $185,000
I never attach much significance to the median price; nevertheless, we saw a bump (I guess better than a dip) of $20,000 for the month . . . to $185,000. In part due to the high end contributions of agents from Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty.
The typical median priced home in Bend would look like this 3/2.5, 2079 square foot home on the I’m-not-so-sure aptly named Quiet Ride Lane. This was a short sale at $89 per square foot.
Months of Inventory in Bend
An important figure . . . for sale inventory dropped to just 3.8 months. Maybe not as significant as a report out of San Francisco (SF Becoming a Seller’s Market?), but still perhaps a hint that sellers’ woes may begin to subside. Traditionally, 6 months of inventory indicates a balanced market.
Range of Prices in Bend
The low priced home in Bend for December was a three bedroom, two bath, 1086 square foot, single level that sold for $65,800. This bank-owned beauty, on almost 1/2 acre, went for $60 per square foot.
It was located “on a quiet street (not far from the train tracks!), with room for all your things.”
Looks like room for the neighbors’ things too! Eight years ago, this home sold for $159,900.
High End Bend
The high end of the real estate market in Bend kicked butt in December. Maybe nothing like Elin Woods’ (Tiger’s ex) tear down of a $12,000,000 oceanfront mansion–but, still there were three homes that sold for over a million dollars (all involved agents from Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty).
The big winner for the month was a beautiful 6500 square footer at Broken Top; it was purchased for $2,350,000 or a rather hefty $361 per square foot!
The home, backing to the 12th. fairway, was built in 2002 by Madsen Construction. It offered all kinds of stuff . . . 4 fireplaces, mahogany cabinets, black walnut flooring . . . 3 bedrooms, 4.5 baths. It was only on the market for 38 days.
Two other Bend homes sold for over a million: this riverfront at $1,450,000
The car is a nice (pretentious) touch! And a lodge style home on Northcliff (fantastic location above the Deschutes River, full vistas of the canyon)
that sold for $1,075,000.
Trends in Bend Real Estate
There seems to be a genuine hint of optimism in the air. Interest rates remain remarkably low, the unemployment rate has dropped, Notices of Default are at a three year low. Even the percentage of distressed sales has fallen to just 47% (33 bank-owned, 36 short sales), down from numbers in the 60 percent range just a few month ago.
It’ a great time to buy!
