Happy August!

I recently saw a picture of the woman that holds the record for the Guinness Book of World Record longest nails. It was both shocking, amazing, impressive and upsetting. The look on her face could best be described as proud. Why not be proud? She’s made great sacrifices to reach this point. She most likely can’t do a menagerie of activities due to the length of her nails but it was something she felt compelled to do and she’s obviously learned to live with the changes. Her reasoning for doing it was born from something sad that had happened and I’ll let you look into that on your own but through this sadness she achieved something worthy of gaining a world record. What on earth does this woman with uncomfortably long nails have to do with real estate you may be asking. Good question.

This past month of July we reached a record high for the median home sales price at $800,000! Much like my reaction to the lady with the lengthy nails, I felt many of the same emotions. Much like her experience, this has been a gradual growth process over the course of many years (we did, however, see a more rapid jump than her due to Covid). Prior to March of 2019 we had capped out at a median home price high of $475,000 in August of 2019. Since then it’s basically been nothing but up. Last month, of the 141 homes sold, almost 32% of them sold for over a million dollars. The reports that I use to run my numbers each month include pricing in $100k increments and we are pretty much at a point where the $400k and below category can be eliminated while we need to create more detailed categories for $1.8mil and higher. This would have been absolutely unheard of four years ago.

The effects of our growth are currently being felt all over Bend. A new section of Highway 97 is being built to allow for a business loop on the north end of town to ease congestion and to create a smoother flow to Redmond. A new Costco and gas station will be built on the north end of town and new construction is literally happening on all sides of town with 1,200 new apartment rentals reported to be coming on the market over the next six months. This growth that we’re living through has its side effects. Trails are more crowded causing the Forest Service to put permit usage into place, longer lines at Mt. Bachelor in the winter which has caused ownership to put their Fast Tracks program into place (love it or hate it), longer waits to get a table or a reservation at your favorite restaurant. We learn to live with the growth through changes to our lifestyle or we make a move. We are adaptable much like our world recording holding friend.

Enough of my ranting, right?!? Let’s get to some hard numbers:

July Numbers

Median Home Prices: $800k, up from $785k in June

Homes Sold: 141 sold, down from 172 in June

Days on Market: 9 days, down from 13 in June

Cash vs. Conventional Loans: 29% were cash financed, vs. 36% in June

Inventory: 2 months, holding steady from last month (note that in the $1.6mill – $1.8mill we have a 5 month supply and in the $1.8mill+ we have an almost 6 month supply)

141 Homes Sold in June: 

11% under $550k

23% from $550 – $699,999

33% from $700 – $999,999

14% from $1mill – $1,399,999

19% over $1.4mill

95 Homes Sold Under a Million: 

30% sold over asking  (vs. 21% in June)

23% sold at asking (vs. 25% in June)

47% sold under asking (vs. 54% in June)

46 Homes Sold Over a Million: 

26% sold over asking (vs. 25% in June)

26% sold at asking (vs. 11% in june)

48% sold under asking (vs. 64% in June)

At the end of the day, not a ton has changed since last month. We’re still seeing homes that are “desirable” selling quickly and over asking. Desirable, though, is a relative term. Everybody has a different need, a different desire, and therefore a different house suits them. We’re still not at the inventory level that we would have been pre-2020 and the interest rates are still giving a helping hand to that scarcity. We are still very much in a seller’s market. All-in-all properties are still moving and people that are willing and able to buy and sell real estate have adapted to this new version of normal. And over time we will continue to evolve and people will continue to adjust to whatever that new normal looks like.

As always, thanks for sticking with me through my ramblings. If I can help you with anything, or if you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

The heat of summer is on and so is the market in Bend. In June we hit a high of $785,000 for our median sale price. Now keep in mind, looking at the market at such a micro level isn’t a true indication of the market as a whole or even from one side of town to the other but we’ll get to some fun graphs that’ll give a better perspective of how we’re fairing compared to years past. Spoiler alert, we’re currently seeing less sales at higher prices overall.

Meanwhile (see below), the median sale price in each section of town has been on an upward trajectory since 2013. To date (2023) the median sale price has stabilized in NW Bend and slightly declined in the other areas. Something of interest is the wide spread of median price in the NW Bend area compared to the NE area. In 2013-2014, there was about a $165,000 difference in median sale price between these areas. In 2022, there was a $285,000 difference in median sale price between NW Bend and NE Bend. So far in 2023, there is a $305,000 difference.

These charts illustrate a couple of things. Our median sale price each month, as well as on an annual basis, is easily swayed by higher priced homes selling in a particular part of time, namely the NW. It can skew the numbers and make it look as though Bend overall has an incredibly high median sales price. There’s a considerable amount of price diversity in Bend based on location. All that being said, it’s clear that the NW part of town commands a premium price when compared to other areas. That premium has increased since 2013 and has contributed to the increase of median sales price in the Beacon report along with the higher volume of single family residential sales in the $1 Mill+ price categories. And now for the most recent numbers to get all micro again:

June Numbers

Median Home Price: $785k, up from $745k last month

Homes Sold: 172 sold, up from 157 in May

Days on Market: 13 days, up from 7 in May

Cash vs. Conventional Loans: 36% were cash financed in June, higher than we were seeing earlier this year and in 2022 which held steady around 25%.

Inventory: 2 months (finally) but still lower than our normal summer average.

Interesting Note for June: 25% of the 172 homes sold in June sold for over $1,000,000. In June of 2019 there were 236 home sales and only 5% of them sold for over a million. Our $1 Mill+ market has had a significant boom in only a few short years.

172 Homes sold in June: 

12% under $550k

27% from $550k – $700K

35% from $700 – $1mil

11% from $1mil – $1.4mil

15% over $1.4mil

128 Homes Sold Under a Million: 

21% sold over asking (vs. 36% in May)

25% sold at asking (vs. 18% in May)

54% sold under asking (vs. 46% in May)

44 Homes Sold Over a Million: 

25% sold over asking (vs. 22% in May)

11% sold at asking (vs. 27% in May)

65% sold under asking (vs. 52% in May)

Overall, we’re seeing an uptick of homes selling under the original asking price than in previous months and a higher percentage of cash purchases which makes sense considering mortgage rates are still hovering in the high 6’s to 7% (especially if people are not buying down their rates). Remember, however, if you’re looking to buy or sell a home, cash is not always king. The terms could be better from a financed buyer than the cash buyer. Cash is not a slam dunk.

We’re coming off of what is normally our peak season and we’ll see what the rest of the summer brings. In the meantime, enjoy it out there and thank you for sticking with me through this longer than normal report.