We never thought this would happen, but the average Bend single family home sold for over a million dollars in July, 2023. Despite mortgage interest rates hovering around 7%, high end Bend homes are selling. When demand exceeds supply, home prices rise. When mortgage rates jumped from 3.5% to 7% in the space of a few months, there was a drop in home sales. However, it appears that home buyers have become used to higher rates, and there are still a large number of Bend home buyers who are purchasing with cash. Lack of inventory continues to be a big problem and lack of affordability for Bend first time homeowners has pushed many to alternative cities.
When figures for Bend single family home sales are compared between July 2023 and July 2022, the following changes can be noted:
It has been awhile since we last reported on Bend luxury home sales. We pulled a report showing year to date activity over the past three years. While Bend home prices in general are back to a small upward trajectory year over year, the numbers of sales are significantly down, as they are in all price points in most of the markets in Central Oregon and across the country. Higher interest rates have changed the buying power of would-be home purchasers, even in the high end, and have also kept many would-be sellers off market. Why sell when the mortgage interest rate many homeowners have is so good? A replacement home, while potentially being better for the current lifestyle of a home seller, may cost more on a monthly basis with the higher interest rate with which they may need to purchase.
When the first six months of high end Bend home sales are compared year over year between 2022 and 2023, the following change...
We have been tracking Bend home sales for many years. Bend has been in a seller's market since 2012, but the level to which the seller's market changed during Covid was beyond any we had seen before. Home prices skyrocketed with multiple offers driving sales and inventory levels dropping to two weeks at the peak of the pandemic. However, since last summer, the Bend real estate market has been in transition with rising mortgage interest rates the biggest contributor to the change. While high mortgage rates have greatly impacted the buying power of many home buyers, lack of inventory remains an issue. We had seen home price increases level off and even drop yea...