COBA Tour of Homes and the Sagebrush Classic…

This weekend kicks off the Central Oregon Builders Associations Tour of Homes. The Duke Warner Realty staff will be hosting a Greg Welch designed and built home in Northwest Crossing. Set amidst ponderosa pines and rugged lava outcroppings on the west side of Bend, Oregon; Northwest Crossing is one of Bend’s premier neighborhoods. Come by 2330 NW High Lakes Loop and visit me while I host this beautiful and efficient home Saturday 12:30 p.m. through 3:30 p.m. and once again on Sunday 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Check out Greg’s attention to details in the quality and comfort of this energy efficient home set in a neighborhood that has it all, parks, schools, gourmet grocery, shops & restaurants! This home has an open floor plan with a master suite on the main, gourmet kitchen with tiled center island, plus den/office & loft. To assist you in making the most of your leisure time the yard is fully landscaped with automated irrigation system.

After visiting our open house there are 36 more homes on the COBA Tour of Homes to consider this year. The event is spread out over two weekend’s so do not feel rushed to visit every home this weekend. Take your time to view all the eye candy for those who love well crafted homes.

I am a little late with this one but tickets are still available so while you are in town, make plans to attend the Sagebrush Classic Feast at the Broken Top Golf Club. This event has become one Bend’s best parties with food prepared by world class chef’s who have flown into make this an experience not to be missed. All proceeds from the event will benefit the many family assistance programs around town.

Bend, Oregon Residential Real Estate Trends for June 2010

Here is my take on the Bend, Oregon real estate market at early summer. Currently there is more interest from buyers from out of the area than folks that live here. People who live here are still nervous about the lack of jobs and the uncertainty of what the future will bring, many are waiting for more pain to come. Buyers from out of the area see this market as a great opportunity and generally come from areas with a rosier outlook on the economy. They are buying properties as rentals, retirement homes or second homes. The better properties that are priced well are moving quickly to these people.

Overall the market is stronger than a year ago but is by no means healthy. The properties that are being purchased are usually very good deals but not necessarily distressed. Inventories of homes is down to an 8.8 month supply, one year ago we had 14.4 month supply. We have been in the 8 month range since March of this year. The stats break out that 21.21% of the homes sold the last three months are short sales, 34.38% are REO's and the remaining 44.41% are traditional sales. The traditional sales are closing at a rate of 95.93% list price to sales price, short sales are at 98.13% and REO's are at 96.47%. Here is a scary number that most folks do not consider, the original list price versus the sales price, the number has improved from last year's 79% and is now at 85%. We have been in the mid 80% range since December of last year; I would expect that number to improve as people lower their expectations for what their home is worth.

To sum it up the lower end of the market $225,000 and under, there will not be much more downward movement. The $225,000 through $425,000 has all sorts of properties and pricing strategies. While most properties are priced reasonably there will be some more movement downward. Most brokers realize the value in having correct pricing but sellers can be quite headstrong on the original pricing wanting to give the higher price a shot before succumbing to reality. The $425,000 and up market has the most room for more downward pressure.

Charted below are the trend numbers for the past three months. To view in a full screen click on the box in the lower right.

Good News For Buyers Qualifying for the Home Tax Credit…

Home buyer’s looking to keep their homebuyers tax credit in play received good news today. The bill which extends the timeline for those buyers who had a qualified offer in to purchase a home before April 30th and receive the home tax credit was passed by the Senate last night. The original bill for the extension of the home tax credit had been tied to the additional unemployment benefits bill which had failed in the Senate earlier this week. Heavy lobbying by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) enabled the bill to be introduced as a free standing bill which passed the House of Representatives and Senate. The bill now awaits the President’s signature.

The bill also contains additional provisions to tighten the rules to prevent tax credit fraud. Given the news earlier this month concerning prison inmates, some who are in for a life sentences receiving benefits from the tax credit, this should be a welcome inclusion to the bill. One can only imagine how many other scams are defrauding the program are out there, hopefully the provisions in this bill can curtail a good portion of the fraud.

The federal home tax credit was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law in February 2009. The $8,000 credit was available to first time buyers who purchased a house after January 1, 2009 and was originally scheduled to expire on November 30, 2009. The credit was seen to have stimulated home sales, especially in the lower price ranges, and in November Congress extended it through April 30 and added a $6,500 tax credit for non-first-time buyers.

Those who had qualified offers in before the April 30th date were given until June 30th to close their transaction. In many areas title companies struggled with the added push of home buyers trying to complete their deals creating a backlog that could not be cleared by the deadline. Others struggled with cumbersome short sale proceedings, even the most straight forward transactions can take an excoriating amount of time to complete. The new date to complete transactions for the tax credit is September 30th.

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