The Weather?

Maybe the weather had something to do with it. Sure, the calendar said December . . . certainly didn’t feel like it though. In Bend, it was warmer than usual, drier too.  Mt. Bachelor had limited terrain open. What snow there was was surprisingly thin and firm. The days seemed interminable (for some); life was a drag!

The Market . . . There’s No Inventory!

In spite of (or maybe because of) the weather, the Bend real estate market sales volume picked it up big time in December. We saw purchases jump from 169 in November to 206 (a gain of 20%). Homes continued to sell at 96% of original list price. And Bend’s median price stayed steady at $440,000.

However, one big dark cloud seemed to loom above all the positives–there is just no inventory! Only 328 homes (single family residential on less than an acre) on the market . . . the second lowest number in over seven years! That translates to just 1.6 months of overall inventory. By way of contrast . . . during the recession (Dec. 2008), there were 1346 homes on the market.

Another effect of this dearth of inventory was the resultant drop in “pending” sales. We saw just 132 (down 26%)  in December. There may be some hungry Realtors come January and February.

Affordable Bend . . . $250,000

It’s pretty obvious that homes are becoming less and less affordable. The top row of my little chart above has been rendered useless (save for historical value). It’s getting increasingly difficult to find a home for under $300,000.

The deal of the month for December was rather interesting . . . “an uninhabitable home just west of the Galveston roundabout and Taco Salsa.”

The 2/1, 706 square foot “home” closed in just 19 days at $250,000 ($354/square foot) and, of course, offered “the amazing opportunity to build the house of your dreams.”

Bend’s Median . . . $440,000

The median priced house in Bend in December might resemble this Pahlisch (seems that every month the median priced home is built by Pahlisch) home in sought after Lava Ridges on Bend’s north east side.

The 4/3.5, 2378 square foot home featured an open great room plan with master on the main level. The second level offered three more bedroom and a rather spiffy office. The home sold for just $185 per square foot–not bad!

Lava Ridges maintains a well-managed HOA; fees are $95 dollars per month and include use of a community pool (no photos!), a myriad of walking trails, and easy access to the Pine Nursery Park.

For those considering relocation to Bend, it’s always interesting to contrast the median price of homes on the two sides of town:

East side     $382,000

West side    $539,000

Luxury Bend . . . $1,325,000

Nope, not Tetherow this time! Instead, it’s an incredible Craftsman in Bend’s Historical District.

The four bedroom, four bath, 5674 square foot house featured big bedrooms and updated bathrooms; even a private guest suite. It also offered an open kitchen with custom built-ins.

And only a three minute walk to Mirror Pond and Drake Park.

It sold for $1,325,000 or $234 per square foot.

Looking Ahead

Our nearly unprecedented inventory woes and an unsettled political situation present potential problems as we close out the decade (sounds dramatic, doesn’t it?). However, continued in-migration (“everybody wants to live in Bend!”) and near historic low interest rates should serve to keep the stoke going. Price hikes will slow, and sales may even flatten, but 2020 looks pretty solid.