Winter hiking in snow has been a challenge for us this year since by the time we realized we needed snowshoes, they were sold out locally. Our winter hikes have involved more high desert locations with trips to Fort Rock, Whychus Canyon Preserve, Bessie Butte, Lake Billy Chinook, Blue Basin, and repeated visits to Smith Rock among our favorites. However, last Saturday we decided to visit Santiam Pass and hike the road to Big Lake. 

We arrived at the Ray Benson Sno Park around 8:40 am and found many people there either camping in their RVs or setting up their snow mobiles. We slipped on ice cleats and were determined to walk the couple miles to the far west side of Big Lake where we were told the views of Mt. Washington were the best.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the weather warmed as the day wore on.  The views of Mt. Washington from Big Lake were stunning and we were surprised to see that the lake was still frozen to the extent that snow mobiles were driven across the ice.

After leaving the lake, we decided to take the Ray Benson Sno Loop and visit the Brandenburg Shelter. The trails were fine traveling with our snow cleats and we saw several people cross country skiing as well as snow shoeing and hiking like us. The shelter provided us with both Mt. Washington and Three Fingered Jack views and an opportunity to talk with other people enjoying the day.

All in all, we traveled roughly 10 miles and really had fun being outside in the Mt. Washington Wilderness on a late winter day.

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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What's in the March 2021 Newsletter?

• Bend Real Estate Sales Remarkable in February 2021
• Hot Interior Design Colors For Oregon in 2021
• Is Bend Becoming the Next Aspen?
• A Perfect Taste of Something New
• How to Prepare Your House for a Perfect Sale This Spring

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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