Bend Real Estate Sales Were Limited in 2024

Probably the biggest challenge for Bend Home Sales in 2024 was mortgage interest rates. Mortgage rates started the year at 6.48% and ended the year at 6.62%. During the middle of the year, the mortgage rates rose to 7.79% which greatly limited the buying power for most Bend homebuyers who needed to finance in order to purchase. Home sales in Bend continued, but at a greatly reduced rate than experienced during Covid when mortgage rates under 4% were normal.

High mortgage rates also kept many Bend home sellers from listing. The thought for many was why sell and give up a great mortgage rate of less than 4% to exchange to one over 7% on a different home? Many Central Oregon real estate brokers discovered that many listings were limited to just those who had to sell for a job tra...

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When you read about the Bend housing market, you'll probably come across some information about inflation or recent decisions made by the Federal Reserve (the Fed). But how do those two things impact potential Bend homebuyers? 

The Federal Funds Rate Hikes Have Stalled

One of the Fed's primary goals is to lower inflation. In order to do that, they started raising the Federal Funds Rate to slow down the economy. Even though this doesn't directly dictate what happens with mortgage rates, it does have an impact.

Recently inflation has started to cool, a signal those incr...

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Tetherow is a Premier Luxury Golf Resort Community in Bend

The developer for Tetherow broke ground on the destination golf resort prior to the housing crisis of 2008. Initial lot sales were brisk, but once the great recession hit, sales dried up. The development sat with little activity until 2012 when lot sales, at a reduced price, started happening again. Over the past 11 years Tetherow has grown and become the destination resort initially envisioned with an active golf and social club, high end luxury homes and townhomes, a hotel, overnight rentals, three restaurants, and much more all adjacent to Bend's city limits on the road to Mt. Bachelor ski resort. It is truly one of Bend's success stories.

Market Trends for Tetherow Homes

Tetherow home prices have been among Bend's highest over the past three years. The Covid pandemic led to a mass migration to Bend and many wealthy buyers purchased in Tetherow pushing home prices even higher. However, over th...

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Will Mortgage Rates Continue Their Downward Trajectory?

For the past five weeks, mortgage interest rates have dropped, returning to figures that haven't been seen since August. Any relief from the high rates recently experienced is welcome. With each 1% reduction in mortgage rates, it roughly reduces the monthly mortgage payment by 10%. The chart below shows how purchasing power is impacted by mortgage rates.

Bend Home Buyers Have More Options with Lower Interest Rates

When potential home sellers have great mortgage interest rates, they hesitate to list, even when a different home may be a better option for them at this time in their lives. When the financed cost of a new home would make their monthly payment significantly more, the benefit of a different living arrangement is offset by the monthly cost for the...

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Bend Home Sales Down While Rate of Price Increase Drops

The Bend real estate market is in transition. With high mortgage interest rates impacting the buying power of potential Bend homebuyers and with sellers who may currently own a home financed under a low mortgage interest rate not listing, low inventory levels are keeping home prices up while the number of sales have dramatically dropped. We are seeing fewer new listings hitting the market, resulting in fewer pending sales and closed transactions. This is beyond the normal slow down that happens in Bend after school starts. This change is being felt nation wide and fewer home sales are happening with mortgage rates now approaching 8%.

Bend Real Estate Sales Impacted by Rising Interest Rates

We compare Bend Home sales year over year in order to be consistent in our data. When September 2023 sales of Bend single family homes are compared with those from September 2022, the following changes can be noted...

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