Bend Premier Real Estate Blog

Bend Home Prices Up With Inventory Levels Down

Central Oregon is now in the fall season and typically during fall, Bend real estate sales drop. However, Bend single family home sales in October 2020 were anything but typical with sales breaking historic records. Speed forward to October 2021. While lack of inventory is still impacting prices, compared with the frantic fall sales of 2020, home sales in October 2021 seem more measured with offers often undergoing counter offers and negotiations on home repairs back with most transactions. This is a win for Bend homebuyers and for sellers, a strong sellers' market makes it a great time to list.

When October 2021 is compared with October 2020 for Bend single family homes on less than an acre, the following changes can be seen:

• Average sales price up 15.9% to $767,405*
• Median sales price up 15.8% to $645,000
• New listings down 30.6% to 159
• Homes for sale down 56.6% to 238
• Pending sales up 46.5% to 372
• Sold homes down 16.2% to 212
• Median days of market up 100% to 8
• Months of supply down 61.5% to 1
• Average price per square foot up 20.8% to $384
• Median price per square foot up 17.3% to $353
• Average percentage of list price received down .9% to 100.6%
• Dollar volume of closed sales down 2.9% to $162,689,776

As can be noted, home sales are down, new listings are down, inventory levels are down and prices are up. There is still a significant demand for Bend single family homes which continues to drive home prices. 

Predictions For Bend Real Estate Sales the Rest of 2021

Despite cooling temperatures as we move toward late fall, Bend home sales are still strong - and we anticipate they will remain this way through the remainder of 2021. Mortgage interest rates are predicted to rise in 2022, but as long as rates stay relatively low, homebuyers are purchasing. We predict more of the same through the rest of 2021.

October 16, 2021 was probably one of the most beautiful fall days in Central Oregon that we have seen for many years.  The cool weather in the morning warmed during the day and the sky was a perfect blue with a few high clouds. The snow that fell on the mountains earlier in the week had melted some and it was a great day to take a long hike in the Cascades. We started off the day deciding to hike the Three Sisters Wilderness loop from Soda Creek around Broken Top to Green Lakes and back via Fall Creek to the trailhead.  We had taken this hike last year in late October and thought it would be good to do again.  However, 4.5 miles into the hike the trail branches northeast to Broken Top and ultimately No Name Lake. This time we elected to take the longer hike to Broken Top. 

Starting the hike around 8:30 am, we saw just a couple of people on the path from the Soda Creek trailhead (shares the same parking lot as Green Lakes) to the junction with the Broken Top trail.  As the path climbed, we entered a meadow from which a number of springs flowed and the beautiful colors of Broken Top became more evident. Crossing the Crater Ditch trail, we saw a social trail that climbed steeply to an overlook which provided amazing views of Broken Top's south slope and with a 180 degree turn south, provided some spectacular views of Mt. Bachelor. We decided to travel cross country up a draw to join with the main Broken Top trail and continue on to No Name Lake. The main trail had more people on it, enjoying the beautiful day as we were. Arriving at No Name Lake, the wind picked up, especially at the outlet to the lake where the surrounding moraines channeled the air.  It was nice to see the beautiful aqua blue color of the lake returning several years after the avalanche which killed 19 elk in 2017 and deposited a lot of dirt in the water. 

After a short stay for lunch at No Name Lake, we returned via the main trail to our cut off through the meadow and back to the Soda Creek trail. We arrived at our car around 4:30.  All in all, the hike was roughly 16 miles with 3100 feet of elevation gain.  It was a full day with wonderful views and a great experience.

Redmond Home Sales Strong Through 3rd Quarter 2021

We haven't looked exclusively at Redmond Oregon single family home sales for six months.  We know that home sales have been strong throughout Central Oregon with prices up and inventory levels down. But as a community without a lot of single family luxury homes, Redmond attracts a great number of people for whom Bend has become unaffordable.  Although a smaller community to Bend, Redmond has also had prodigious growth over the past decade.  The Covid lockdowns and work from home orders have also impacted Redmond with more people moving there than available inventory creating bidding wars and pushing home prices up. 

When we compare the first 3 quarters of 2021 with 2020 for...

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On October 9, 2021 we were able to check another Central Oregon hike off the bucket list.  The hike to Four in One Cone off Scott Trail in the Three Sisters Wilderness has been a goal for sometime and we were scheduled to hike this earlier in the summer under the new Wilderness Permit System; however extreme wildfire smoke kept us away on our scheduled day. In early October, the hike started with cool temperatures (in the 20s) but warmed during the day to the 50s. The hike is not long (roughly 9 miles round trip) with elevation gain just over 1400 feet. The hike is called Four in One Cone due to the nature of the 4 cinder cones which are adjacent to each other and have the unique topography of being blown out on one side with the remaining rim flowing into the next cone. The views from the top of the cones are fabulous toward North and Middle Sister, Little Brother, The Husband and then north toward Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Jefferson. The Collier glacier is easily seen from the cone as is another spot which is now on our list - the top of Collier Cone. On this day, we saw only two other hikers the whole day - and those two thirds of the way back to our car. Early October is becoming one of our favorite times to hike in the Cascades with cooler temperatures, fall color and fewer people making our experience very special.

Today's dining experience has taken us to a long standing café with great eats and great atmosphere. Café Sintra, named after the owner Manuel's hometown in Portugal near Lisbon, is always a great place to gather and today was no different. With a great soccer game on the TV and the hum of happy patrons chattering, you feel the warmth and excitement prior to even ordering your food.

We decided to begin our experience with their home brewed jasmine fruit ice tea. This tea is wonderful down to the very last sip with bold spices and a touch of sweetness. It paired perfectly with the rich flavors of our lunch today. 

To begin, we split a cup of the Portuguese Chicken Stew. Featuring shredded chicken, white beans and roasted chilies topped with mozz...

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