At the risk of being overly optimistic, we may have reached a point where the lower prices in some segments of the market are encouraging more and more people to get off the fence and buy. Here's what I see in Bend:
- 84 existing stick built houses on less than one acre sold in October for a median price of $308,000. The median size was 1885 square feet. Of the 67 sold a year earlier, the median price was $350,000 with 1846 square feet. Slightly more house now for 12% less.
- Overall, 93 existing stick built houses sold in October. The median sale price was $314k with 1924sf. In October 2006, the comparable numbers were 84 sales, a median price of $384.5k and 1868sf. Again, a bit more house for about 18% less.
New home builders are taking a different tack (for various reasons); much more house for about the same price. It's still been beneficial to buyers:
- 26 new homes were reported sold in October. The median price was $378k, down less than 1.5% from a year earlier. But the 50 houses sold in October 2006 had a median size of 2212sf. This year, for slightly less money, buyers were able to get a house nearly 9.5% bigger (2422sf). That's an extra bedroom, office or bonus room.
Note that the volume of new home sales is down by almost half from a year earlier. I'll be watching to see if builders will stick to this strategy or begin to reduce prices more to move some inventory.
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