Bend hit the big time earlier this summer (for better or worse) . . . even an article in The New York Times (36 Hours in Bend Oregon) extolling the virtues of our “woodsy little city.”

Bend Real Estate . . . May, June, and July

The Bend market hit it pretty big as well. As your pundit had predicted, some stellar late spring/early summer figures . . . three consecutive months of more than 230 sales (single family residential on less than acre) . . . 243 in July, to be exact. Pending numbers were solid as well (269).

Even though overall inventory was up appreciably (a good thing!), the strong sale performance meant that we still saw just 2.5 months of inventory available overall . . . a strong “seller’s market” still.  The median price topped out at $470,000 . . . yet another all time high!  Homes continued to move at 98% of original list (no deals here!); a whopping average of $265 per square foot.

Auspicious Sales in July

I normally put these guys at the end of the post. I also don’t normally brag about our sales performance; but, like the rest of Bend, we enjoyed a pretty darn good July. We ended the month with some excited new owners, some very pleased sellers, and a couple of pretty happy realtors too. Click on the photos below to see more detail.

One of the nicest homes in Bend . . . 3/6.5, 5824 square feet on 10 acres in The Highlands . . . $3,750,000.

Arguably the best Cascade views in Central Oregon . . . 5/4.5, 5328 square feet on 18.75 acres in Tumalo . . . $1,630,000.

A classic farm house on 2.3 acres in Boonesborough . . . 2/3, 1970 square feet . . . $585,000.

A great little investment property overlooking the ninth fairway of Eagle Crest’s Ridge Course . . . a townhome, 2/2.5, 1277 square feet . . . just $238,000.

Quite a month!

Bargain Bend . . . $270,000

Of course an oxymoron. But, nevertheless, the least expensive home purchased in Bend during the “dog days” was this slightly hyperbolic “mid century gem” in Tumalo.

4/2.5, 1636 square feet . . . and the remodel almost finished! Sold as is; this one was a project. Still pretty cool . . . a .41 acre lot with some mature (overgrown) landscaping. A deal at $270,000 or $165 per square foot. It closed in just 15 days!

Bend’s Median . . . $470,000

Yet another all time high!

But it seems that the median priced home always looks the same (to me!) . . . beautiful and well-maintained, close to the Deschutes River. This one . . . 4/2.5, 2470 square feet . . . on a rather small lot. It did have all the shit though . . . slate entry, open plan, vaulted ceilings, granite tile countertops, stainless appliances, blah blah blah.

The home sold for $190 a square foot (nice for the west side of town), and closed in just 62 days.

As always, fun (perhaps for relocation purposes) to compare median prices on the two sides of town:

East side    $405,000

West side   $634,750

Luxury Bend . . . $2,325,000

We cracked the $2M mark again . . .  it’s almost starting to feel commonplace.  Ten homes sold for more than a million dollars.

The big winner was a beautiful 4/3, 4837 square foot home in North Rim. MLS doesn’t share much about it . . . but it sure looks pretty!

It sold in just 32 days at $483 a square foot.

Looking Ahead

Who knows? Interest rates near historic lows . . . stock market incredibly volatile . . .  a trade war with China . . . early indicators of a recession ahead! Regardless of these macro events, our little market should stay relatively strong, at least until our feeder markets (Bay Area, Southern California, Seattle) start to soften. As they say, “discretion is the better part of valor” . . . my wife/business partner will not let me say what I really think . . . we’ll just leave it at that.