Tiny cat feet

A couple of days ago, I was riding my BMW Dakar out Tumalo Reservoir Road to the Sisemore Road area to check on on one of our Bend Oregon real estate listings (Barbara Way acreage), to replace flyers and straighten signs.  As I scrambled down the gravel road (freezing my ass off!), I admired the ever-changing view of the Cascades.  It was a bit strange, but the words of a Carl Sandburg poem wandered into my chilly mind–

The fog comes

on little cat feet

Gaping at the action over the South Sister, it was apparent that these were no “cat feet.”  They were huge, aggressive lion’s claws of cloud, rolling and barreling  east and attempting to smother the top of the peak in frothy white.

It’s now fall in Central Oregon and the weather has cooled.  Apparently the housing market in Bend Oregon hasn’t gotten the message . . . for more homes sold in September than in August.

September home sales in Bend Oregon

Sales bumped almost 1o% over the previous month . . . going to 139 from 127 in August; still down radically from the all time high in May of 2007.  The increase in low end (investor and first time buyer) activity brought the median price down to around $203,000.

Range of prices

Prices ran from $92,500 to $740,000 for the month. At the low end of the sales gamut was a two bedroom, one bath, 1152 square foot home that sold at $92,500  or $81 per square foot.

Oops . . . sorry about the poor quality photo. . . that’s what you get for under $100,000!  It was sited on two full lots, and, according to Central Oregon MLS, was only on the market for 26 days.  In August of 2006, this same home sold for a shocking $281,000!!

At the high end of the market was a unique custom home on Bend’s westside.  The almost 4000 square foot home went at $740,000 ($186 per square foot).

It offered an outrageous 2288 square foot garage

and game room.

The home also featured solid pecan floors, a chef’s kitchen with marble-top island and soapstone counters (I talk about these things like I know what they are!).

Just to give a quick idea of what the median priced home looked like.

A bank-owned, 2305 square foot Pahlisch home that went for $203,000.

The rest of the poem

Oh, yes, the rest of that Carl Sandburg poem:

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on

For more info on homes for sale in Bend Oregon or to search for homes yourself, click on this dynamic link or very carefully click on the blue ball above.