Indian Summer

Magnificent fall weather in Bend . . .  cool (cold!) nights and warm days–in some cases, more  than a 50 degree swing.

With all this great weather, however, come a myriad of very difficult decisions; what’s a guy (girl) to do?

Golf?

Paddle?

Walk the dog?

Cycle?

Maybe all of the above!

September

Bend’s real estate performance in September wasn’t like the weather. Don’t get me wrong . . . it wasn’t bad, just not like the summer’s numbers.

We saw the purchase of 195 homes (as always, single family residential on less than an acre) . . . the first time in four months that we missed the 200 sale plateau. A sign of a softening market or just the typical end-of-summer seasonal adjustment?

Here are some more significant September data:

• 202 homes went pending
• Median price dropped for the third consecutive month to $425,000
• Still just 3.1 months of inventory overall (6 months is a “balanced’ market)
• Homes sold at 97% of list price
• Median price per square foot of sold homes–$223,000
• 39 new building permits

Affordable Bend . . . $245,000

The least expensive house sold in Bend in September was a two bedroom, one bath, 1304 square home that went for $245,800 or $188/square foot.

A charming, vintage 1947 cottage on a .14 acre lot, conveniently located at the end of a cul-de-sac within spitting distance of the parkway.

It also featured original scratched and scruffed hardwood floors, a cozy kitchen, a scary little basement, and a mountain view to boot.

Median in Bend . . . $425,000

Median priced home in Bend looked like this super cute cottage (another one!) on two lots on the west side. Two bedrooms, a bath, and just 891 square feet.

The home featured an alley accessed garage and a shed (man cave?). I guess one could describe it  as “quintessential expensive west side Bend.” The home went at $477 per square foot.

Interestingly, the property was listed (and didn’t sell) in 2012, for $184,900. My, but times have changed!

The Two Sides of Bend

For out-of-towners and those contemplating relocation to Bend, it’s enlightening to get the lay of the land and compare pricing/value on the two sides of town:

Contact us (kohlmoos@bendcable.com), and we’ll send you a really useful map of the area.

Luxury Bend . . . $1,152,000

The high end suffered in September . . . only two homes topped the million dollar mark (yielding an obscene 29 months of available inventory). The winner, a 4/3.5, 3761 square foot home in the West Hills, no less . . . none of that boring Broken Top, Tetherow, Pronghorn, Awbrey Butte stuff this month!

The winner was a classic Bend home on (thankfully) a larger (.46 acre) lot.

It closed in just 16 days at $306 a square foot.

Looking Ahead

Always my favorite section . . . an opportunity to make vague and totally unsubstantiated predictions.

The stock market has taken a pretty good hit. Interest rates are on the rise. Some would say that our President is unstable. And to top it off, we’re short on available inventory. Where goest the Bend real estate market?

Of course, the market is softening a bit (just witness the rising tide of price reductions). But the erstwhile pundits

have predicted that we’ll continue to see relatively strong local sales, at least for the short term. Continued in-migration (despite declines in our feeder markets) and a rather healthy supply of cash buyers somewhat serve to negate interest rate hikes. Likewise, it appears that many of our high end buyers anticipated the stock market sell off and would prefer to put their money elsewhere.

Despite national new home sales figures being off by roughly 5.5%, our local performance continues to be pretty stellar (almost 18% of third quarter sales were new homes).

Get out and enjoy this wonderful weather!