September in Bend

September, a wonderful time of year in Bend . . . the days are bright, the nights cool; everything is golden, and the summer’s tourists and traffic have abated (a bit!). A great time to be here!

226 sales, 2.9 months of inventory

For the sixth month in a row, the 200 sale “Mendoza line” was topped.

Somewhat surprisingly, pending sales stayed strong as well with 209 . . . assuring that closings in Bend should remain fairly robust through November. I think it’s safe to say that the traditional selling season (May through August) is a thing of the past.

The chart above shows that we’re still in the midst of a strong “seller’s market” with just under three months of available for sale inventory (single family homes on an acre or less) overall. The NRA , oops . . . I mean the NAR (National Association of Realtors) considers six months of inventory to be a balanced market.

Other Trends in Bend Real Estate

The median price in Bend eased upward a bit to $348,000 (however, that’s up almost 25% from September a year ago). New construction continued to flourish . . . 89 building permits were issued–the highest number this year!

Distressed properties accounted for less than 5% of September sales (2 short sales, 9 bank-owned).

Affordable Housing in Bend?

Now, the bad news. For some, Bend is quickly becoming “unaffordable.” Again looking at the chart above, the “under $200,000” category has all but disappeared. Quite a change . . . most would call it “recovery.” Regardless, 2 years ago, that price point accounted for almost 17% of overall sales; and just four short years ago the figure was 42%. Wow!

The low-priced leader for September in Bend was, euphemistically put,  a “mixed use opportunity,” an RM zoned home on a large cluttered lot. The 3/1, 1398 square foot project sold for just $135,000 (listed at $150,000) or less than $100/ square foot.

The roof was replace four years ago, and the home toiled on the market for almost that long . . . actually, just 685 days!

Median Priced Home . . . $348,000

As previously mentioned, a slight bump (less than 1%) from August’s figure. The median priced home in Bend might look like this:

a three bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2431 square foot home in Terrango Glen on the NE side.

The house, built in 2005, featured an open plan and a fenced back yard; it went for $143/ square foot, and sold in 112 days.

High End Bend . . . $920,000

No sales over a million dollars this month . . . perhaps signalling a bit of a slowdown at the top of the market?

The winner, nevertheless, was a new home in Tetherow–a community that is certainly on fire, and is finally reaching its potential as perhaps the most sought after address in Bend (see all Tetherow homes for sale).

Built by Timberline Construction, this contemporary house . . . 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, and not quite 3000 square feet . . . went for $312 per square foot. The large wraparound deck made for great indoor-outdoor connections throughout the open plan.

Significant Sale

I sort of like the alliteration, so this month we’ve transitioned to “significant sale” . . . just means that we made it.

The perfect single level in Three Pines at $575,000.

Looking Ahead

Despite issues– the slowdown at the high end, lack of affordability at the low end, a paucity of available inventory, and some rather disappointing local employment figures, things still look pretty solid for the Bend real estate market  going forward. It appears the Fed will hold off on interest rate hikes (at least until the end of the year), and we’re seeing a return to wealth of the leading edge of the boomers (shades of The Roaring 2000’s?) the largest source of in-migration to Bend.

Life is pretty good!