The Bend Market

Whew . . . glad that one’s over! Of course, I’m referring to the month of December, but could easily apply to all of 2024 as well. It was a pretty tough year for Bend real estate. The three-headed evils of hefty interest rates, a paucity of available inventory, and a problematic political scenario served to play a bit of havoc with our market.

On a positive note–the early season snow at Mt. Bachelor was all-time great!

December 2024

December’s sales figures presented an almost  microcosmic view of the entire year. We saw the purchase of just 104 homes (single family residential on less than an acre) in Bend . . . the lowest number in a year, and a far cry from pre-pandemic and pandemic years when monthly sales rarely fell below the 200 unit level.

Bend’s median price dropped to $700,000 (perhaps not a real sign of concern as buyers simply focused on less expensive homes in an effort to mitigate rising interest rates) after topping out at $800,000 in October.

As the year came to a close, price reductions  became more prevalent, and days on market increased to 45. Still, 29% of purchases topped one million dollars (ouch!).  Available inventory sat at just 2.5 months overall. And, as to be expected with interest rates hovering around 7%, 38% of sales were cash transactions.

Slumming It . . . $285,000

Wow! A home in Bend for just $285,000! Unheard of! These small units (400 square feet) at Clarenden Place (“Where quaint charm meets modern living” . . .  I couldn’t have said it better myself) dominated the low end of the market. Four of them sold in December, going pending in just 34 days. They presented a great opportunity for first time buyers or price conscious downsizers.

These bargains featured one bedroom, one bath; surprisingly, a two car garage and private side yards. They were sited on rather tiny lots (.05 acre), and did feature a common wall. The location was superb, however, below Pilot Butte on Bend’s up and coming east side.

Such a deal at $712 per square foot.

Bend’s Median . . . $700,000

For the year, Bend’s median price hip-hopped from a low of $682,000 to a high of $800,000 before settling to a sedate $700,00 in December.

For that price, one could expect something like this 4 bedroom, 4 bath, 2720 square foot, single level home in NE Bend.

Set on a large (.28 acre) corner lot, the home featured a bright white kitchen,

red oak flooring, as well as new siding and paint, and a fenced yard.

All that was missing was a garage!

The home sold at full list in 111 days (at $257 per foot).

As always, a comparison of median prices on each side of town; however, this month is pretty shocking:

East side     $599,900

West side    $1,190,000

Luxury Bend . . . $3,600,000

Despite all my whining, the luxury market actually performed pretty well . . . one sale over three million, another three over two million. And, perhaps as expected, the top four most expensive sales were all cash transactions.

The big winner was a 6095 square foot home in North Rim. Before going into contract, the four bedroom, six bath home rested on the market for 180 days. No small wonder when the original asking price opened at $4,500,000!

According to the listing agent (or perhaps Chat GPT), the home “seamlessly mixed a mid century vibe with a distinct NW twist.” It was a nice place!

The splendid kitchen featured state of the art appliances and stunning  Carrara marble (I’ll pretend that I know what that is) counter tops.

The home closed at $591 per square foot.

Just for kicks, here’s a look at luxury real estate throughout Oregon; the homes in Central Oregon begin on page 118.

One Auspicious Sale

One fine sale this month . . . a beautiful single level in Broken Top.

Looking Ahead

At least for the short term, the pundits seem to say that we’re in for more of the same. We  won’t see a reduction in interest rates any time soon (they’ll remain in the 7% range). For existing homeowners, we’ll continue to see increased equity as home prices rise . . . perhaps opening the door for more cash transactions, but deepening the wealth gap between homeowners and renters.

The median age of first time buyers will continue to rise (last year it hit an all-time high of 38 years) . . . with many forced/able to rely on the “bank of mom and dad.”

I suppose we’ll just have to guess what the political ramifications will be.

Like I said, the snow is great!