What's in the June 2021 Newsletter?

• Home Prices Continue to Rise in Bend Oregon
• Thinking of Traveling to Hawaii?
• Bend Luxury Homes Have Taken Flight
• Have Your Day in the Sun by Moving Up This Summer
• Quick Lunch Bite in Downtown Bend

How High Can Bend Home Prices Go??

The sales figures for June, 2021 have been published and Bend home prices continue to rise as demand is still outpacing supply. However, there appears to be a slight softening of the market as we enter July with extreme heat and the normal real estate trends connected with graduation and vacations coming back as the state moves out of Covid restrictions. Whether or not these trends continue have yet to be determined.

Bend Real Estate Costs a Lot More Than It Used To

When comparing June 2020 Bend single family home sales on less than an acre to June 2021, the following changes can be seen:

• Average sales price up 40.3% to $842,157
• Median sales price up 38.5% to $640,000
• New listings up 19.1% to 299
• Homes for sale down 75.9% to 181
• Pending sales up 101.3% to 469
• Sold homes up 7.8% to 250
• Average days on market down 84.4%...

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Today we had the pleasure of trying a newer food cart in Downtown Bend and I highly suspect we will be back to try more. The Dinky Dau was a pleasant surprise during our extremely busy Friday that was quick, under $10, and packed full of flavor. Featuring Banh Mi sandwiches, rice bowls, and other Asian inspired delights with various proteins including lemongrass pork or tempeh, ginger chicken, umami meatballs, tangy jackfruit, or a wok-fried omelet. 

Overall, we found our lemongrass pork banh mi sandwich to have wonderfully seasoned and cooked pork, the right amount of acidity from the pickled onions, cucumber and jalapeno, and a wonderful flavor profile overall with the cilantro and sauces. This cart is located behind Sport Vision in downtown Bend on the corner of Oregon and Irving and is the perfect option for the busy workday or person on the go. You'll want to check this place ou...

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Bend Homes Priced Over Million Raising the Average Bend Real Estate Sale

We have reported how Bend Oregon home prices have risen over the past year, but we haven't looked exclusively at the trends for Bend Luxury homes. The demand for Bend's high end homes has escalated over the past year with the number of closed sales up over 100% in all the price categories we follow.* For homes over $2,000,000, the price per square foot is now over $600.  The months of supply for million dollar Bend homes is roughly four, a seller's market, and the median days on market is 11. Luxury homes listings are receiving their asking price on average 99.9% of the time. Multiple offers and bidding wars are normal for many Bend luxury homes when they hit the MLS hot sheet. If a million dollar Bend listing is truly a luxury home, we are seeing great demand and buyers will write their offer to meet the needs of the seller to make their offer stand out. Such items...

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Having lived in Central Oregon for over 35 years, climbing Paulina Peak was on our bucket list of never done hikes. Last Saturday, May 14, 2021, we checked that hike off the list. We had anticipated that Newberry Crater National Volcanic Monument would be closed still as it is every winter, but were pleased to find that the unmanned gate to the monument was open and boaters were already enjoying outings on Paulina Lake and East Lake.  We had planned on a 14 mile hike from the gate, but instead were able to drive to Paulina Lake Campground and park there before crossing the street to the gated road to Paulina Peak. This gravel road is normally open for cars to drive to the peak in the summer, but instead we hiked it to the top, avoiding the actual trail since we believed there would be a lot of snow drifts along the way.  The 3 plus mile road to the top was fairly easy to hike, despite some sections still covered by snow. We gained 1600 feet in elevation from the trailhead to the top of the peak (just under 8000 feet) and as we climbed, were thrilled with all the views we had, not only of the Cascades, but also south and east toward Fort Rock and Christmas Valley.

At the top of Paulina Peak, there is a pit toilet (still closed) and wonderful views, although our vistas of the Cascades were hazy with controlled forest burns scattered around Central Oregon Saturday morning. 

Some interesting facts about Central Oregon - there are roughly 400 volcanoes in our area. And three of the top ten classified as "very high threats" by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are here as well...Crater Lake, South Sister, and Newberry Volcano - right where these photos were taken. 

Since our anticipated 14 mile hike was shortened to roughly 6 miles and we were done a lot earlier than planned, we stopped off at Paulina Falls on the way back to Bend and trekked the 1/4 mile down to the base to view the falls. We had hiked Peter Skene Ogden trail the month previous which ended at Paulina Falls on the other side of the river. Quite a difference in one month!