According to the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) annual Priced-Out Estimates released earlier this month, 71.5% of Bend residents have been priced out of the Bend real estate market based on a median priced home of $409,281. The household income needed to qualify would be $102,710.  Although the NAHB figures are fairly recent, this number is roughly 73% since the median price of a home in Bend today is closer to $520,000. And for every $5000 increase in the median price for a Bend home, another 700 local residents will be priced out of this market.

These Bend numbers are higher than the national median home price of $346,757, resulting in about 75 million households, or roughly 60% of all U.S. residents, being priced out of the...

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Bend Real Estate Sales Remarkable in February 2021

It has been a full year since the Covid-19 pandemic hit America and the resulting Stay at Home orders were implemented in most states. When the pandemic first came to the Bend real estate market, we thought that sales would be impacted negatively - and this was the case initially. When businesses shut their doors and laid off employees, brokerages followed suit and turned to the internet and virtual connections with clients.  Within Bend Premier Real Estate, the use of our Matterport 3D tours became a major tool to enable buyers to "see" homes without actually entering the property. Bend Premier brokers looked to utilize virtual tools as much as possible to keep business going.

However, unexpectedly Bend real estate sales started to soar with lack of inventory the number one impediment. Buyers from large cities discovered that working from home opened avenues for relocating to a new home that fit a chosen lifest...

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Affordable Housing an Issue with Both Aspen Colorado and Bend Oregon

The question of affordability of housing in Bend has been around for quite some time with many jokingly asking the question "is Bend becoming the next Aspen?" Now granted Bend is a much bigger city than Aspen, and the average home price in Aspen is much higher, but there are some striking similarities between the two places when you look at these four leading indicators:

•       Listing inventory is down dramatically in both locations with Aspen homes for sale ↓ 34% to 371 homes, while Bend homes for sale is ↓ 84.1% to only 89 homes.*
•       Average days on market in Aspen is actually up↑ 16% to 208 days, while in Bend we are ↓ 86.2% to historic lows of just 12 days.
•       Average sales price in Aspen is ↓ 10% to still an impressive $3,673,560, while in Bend our sales price is ↑28.2% to $666,293.
•       The number of new listings in...

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What's in the February 2021 Newsletter?

• Bend Real Estate Sales Hit Record Highs in January 2021!
• For an Easy Hike in the Desert Try Fort Rock Loop
• 3 Reasons We're Definitely Not in a Housing Bubble
• Wishing for Warm Sands, Cerveza and Tacos?

January 2021 Bend Real Estate Sales Continue 2020 Trends

If we were to use one phrase to summarize January 2021's Bend single family home sales on less than an acre, it would be "more of the same." The 2020 Bend home sale trends since getting over the initial shock of the Covid-19 pandemic have been monumental and the start in 2021 appears to be continuing the movement.

However, there is one "more of the same" comment that needs to be made when looking a sales trends. According to the Beacon Appraisal Group report, both Bend and Redmond have once again set new record high sales prices. For January 2021, Bend reached a new high median sales price of $577,500 while Redmond reached a high median sales price of $377,000. For Bend, this is $20,000 over the last record set in October of 2020, with gains once again blamed on extremely tight inventory levels.

When January of 2021 is compared with January 2020 for Bend single family home...

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