December 2022

Just occasionally, our fearless pundit gets it right; when he does, unfortunately, he likes to toot his own horn. Case in point . . . a quote from last month’s “looking ahead” section, “In the short term, I think it’s unlikely that we’ll see 100 sales in December.” Truth be told, we saw 99! That’s the lowest total in more than three years.

We also saw our median price sink a bit–to $678,000 (down almost $20,000 from the previous month). Days on the market increased to 30 . . . the highest total since the beginning of the pandemic.

Available inventory remained steady at just 1.5 months overall (6 months is considered to be a “balanced” market). 28% of purchases continued to be cash transactions.

Peripherally, Redmond continued an end-of-year five month slide . . . the median price sinking to $425,000-that’s a drop of $117,000 from its high in August.

On a positive note, Mt. Bachelor is enjoying some of its best early season conditions in years!

Also, sort of interesting to take a look back at our market just five years ago.

Slumming It . . . $380,000

The only home to sell for less than $400,000 (there were another 13 that sold for less than $500,000), this single level on Bend’s NE side featured a rather large garage,

or maybe the marketing photos just made it look that  way.

The 2/2, 1077 square foot house also offered a deck off the kitchen, a fenced backyard,

and a sweet location just minutes from Pine Nursery Park, medical facilities, and restaurants.

Few interior photos available in the MLS as the tenants (rent of $1625) perhaps had an overly protective pet.

Maybe I exaggerated a little bit on that one.

In any case, the home closed in 44 days at 88% of original list.

Luxury Bend . . . $3,338,920

New construction in the North Forty at Tetherow! Four bedrooms, five baths, and 4513 square feet. This one had it all (except for marketing photos). Your zealous and dedicated correspondent, in an effort to bring you real hyper-local content, even went out to the property to shoot his own high resolution photos. Alas, it was impossible as there were three cars in the driveway and no landscaping as yet!

I guess a rendering will have to do.

The house featured high ceilings, custom mill work, a wine vault (!), and a “working kitchen” (it had a regular chef’s kitchen too).

Just to balance the page, here’s shot of the second most expensive home to sell in December.

Note–also on Hosmer Lake Drive in Tetherow; it closed at $2,890,000 ($721 per square foot) or $360,000 below list price.

Bend’s Median . . . $675,000

It took awhile for this one to pop . . . 169 days to be exact (and after a “price enhancement” of $54,000). Actually a pretty good look at the current market in a nutshell.

Nevertheless, a “charming”(I think that means that the lot is tiny–in this case 2600 square feet) bungalow

in a classic Old Bend neighborhood; two bedrooms, a bath, and 810 square feet . . . close to shopping, restaurants, and the river.

The home, built in 1920 featured the original hardwood floors and stainless appliances. It closed at $833 per square foot.

Per usual, a look at median prices on the two sides of town:

East side     $542,500

West side    $925,000

Looking Ahead

Maybe tough to replicate last month’s heady prediction. The operative word for the future is “uncertainty.” 2022 started out so well, but ended with a whimper . . . 2023 could be a wild ride as well.

I think we’ll see prices in Bend holding pretty steady, maybe even a slight decrease. We should see a return to more traditional seasonal trends–a tepid January and February, then more inventory and more sales in the spring. The appropriately priced product will continue to move quickly. We’ll  need to keep an eye on national trends (specifically our feeder markets)–as inventory levels, inflation, and interest rates will all come into play. Hang on!

A little side bet? Pretty sure we won’t see 100 Bend sales in January.