March 2013 Duke Warner Market Trends Report

Today was snow globe day in Bend this morning we looked like one of those snow globes that turn upside down to have all of the snowflakes cover the village in the globe. Goes to show how spring weather in Central Oregon can through myriad of conditions on any given day. This morning there was an inch and a half of snow on the ground. Now I can see the blossoming tree across the street.

Just like spring flowers there have been many new listings budding out. With our market being slightly heated up like a warm spring day there are many folks out pruning the new blossoms. According to our Duke Warner Market Trends Report  the Bend market had 230 new property listings this month but the bump in the overall number of active listings available was slight. The pruning was achieved through the pending sales and sold properties; both showed a healthy increase in their numbers. March produced sales of 155 homes versus 100 homes in February being sold. This is a close match to March of 2012 when 153 homes were sold. With the amount of interest in purchasing homes this year we should at least mirror last year if not see a healthy increase in sales activity this summer. 

Follow this link Duke Warner Market Trends Report and Bratton Report for this month and prior month’s history of activity. If you have questions about the Bend real estate market and need a source for information, please contact me, Bill Panton.  I am glad to assist you in making informed decisions about Bend and Central Oregon.

#centraloregon, #bendoregon, #dukewarner, #billpanton, #shopbendhomes

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.     

 

Happy Holidays and a Belated Bratton Report for November 2012

Happy Holidays to All!!!

It has been quite some time since we have had a white Christmas here in Bend but this year Bing Crosby would have been proud. Over six inches feel in the days preceding Christmas this year making for a snow globe wonderland.

The Bratton Report for November is a bit tardy on my part and for that I apologize. The holiday season combined with moving to a new home has made for some hectic times taking me out of my normal rhythms.

Enjoy the report and we will be posting again in the New Year.

May you all have a safe and fun New Year’s celebration!!

Santa Likes These Numbers for Bend, Oregon (Duke Warner Market Trends Report)

Here’s to a happy and joyful holiday season for everyone. A warm holiday season it has been so far here in Bend, Oregon. This has not stopped Bendites from enjoying a great start to our ski season. Living in Bend has such great advantages to the daily grind, it is so nice to enjoy the snow in the morning then follow it up with an afternoon bike ride or escape the grind by heading out to the slopes for a quick hour or two.

Linked here is an early Christmas gift this month’s Duke Warner Market Trends Report.

In this month’s report we actually have seen an increase in active listings, while new listings coming to the market have declined. While most active listing categories are down but relatively equal to last month, listings in the $225,000-$325,000 range have jumped. This category saw an increase of 34 more homes actively listed. Many of these homes have come into the market to take advantage of the favorable reporting the last few weeks. The number of listings in the pending sale category also has dropped dramatically by 68 transactions. The homes that sold in Bend also dropped but this appears to be in line with the season.

Watching our daily sales trends makes me think that December will continue to be solid. One category in a pinch is with those trying to complete their short sales before year’s end. The “Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation” for distressed homeowners expires then which could leave many successful short sale clients with enormous tax liability. While there has been intense lobbying to extend tax relief, it is being drown out by the fiscal cliff bickering. The effect this bickering has on the rest of the market remains to be seen. This bickering has cast a constant pall on the joyful holiday season and has effectively been the Grinch that is stealing Christmas and beyond. Soon Santa will come and go, as will this crisis too.

I have refused to give in to the Grinch’s his year and have asked Santa to send more referrals. I am pretty sure that Santa will not mind a little help from those of you out there that know someone in need of a hard working broker. Help keep the coal out of my stocking, I am easy to reach.

Have a great Holiday Season and spread a little joy to those known and unknown to you!!

 

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

As mentioned in a post two days ago, I am going to attempt to bring you a monthly activity report that should keep you up to speed with how real estate is doing in your favorite Bend, Oregon neighborhoods. Today we are going to focus on those looking to make the top of the butte their home, the Awbrey Butte neighborhood.

October seems like it was a long time ago, yet it was only last week when we had temperatures in the high 60’s. Today we look a bit like our Willamette Valley cousins, it is a bit gray with a slight drizzle, this a fore shadowing of the winter months to come. Most of the brilliant foliage colors of this fall have gone now; soon it will be the beauty of the bare trees and bright white mountains of winter.

There no place better in Bend for gazing those commanding Cascade Mountain views than the west side of Awbrey Butte. Five buyers this month had those views in mind when they chose to make this neighborhood their new home. Two more are awaiting their transactions to reach their end but they too will call the Butte their home.

Awbrey Butte has some of the more amazing homes in Bend. Of the seventeen homes actively listed for sale, nine have amazing Cascade Mountain views, though two are yet to be built to your dream home specifications. All of the homes listed save one are above 3000 square feet in size and the smallest of the parcels sits on a half acre. If you are looking for a special home these homes should be on your watch list.

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           Avg           Median       $/Sqft     DOM

Active         17        $539,950   $1,999,000     $914,168   $699,000      $239     219

New             1         $895,000      $895,000     $895,000   $895,000      $208       27

Contingent 1         $525,000      $525,000     $525,000   $525,000      $185       42

Pending     1         $699,000      $699,000     $699,000   $699,000      $154     105

Sold            5         $365,500      $765,000     $515,700   $455,000      $159     226

Summer is here and so are the June Bratton and Duke Warner Market Trend Reports…

The Bend market trend numbers have remained steady as we go over the past few months. With summer we have seen a slight increase in the number of active listings with the number of sold properties remaining consistent with the previous three months. The number of sold properties has remained fairly level over this period.

What to expect this summer?? One is that the Northwest weather rarely follows the rest of the nation; while the rest of the country swelters we have had a relatively cool summer thus far with only one week of hot weather. What is sweltering in our neck of the woods is the real estate market under $300,000. We continue to see multiple offers for good homes that are reasonably priced. Many of these homes will be tied up within a matter of days of coming onto the market. The continued pressure on the available inventory is leading to slight price increases if not when the property is listed then when a property has multiple offers.

We are also seeing a continued decrease in the number of Bank owned homes that are available. Currently in Bend (not including the outlying areas) there are 18 active listings available and 44 pending sale listings. I think we all know of several properties that are sitting out there vacant with signs in the windows and no owner insight… the dreaded shadow inventory!! So far the banks have shown inclination to move quickly to resolve issues with these properties and bring them to market. I would like to say that this all part of the plan to keep the market stable but my experience with banks/lenders would make me think otherwise. The lenders do not care they move to their own rules at their own pace. Unless they show a willingness to throw more money and manpower at the shadow homes my thoughts are that they will continue to dribble out for the immediate future.

Conversely the availability of properties being short sold remains constant with 50 homes in an active listing status, 58 are in a contingent sale status with back up offers being accepted and 79 in a pending sale status.

It will be interesting to see how Bill 1552, passed last fall by the Oregon house and senate, has an effect on the market. Designed to provide help distressed homeowners in communicating with their lender to arrive at a solution for their dilemma. The key feature of this bill is to bring lenders and homeowners together to mediate a reasonable solution for both parties.

The optimism that we have reached the bottom combined with the low inventory of desirable homes has brought an increase in the number of building permits issued for new homes. While NorthWest Crossing has been at the center of this activity for sometime we are starting to see signs of live in other sectors of town. Group PacWest has revived the eastern portion of the former Palmer Homes Gardenside neighborhood off of SE 27th Street with great vigor. Elsewhere throughout town you will see other signs of building life, nothing like we saw in the mid 2000’s, which is a good thing.

Summer is a great time to explore Central Oregon, get out there and have some fun before it is gone!! If you need a guide for Central Oregon properties do ot hesitate to contact me, I love to show what we have avaiable.

Next up is what some believe to be Central Oregon’s best season fall.

The November Bratton Market Report for Central Oregon Real Estate is Here!

The Bratton group presents their numbers for October highlighting the real estate market trends in Central Oregon. The Bratton Real Estate Trends Report, Duke Warner Realty Real Estate Trends Report and The Bratton Notice of Default report are all available on shopbendhomes.com under area information – Market Trends Reports


These reports are great for the numbers junkies that can’t get enough information. You can use these numbers to distill your own ideas of where you think the market is heading. If this is too much information you can give me a call or email me and we can sit down and go over the pros and cons of today’s market conditions.

From where I sit the market in Central Oregon continues to stabilize with Notice of Defaults falling and homes in the $350,000 and under having the best strength. The lead in sales and the inventory has consistently been shrinking. In Bend there is currently 3.5 or less months of housing inventory in most categories under $350,000. The upper reaches of the market remain soft with more compromises on sales prices coming.

Redmond and the outlying markets have been slower to recover but have seen similar strength in the same price ranges. Our regions rural properties are bringing up the rear and remain relatively stagnant with money for financing being difficult to come by for these properties.

With interest rates remaining historically low many are finding this market prime with opportunity. These interest rates combined with the value in properties under $350,000 is helping lead the market to the low inventory numbers. It is hard to say how long we will see these low interest rates. Many feel the Feds decision to purchase $600 billion in long term treasury bonds last week may led to inflation hence driving the interest rates up. For now they remain low and should for the next few months.

If the rates head upwards it will be interesting to see if those who have been on the fence about buying in today’s market decide to make their move and jump in before they miss out.

Real Estate Trends Report for October is Ready!!

Many are finding that in Bend it is getting harder to find the house they want at a price they can accept. October has brought the lowest inventory of Bend homes for this year. With the lower inventory we are seeing houses that are well priced with nice amenities and a desirable location being snapped up off the market quickly. We have found that buyers who think that Bend has abundance of great homes at super cheap prices are astounded by how difficult it is to find the home that they want at a price they are willing to pay.


Many of the well priced homes are seeing multiple offers, which is a welcome change for sellers. That trend is especially pronounced in the lower price range of the market with only a 2.8 month supply of homes available under $225,000 and a 3.2 month supply of priced between $225,000 and $325,000. In categories below $625,000 there is currently less than an eight month supply of homes.

The average price for a home sold in Bend for the month was $259,474 down 12% from 2009. Of those homes sold this past month traditional sales made up the bulk of the sales at 44.7%. Bank owned homes fell in behind the traditional sales at 32.1% and short sales brought up the rear 23%.

Short sales remain a headache for all involved in the process. To illustrate how frustrating the short sale process can be there are 133 in a contingent sales status compared to 6 traditional home sales and 1 bank owned. In the contingent sales status most are waiting for approval of the third party lender/investor which can take months. Recently I have been told by certain lenders that they are attempting to complete the short sales transaction in a thirty day window, I have yet to see a lender accomplish that timeline.

The bank owned properties have been the primary recipients of multiple offers with their aggressive pricing; these homes have sold 99.1% of the list price at the time of the sale. Short sales have had the next best results with a ratio of 97.8% and traditional sales seeing the larger concession in prices at 95.1%.

For a different perspective on pricing, homes continue to sell in the mid 80% range of their original list price, this trend has held true since December of 2009. What I see in this last number is that sellers are still adjusting to the realization that their properties will not fetch the price of even just a year ago.

These trends will likely continue through the winter months and into the first part of the spring season. It appears that for the lower range of the market we have stumbled to the bottom of the market. I think we will remain there for the near future and into the next year while we wait for the rest of the market to catch up and the economy continue its recovery.

Click the following link to see this month’s market trends report.