2020 Had Unexpected Results for Bend Real Estate Sales

Who would have thought when 2020 began that we would be hit with a world wide pandemic, recession, work from home orders, and a Bend real estate market that was unprecedented in its volume of sales, increase in home prices and lack of inventory.

When 2020 is compared with 2019, the following reflects the sales of Bend Oregon single family homes on less than an acre:

• Average home price up 15% to $611,764*
• Median home price up 11.6% to $502,000
• New listings down 3% to 2623
• Number of homes for sale down 32% to 552
• Pending sales up 21.2% to 2838
• Sold homes up 10.9% to 2596
• Median days on market down 52.2% to 11
• Months of supply down 35.7% to 2.7 
• Average price per square foot up 10.2% to $291
• Median price per square foot up 10.3% to $268
• Average percentage of list price received up 1% to 99.9%
• Dollar volume of sold homes up 27.5% to $1,588,139,653

The data above reflects 2020 as a whole.  When December is looked at comparing its 2020 sales figures for Bend single family homes on less than an acre with 2019, a more dramatic change can be seen:

• Average home price up 27.9% to $612,026
• Median home price up 18.3% to $519,389
• New listings up 90.8% to 145
• Homes for sale down 80.2% to 111
• Pending sales up 52.2% to 312
• Sold homes up 3.4% to 212
• Median days on market down 90.7% to 4
• Months of supply down 82.8% to 2 weeks
• Average price per square foot up 22.6% to $315
• Median price per square foot up 19.8% to $290
• Average percentage of list price received up 2.6% to 101.2%
• Dollar volume of sold home up 32.8% to $130,249,739

It is clear that as 2020 progressed, the demand for Bend homes increased.  When the amount of inventory of available homes dropped below a month, the price of these properties escalated with bidding wars and inflated offers driving the sales price up.  Cash offers often won out over offers involving financing. "Waiving the financing contingency" became a normal part of many offers involving loans. Granting sellers rent free occupancy after closing, sometimes for months, also became a common tool buyers would use to get their offer accepted in a bidding war. Buyer needs were regularly shared among Central Oregon brokers social media platforms. And the days on market for new listings dropped to 4.

Predictions for Bend Single Family Home Sales in 2021

The demand for Bend homes remains high as we start 2021. Since January 1, 30 Bend single family homes have gone pending and 34 have closed according to Central Oregon multiple listing service. With only 80 active listings and 47 of these priced over $800,000, we anticipate that home prices and demand will continue to be high. Several of our local builders are actively building new homes, and so far winter weather conditions have not stopped this work. But the numbers of new homes which are hitting the market are not keeping up with the demand. We hope that as the Covid-19 vaccinations become more available and the work from home orders disappear, more sellers will be comfortable in listing their properties. Until we have sufficient inventory for the homebuyer demand, Bend home prices will continue to rise.