The Roller Coaster called Bend, Oregon…

What a roller coaster ride, one day Bend, Oregon is predicted by Bloomberg Businessweek will be one of the fastest recovering markets by 2014 then Zillow reports that Bend is leading the nation in home value depreciation.


While the news of our market is mixed these days there are positive trends to report from Bend. Using data from the Central Oregon Association of Realtors MLS through Trendvision, the inventory of homes on the market has shrunk by 47% when compared to July of 2008 and 33% from last July. Currently there are 1587 properties on the market in Bend, down from 2363 last July. Looking back the last six months has produced the lowest inventory levels since 2004.

Sellers appear to be facing the reality of the current market conditions and are pricing their homes closer to today’s values. The differential from original list price versus sold price has increased 5.3% from last year at this time.

With sellers pricing their properties more realistically the days on market has dropped to the lowest in two years. The average time a home is on the market has decreased to 135 days versus 150 days last year.

So what’s it all mean, have we hit bottom? No one knows for sure, are we close? It sure has all of the appearances of being close to the bottom. What could we use as a gauge? How about using properties under $300,000, the ones that are good homes and are well priced have been getting snapped up quickly. Above $300,000 and on into the upper reaches of our market remain soft but there too if the property is well priced it disappears rapidly.

Another signal is the return of buyers from outside the area, buyers who see value in the properties here and wish to buy before the best values are gone. With the list price to sales price ratio shrinking the days of finding the killer deal is fading. One more positive signal is the success by a select few builders who have returned to the market to fill the niche for buyers who wish to have a new home.

In spite of our fall from grace Bend remains and will continue to be a great place to live! While our real estate market may bounce along the bottom for a bit of time our dry climate, the large variety of outdoor activities, enjoying that we are one of the great beer cities of the west and the access to flights from the Roberts Field that allows for quick access to all points beyond Bend are among what makes Bend a desirable place to live. Bend is a great place to live just as it has been since long before its recent popularity.