Bend Premier Real Estate Blog

Central Oregon is known for its largest city - Bend -  and we focus a lot of our efforts in watching real estate trends for Bend. However, the nearby communities to Bend are also important to our clients and we often represent both buyers and sellers in Redmond, Oregon which has also grown considerably over the past 10 years. Although typically a more affordable option than Bend, Redmond single family residential real estate trends have followed Bend over the past two years with lack of inventory and escalating prices. The following data is from Central Oregon MLS through January, 2017: 

• Average active price 2015 - $284,000      2017 - $370,000   Up 30.3%

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If you haven't heard, a complete solar eclipse will occur this coming August. This will be the first time since 1918 that a complete eclipse will occur in America and the central location for this event will be Madras, Oregon. During the eclipse, Madras will be in complete darkness for 2 minutes at approximately 10:19 am. The eclipse should enter Oregon and exit through South Carolina, but most of the continental United States should experience at least a partial viewing. To experience the total darkness, however, viewers need to be within the 67 mile band of the shadow.

Hotels are already fully booked in the small Central Oregon town of Madras and many events connected with the eclipse are already scheduled. Madras, due to its location for the band of shadow, clear skies, and high desert location, has been identified as among the best places in America to view this once in a lifetime occurrence. It should be quite a show!

Bend Oregon 2016 Lot Sales Data Show Varied Message

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Bend Real Estate Sales Show Growth

2016 was a year of continued real estate growth in Bend. When 2015 data is compared with 2016, the average sales price of a Bend single family home was up 12.5% with the average sold price up 9.3%.  There were 3.4% more homes sold in 2016 than in 2015 with 6.9% fewer properties available for sale. This has aggravated our lack of inventory and continues to push prices up. The average single family Bend home sold for $386,000 in 2015 and in 2016 it sold for $422,000.*

Lack of Bend Housing Inventory Remains an Issue

In late 2015, the expansion of Bend's urban growth boundary was finally approved. This need for additional development land has existed for over 10 years and finally the city was granted permission to increase Bend's size - but not by the 10,000 acres requested in 2006, but rather by less than 3...

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In light of the collapse of the Highland school gym roof last night, the concerns regarding snow load have really hit home. So what is snow load and what can a Bend homeowner do about it? According to AccuWeather, a cubic foot of dry snow weights about 6 to 8 pounds, while one cubic foot of packed snow could weigh up to 20 pounds. The same volume of ice can weigh three times this amount.  Roofs are engineered to handle a certain amount of weight based on their pitch (inches the roof rises vertically for every 12 inches it extends horizontally). The steeper the pitch, the less likely snow will accumulate on the roof. Homes with low pitch or flat roofs are at increased risk to accumulate snow and collapse under the snow's weight. The average Bend residential roof is engineered to handle 25 pounds per square foot - which is typically about 20 inches of snow. Older homes, built before building codes were incorporated in Bend in the late 1960's may not meet this minimum standard. When w...

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