No, the photo above isn’t Bend . . . it’s the Greg Norman course at PGA West in La Quinta; we can always dream!

It Was Cold!

It’s been an interesting winter. We survived being buried in February . . . though there are still some lingering reminders, like this shot of the tenth tee box of the Fazio course at Pronghorn (taken on March 15).

Then in March, we dealt with the coldest monthly temperatures in more than a century. I’m not sure our real estate market enjoyed either scenario.

March 2019 . . .  The Bend Market

In March, we faced our lowest available overall inventory in over two years . . . just 378 homes on the market. Sales were up 38% (from 108 to 149) from the dismal February; “pended” numbers were likewise up a comparable amount.

Still a little tough for prospective buyers, as our chart shows a “seller’s market” (less than six months of inventory) across all price points; and just 2.1 months of available inventory overall.

Also, some surprising strength in the high end with 33 homes selling for more than $650,000 (and 11 for more than a million!). Maybe we should thank all those Californians.

Median price in Bend bumped 4% to $444,900 . . . pretty high, but still off our record $450,000 from a couple of months ago. Building permits continued their slow first quarter performance (I think they were all issued in October!) with just 45 being issued.

Affordable Bend . . . $152,000

Yep, you read that right. Wow! A home in Bend for just $152,000 (or $78/square foot). Looks like a pretty good deal to me as nothing else has sold in this price point in the last two years. It closed in just 31 days . . . no small wonder!

It’s pretty hard to tell much more about this house . . . it’s four bedrooms, two baths, and 1940 square feet, on a .33 acre lot. There’s nothing more  in MLS except the crummy photo above.

The setting is “unique” . . . it appears to be conveniently located between La Quinta Inn, Java Jungle, and Papa Murphy’s Take ‘n Bake Pizza.

Median Price in Bend . . . $444,900

The median priced home in Bend would look like this cookie cutter  4/2.5, 2270 square foot new construction in Grizzly Ridge in NE Bend.

Built by Stone Bridge Homes, it featured an open plan with hardwood floors and a gas fireplace. All bedrooms were up. The Earth Advantage certified home did offer some cool extras . . . a tankless hot water heater and a 220 plug for an electric car!

As always, we’ll compare  median prices for the two sides of town . . . this month it’s a bit mind boggling:

East side   $391,000

West side  $715,000

I’ve never before seen this kind of disparity in Bend!

Luxury Bend . . . $2,150,000

It’s Tetherow again! This time around, a 4/4.5, 5234 square foot single level modern masterpiece with sweeping Cascade views. I think we’ve written about it before (it sold for $2,050,000 in October of 2014) when it was only 4876 square feet). A  different market then. The Giants were better too!

It featured 4 suites, fitness room, office, and great room; also  the quintessential gourmet kitchen, dining areas, sunken bar, living room and fireplace, blah, blah, blah.  The exterior was perfect for entertaining with its dining area, large grill, hot tub, bar area with margarita stand and pass-through window–perfect for selling to the passing golfers on the very nearby fourth tee.

The wonderful architecture did a great job of bringing the outside in. The home sold for $411 per foot.

Looking Ahead . . . Random Musings

Though sales numbers have been down a bit for the first quarter (due primarily to inventory woes), Bend’s prices continue to climb. The pundits feel this trend will continue (perhaps more slowly), at least until our “feeder markets” –Southern California, the Bay Area, Seattle– soften appreciably and our steady in-migration begins to subside.