“Bend Oregon . . . A Commuter Town For Silicon Valley”

Can’t say that I believe them all, but the stories keep coming; this one, and the catchy headline courtesy of CNBC.

The NAR (National Association of Realtors–not to be confused with the slightly more controversial NRA) states that less than six months of available for sale inventory constitutes a “Seller’s Market.” Recently, rumors have abounded that our own long-running local “Seller’s Market” is beginning to wane.  Data, however, continues to show otherwise.

Real Estate in Bend

We saw the purchase of 162 homes (single family residential) in Bend last month; another 192 were pended. Those numbers are pretty standard for February.

The median price remained steady at $407,500. Homes continued to sell at 97% of original list price, and averaged a whopping $242 per square foot.

Affordable Bend . . . $203,900

One only need take a quick glance at the top row of the chart above to understand the problem. Otherwise, I haven’t seen such straightforward (blunt!) marketing remarks in a while . . .”This home needs work!” An enthusiastic endorsement.

Even with the low price, this bank-owned (one of only two distressed properties this month) beauty offered a plethora of adjectives–“a quiet cul-de-sac, in a pleasant neighborhood, on a hard-to-find beautiful  and well-treed lot.” Got me . . . I’ll take it!

The 3/1, 1050 square foot house on Bend’s SW side went for $194 per square foot. It offered a .46 acre lot and  even a bay window.

Bend’s Median . . . $407,500

Always an interesting number, even when relatively static; lately, I’ve enjoyed comparing median prices on the two sides of town–east and west. There is quite a disparity now . . . median price on the west side is $574,500 while on the east side it’s $355,000.

The median priced home in Bend would resemble this updated single level (3/2, 1533 square feet) in Mountain Pines on the SE side.

The house sold for more than list price and featured some pretty cool stuff . . . hardwood hickory flooring, solid counter tops,sd a floor to ceiling gas fireplace, and fenced yard with paver patio; even a new driveway in 2013.

While I normally whine about the quality of listing photos; for this home, I offer kudos to the agent for some nice work (cluttered, but nice)!

Luxury Bend . . . $2,009,257

A nice round number! Big news . . . a home in Bend sold for more than $ 2M; Bad news . . . no photos.

The three most expensive purchases all came from Tetherow . . . a very hot community right now! We’ll feature the third because we have photos (and more importantly, because we sold it).

Three bedrooms, 3.5 baths, and 3264 square feet . . . progressive architecture in this single level contemporary design backing to the thirteenth fairway of Tetherow’s David Kidd-designed track.

Outstanding vistas of golf and mountains, this entertainer’s seemed like a bargain at $1,375,000 ($421 per square foot).

Significant Sales

A good month . . . three noteworthy sales .

A great, end of the cul-de-sac retreat, backing to national forest in Sunriver–$435,500.

A conveniently located (golf, Mt. Bachelor, bike trails, restaurants, etc.) townhome at Bridge Creek Village in Broken Top–$455,000.

The aforementioned single level in Tetherow at $1,375,000.

Looking Ahead

A busy spring . . . improved weather, more inventory (more choices), continued in-migration and all those commuters from Silicon Valley!