Bend Home Prices Up and Inventory Levels Down

Despite the trends for January and February 2024 in which prices seemed to stabilize, the sales price of Bend homes rose unexpectedly in March. The year over year figure shows both median and average Bend home prices were up over 12% and inventory levels were down. When coupled with the steep rise in prices, affordability remains a major problem for potential Bend home buyers.

When March 2024 is compared with March 2023 for Bend single family homes on less than an acre, the following trends are noted:

• Average sales price up 12% to $893,967*
• Median sales price up 13.2% to $760,000
• Average list price up 9....

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Recent headlines may leave you wondering what's next for mortgage rates. Maybe you'd previously heard there were going to be cuts this year that would bring rates down. That refers to the Federal Reserve (the Fed) and what they do to their Fed Funds Rate. While cutting, or lowering, the Fed Funds Rate doesn't directly determine mortgage rates, it does tend to impact them. But when the Fed met last week, a cut didn't happen — at least, not yet. 

There are a lot of factors the Fed considered in their recent decision and most of them are complex. But you don't need to be bogged down by those finer details. What you really want is the answer to this question...

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High Mortgage Rates - High Prices Affecting Bend Home Sales

For the 4th week in a row, the thirty year mortgage interest rate has risen which has impacted real estate sales across the country. With these rates now pushing 7%, the buying power of Bend homebuyers has diminished.

With this change, few sellers are putting their homes of the market. Why sell a home with a great interest rate when the replacement home will cost so much more to finance? Both Bend home buyers and Bend home sellers are making decisions based on the cost to finance and when mortgage rates rise, often the decision made is to do nothing.

Bend Real Estate Inventory Levels Remain Low

Although there is always a downward seasonal adjustment for Bend home sales in the winter, the number...

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Are you feeling a bit unsure about what's really happening with mortgage rates? That might be because you've heard someone say they're coming down. But then you read somewhere else that they're up again. And that may leave you scratching your head and wondering what's true.

The simplest answer is: that what you read or hear will vary based on the time frame they're looking at. Here's some information that can help clear up the confusion.

Mortgage Rates Are Volatile by Nature

Mortgage rates don't move in a straight line. There are too many factors at play for that to happen. Instead, rates bounce around because they're impacted by things like economic conditions, decisions from the Federal Reserve, and so much mo...

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Bend Home Prices Leveling Off

The January 2024 Bend real estate market shows some stabilization. Although the average and median price per square foot are both up, the average and median sales price on sold homes comparing January 2024 to January 2023 show little movement. The issue most Bend home buyers are still dealing with is lack of inventory which provides few choices for people looking to purchase. Although mortgage interest rates have come down from the high rates pushing 8% seen last fall, they are still in the mid sixes which also impact the purchasing power for home buyers.

When the January 2024 sales for Bend single family homes on less than an acre are compared with those from January 2023, the following changes can be seen:

• Average sales price down 1.9% to $842,669*
• Median sales price up 1.5% to $699,950
• New listings down 14.7% to 99
• Homes for sale down 28.4% to 204

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