Awbrey Butte Homes Are Selling, 2013 First Quarter Analysis…

Spring is in the air and homes on Awbrey Butte are selling. It is fantastic to see the upper end of the market showing some movement after years at a very slow pace. The homes that have sold are all range from a modest three bedroom, two and a half bathroom, Gary Laursen home to a older Awbrey Butte classic with a Cascade Mountain view worth a million dollars.

Currently there are homes listed from $419,900 for a four bedroom, two and a half bathroom home with great southern exposure and views of the city below to a series of spectacular homes that range in price from $1,100,000 through $1,850,000. These homes run from contemporary to chalet style with exquisite finishes in all.

One of these is a very contemporary home that has yet to built by Demarco Design & Building. This home is to be built on an exceptional lot with astounding Cascade Mountain views. Getting in early on this one would allow for you to select your own special touches and finishes.

Homes of this stature are quite special and require that appointments be made to be shown. It would be my honor to make these arrangements for you to tour these or any properties available in Bend.

If you have questions about Awbrey Butte homes or the Bend real estate market and need a source for information, please contact me, I am glad to assist you in making informed decisions about Bend.

			List Price				Average
	Listings	Low	High	Average	Median	$/Sqft	DOM
Active	19	$419,900	$1,999,000	$1,107,322	$1,162,500	$269	273
New	8	$419,900	$1,850,000	$1,072,990	$1,212,500	$248	56
Contingent	0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	0
Pending	7	$469,000	$945,000	$309,710	$290,000	$194	107
Sold	9	$440,000	$100,000,000	$697,111	$610,000	$190	176

SOLD 1^st Quarter

NW Promontory Drive         3 bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms, 2475 sqft.,    $440,000

NW Farewell Drive              4 bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms, 2839 sqft.,    $502,500

NW Foley Court                    4 bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms, 3146 sqft.,    $579,000

NW Promontory Drive        5 bedroom, 3    bathrooms, 4288 sqft.,    $600,000

NW Farewell Drive             5 bedroom, 3.5 bathrooms, 3740 sqft.,    $610,000

NW Redfield Circle             3 bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms, 3839 sqft.,    $675,000

NW Three Sisters Drive     4 bedroom, 6    bathrooms, 5425 sqft.,    $892,500

NW Healy Court                  3 bedroom, 3.5 bathrooms, 3299 sqft.,    $975,000

NW Okane Court                 5 bedroom, 4    bathrooms, 4306 sqft., $1,000,000

The Duke Warner Market Trends and Bratton Reports have hit the Streets and Spring is Just Ahead…

You would never know it from today’s weather with temperatures in the mid sixty degree range. It is suppose to still be winter snowy and cold just like our friends to the east of us. There have been plenty of cyclist, runners, hikers and skiers out taking full advantage of this beautiful weather. It is days like today make you feel blessed to be in Central Oregon.

Both the Duke Warner Market Trends and Bratton Reports are available either through the link provided or you can go to my website shopbendhomes.com. The Bratton Report is showing a drop in the median price of a home in Bend for the month. Looking at this month’s Duke Warner Report we see a drop in the amount of sales in the $225,000 - $325,000 price range, this is the culprit in for the drop in the median price. I believe this to be a temporary drop as the number of pending sales in this grouping has increase by approximately the same amount that sales fell.  Overall the numbers are very similar to the month before and are very strong considering the time of year.

A problem for the next two to three months will be our lack of inventory. To help in relieving this builders have been pulling new home permits at a rate not seen until July of 2007. By early summer a good portion of these homes will hit the market and provide some relief. While consumer confidence is growing there are a good many homeowners that are not comfortable with the price their home will bring. The distressed homeowner’s property, a component that feed the market for so long, still remains on the sideline.  

There are a good number of distressed homes that have either been foreclosed on or are waiting to be processed as a foreclosed home. These homes have been missing from our inventory since last summer.  The main culprit in slowing down these homes from being processed is Oregon Senate Bill 1552. SB1552 requires lien holders to arbitrate with distressed homeowners to work out a solution/option to the foreclosure. The loan servicers have moved to the much slower judicial foreclosure process to evade the requirements of the bill.

The legislation is currently working on a revised version of SB1552 that will encompass the judicial process as well. I believe this new legislation will only continue to slow down the process. Our legislators are well intended but they are too late. Had they left the process that had been in place alone we would have a more stable inventory of homes and would be well on our way to working through the distressed inventory.

It will be interesting to see what spring brings; there are already rumblings of interest rates rising though out the summer. This might be the catalyst for bringing more homes to the market, as homeowners move off of the fence and make the decision to find that new place to call home with super low interest rates.     

 

October 2012 Market Report for the Neighborhoods of Awbrey Butte in Bend, Oregon

For those of you that have been following along for the last week or so I have been providing a mini market trend report for some of Bend, Oregon’s favorite neighborhoods. If you have not seen your favorite neighborhoods feel free to contact me and I can put together a report for your favorite. Today we are going to focus on the Neighborhoods of Awbrey Butte.

You might be curious as to what comprises the neighborhoods of Awbrey Butte? In my thinking they are Awbrey Heights, Awbrey Point, Awbrey Road Heights, Bend View, City View, Greyhawk, Hawks Ridge, Heights of Bend, Hillside Park, Tumalo Heights and a few others. These neighborhoods consist of a diverse collection of homes on the lower flanks of Awbrey Butte. There are modest homes built in the late forties to the ultra contemporary with spectacular views of the city and the Paulina Mountains to the south.

The older of these neighborhoods have been extremely popular with folks looking to renovate a classic home into some more contemporary. A key feature for many of these homes is their proximity to downtown Bend. Many of these homes sit on larger than average lots as well lending to a feel of having a larger home.

One other quirk is the tax rate for many of the older homes is significantly less than their newer counterparts throughout Bend. This in part to a property tax limitation measure (measure 50)passed back in 1997. It is a little too complicated to get into right now but in certain circumstances owners of older homes benefit greatly.

In the chart below you can see the diversity of these neighborhoods with prices currently running from $299,000 to $2,395,000. Last month was a slower month for the neighborhoods with only two homes selling versus September when seven homes sold. A portion of that difference may be accounted for in the number of pending sales which is sitting at four more than September. With a decent inventory of homes going in to the holiday season sales should remain consistent. Hopefully this spring we will see an influx of newer listings to tickle buyer’s fancies.

If you have questions about any of the homes available in the neighborhoods of Awbrey Butte or the Bend real estate market in general or perhaps you need a source for information. Please contact me, I would be glad to assist you in making informed decisions about Bend real estate.

                                            List Price Average
            Listings    Low         High          Average    Median    $/Sqft  DOM
Active        14   $299,000   $2,395,000   $658,268   $517,475   $210   159
New             4   $385,000    $750,000     $514,975   $462,450   $159   27
Contingent 0   $0               $0                 $0             $0             $0       0
Pending     5   $285,000     $469,900   $353,880   $290,000   $149   98
Sold            2   $300,000     $390,000   $345,000   $345,000   $191   117

Happy Holidays!!!

Happy holidays to all!!!

While Santa may not be bringing us a white Christmas here in Bend, he did leave early present today with eight inches of light new snow and clearing skies up at Mt. Bachelor.

This past Sunday and Monday had brought some much needed very wet snow, which has glued itself nicely over the many heavily traveled rocky areas of Mt. Bachelor. Though the coverage has improve tremendously the last few days caution still needs to be exercised on the exposed ridges that face to the south and in the trees. Rocks on the ridges and fallen trees from last year’s ice storm have left some unexpected surprises when skiing off in the Outback and Northwest territories.

All in all, the skiing has been fantastic for early season. Today with the boot top to knee deep powder shots would have to rate as one of the better in this very young season.

The rest of this holiday week looks to be mostly sunny and cold, terrific for those of you who have waited to start your season.

For those of you checking out the ideal property for your own ski chalet or future retirement home, call me. There are some awesome properties available that are outstanding values. Interest rates are starting to inch up, making now the time to make your move. I can help those of you who are looking to move up find a home and take advantage of the current tax rebates programs that are available only until this coming April.

TO ALL A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON and A FUN FILLED NEW YEAR!!!

Jumping into the virtual tour world!!

Technology today is so amazing!!

Last week I attended a seminar on virtual marketing. Marketing by virtual touring has been around for some time and I had always thought it to be a process better left to the techies who thrive on the challenges brought on by having the newest and best gizmo. This seminar showed how far technology has come and how the software these days is quite intuitive. The ease of using this marketing tool and its ability to link to so many virtual viewing sites with just a few key strokes is amazing.

It is a great tool to share with my clients. By taking photos while we tour homes, I can present my clients with web link or CD of the properties we toured to help refresh their memory. Or for my listing clients I can provide a tour of their property for the buying public to see. Through zoom and panning movement these tours bring the property to life. The static photos used in most advertising just do not give you the same feel for a property.

It will be interesting to see what new tools will lay ahead and where they will take us.

This link will show a gallery of properties I currently have listed. http://www.visualtour.com/inventorygallery.asp?u=183639&mp=100&ss=0&s=bd&fn=rBQnhf+2r1jDR%3F8