Home Prices Up In 4th Quarter

In yet another sign of stability in Bend's housing market, the median price of homes sold in the 4th quarter rose by 6.1% from the 3rd quarter. Probably even more meaningful is that the median sale price per square foot for homes sold over the last 3 months of the year was 2.9% higher than those sold in the July through September period. (These numbers do not include manufactured homes, houses on more than 1 acre of land or condos and townhouses).

High End Homes Beginning To Move
And as I've noted here before, sales of more expensive properties have seen a resurgence lately as well.

There were more sales from $750,000 to $1.5 million in the 4th quarter alone (23) than there were in the previous 3 quarters combined (18)!


Inventory Continues To Shrink
Believe it or not, the overall market in Bend could now be classified as a seller's market! With 673 houses currently listed for sale and 163 closed sales last month, there is only slightly more than 4 months worth of housing inventory available. (6 months is generally considered a "balanced market.") Of course, different price segments of the market yield different results but the lower inventory is good news for Bend's real estate market overall.

Bend December Home Sales More Than Double From Year Earlier

More than twice as many homes in Bend were reported sold last month than in the same month a year earlier.

158 homes on less than one acre in Bend were reported sold to the MLS of Central Oregon last month, an increase of 122.5% from December 2008, when 71 sales were reported in the midst of the worst financial chaos since the Great Depression.

December marked the 3rd straight month that sales activity reached levels not seen since the height of the market in 2005, and the 5th consecutive month sales activity exceeded numbers reported in 2008 and 2007.