Mid-year 2015 housing market shows tight inventory in Bend and Redmond

            At mid-year 2015 the Central Oregon housing market is validating many of the trends established in 2014, with the most prominent being a continued tight inventory especially in the lower price ranges.

            In the greater Bend area and Redmond the inventory is especially scarce and remains in the range below a  three months supply of single family homes on less than an acre as well as larger lots sizes, a level considered a strong sellers’ market.

            In the other six sub-markets tracked for this report inventory at the end of June 2015 was more in a normal market range. And in Sisters and Sunriver supply leaned toward the buyer’s side of the equation--more than seven months inventory-- although with fewer than 100 sales in each of those markets the statistics are less meaningful.

            Bend, up 14% to a median sale price of $334,000, Redmond, 16% to $228,890, and Sisters, 16% to $348,875, led the region on appreciation of homes on all lot sizes. The three sub-markets also topped appreciation of homes on less than an acre.

            The apparent anomaly in Sisters data for the comparable six months of 2014 and 2015 is prices rising with more than seven months inventory of single family homes, on less and more than an acre. That could be an indication of sellers not willing to reduce home prices to meet market conditions, or the type of single family homes available not matching buyer preferences--among other factors.

            Sisters prices also tend to be bolstered by higher-end sales at Black Butte Ranch golf resort and residential community  approximately eight miles from town.

            Also noted in the comparable six-month data:

• Sunriver, the region’s largest resort community, continues to lead regional home prices with 59 sales at a median of $362,500--all on less than an acre.
• Median cumulative days on market for properties sold were greater and increased year-to-year in Sisters, Sunriver and Three Rivers South (including private Crosswater and family resort Caldera Springs).
• Sunriver and Three Rivers South had the largest jump in unit sales, perhaps reflecting activity in properties that had been on the market for extended periods.
• All other submarkets with the exception of LaPine homes on less than an acre recorded declines in days on the market.

          Not included in the chart is the percentage of short sales and foreclosures--which at one time in the real estate downturn accounted for more than half of all closings. In the first half of 2015 the distressed sales category declined to 8.81%  from the 10.06% in the comparable six months of 2014.

         Additional details on the current regional market including sales by price ranges will be available in future posts on Focus on Bend.

                         

Time to give fish a break from lower stream levels and highter temperatures

            With Oregon and Washington fishery agencies raising concerns over the risks to fish from lower stream flows and increased temperatures this year these tips from Red’s Flyshop in the Yakima Canyon near Ellenburg, WA are well advised for any flyfisher.

            The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has just limited late day fishing on many streams including sections of the John Day River. The  exceptions are major Central Oregon streams including the Deschutes River above Mack's Canyon, Fall River, the Metolius River, Crooked River from the mouth upstream to Bowman Dam and Tumalo Creek.

A flyfisher on the Fall River July 19, 2009

Nevertheless, these tips from Red’s are good for any responsible flyfisher --  and fishing early in the cooler part of the day leaves more time for a beer in the shade of a campsite.           

           

10 Tips for Taking Good Care of the Trout

First off, these are everyone's fish.  Not just Red's or the guy or the gal that happened to catch it that day.  That being said, we have a communal responsibility to take care of every single fish and pay it forward for each other.  Our team is doing our part to leave these fish strong, healthy, and as vibrant as possible for your next visit.  

1. Play the fish quickly, you should NEVER have to revive a trout.
2. Use heavy tippet to help decrease the landing time.
3. Long Distance Release is ok!  For real.  Got a fish on that you prefer to release? Give 'em a bit of slack and let them free.
4. Use one fly setups.  This makes fish much more efficient to release since there is no tangling in the net.
5. Keep 'em wet.  Don't take them out of the water any more than necessary to remove a hook.
6. Get a Ketchum Release Tool
7. Know when to say when.  Had a great day?  Ease up or take the afternoon off and relax.
8. SMASH your barbs down super flat.  The hook should fall right out in the net most of the time.
9. Fish the mornings versus the evenings whenever possible.
10. Hero shots are zero shots.  Don't hoist the trout out of the water during the summer.  Let them swim, maybe get some pics of it laying in the water or hooked up and fighting it.  Maybe a picture of you and your pal having a beer.  I don't know.  Make something up and take a picture.  Just don't pick up a trout, squeeze it like a hot dog, and smile.

The new OSU-Cascades: In the statewide spotlight at OPB

            Will OSU-Cascades block the “intersection of fun?” Should it be located at the crossroads of “sadness and loneliness?”

            That metaphorical exchange made for good sound bite repartee as Oregon Public Broadcasting brought its “Think Out Loud” radio road show to Bend on July 15.

            The program followed by only a few weeks OSU’s start of construction on the university’s preferred site on Bend’s west side evcen as opponents, organized loosely as Truth in Site have carried their argument  to the State Court of Appeals after being rebuffed by a city hearings officer and the state Land Use Board of Appeals.

            In the OPB program OSU Cascades vice president Becky Johnson said the current 2+2 program has worked well for “place bound” students who for family or other reasons stay close to home. Now students who graduate OSU-Cascades usually spend their first two years at Central Oregon Community College or another school before transferring in their junior year.

However, Johnson pointed out that 60% of Bend LaPine district high school students leave the area to four year colleges. The objective in a 4-year campus would be to retain more of those students and also attract those from out of state and even Germany or China.

Johnson emphasized that the OSU-Cascades would not try to compete with larger universities with football programs and fraternities. Instead it would appeal to a demographic more interested in perhaps skiing at Mt. Bachelor, enjoyed the region’s outdoor recreation and maybe doing an internship at a local technology company.

            Bend city manager Eric King noted that Central Oregon is the largest region in the state without a 4-year college and the quest to fill that need began in the 1980s.

            Currently Bend is drawing technology companies from the Bay Area who will have jobs for computer science graduates. As such there is an opportunity to create an “economic garden” that will be nurtured by newly-educated graduates who in a growing employment sector, King said.

            Speaking for the opposition retired civil engineer Mike Walker questioned reports by consultants that say the site is feasible. Although saying he supports a 4-year college in the region, Walker said the problem is “implementing the dream.”

            Remediation costs of the property may exceed the acquisition costs, Walker maintained.

            Another site opponent pointed to parking and traffic impacts that have been key issues in previous appeals. She also raised the issue of the site potentially being on top of  “Tumalo earthquake fault” and proximity to a hazardous waste site with “smoldering tires.”

            Instead of it’s current site on 10 acres in the area of NW Chandler and NW Century Drive, Truth in Site has said one better location could be the city-owned Juniper Ridge project in northeast Bend.

Site preparation is underway at the new campus

            Identifying himself as the “self-appointed PR and marketing person” for opponents, Calvin Mann said the current site would result in “plopping themselves at the intersection of fun,” where Century Drive leads to Mt. Bachelor and other recreational areas.

            “The quality of life of all of Bend depends on the quality of life on the west side,” Mann said, resulting in audible groans from some in the audience.

            Mann’s comment elicited from narrator Dave Miller whether Mann would prefer a university “...go to the intersection of sadness and loneliness.”

            OSU-Cascades announced recently that it had weighed the risk of starting construction at the first phase 10-acre campus site even as an appeal is pending with the State Court of Appeals. Most substantive issues have been resolved in previous appeals, the university has said, and other issues such as parking and traffic could be addressed if the court so directs.

            “We would not be going forward if we did not feel confident that we could have this open for freshmen in the Fall of 2016,” Johnson said.

            The state LUBA also considered and decided in favor of the city of Bend and the college that a master plan that included a nearby 46-acre parcel was not required. The city has a option on that site but has yet to acquire it.

        

OSU-Cascades 4-Year campus site prep underway

            Heavy equipment has begun clearing land for what will be Central Oregon’s first four-year university campus on Bend’s west side -- even as a group opposing the selected site takes its case to the state Court of Appeals after setbacks in earlier appeals.

            OSU-Cascades officials announced June 18 they would start construction “as soon as required permits” were issued by the City of Bend.

            By the week of June 29 equipment was on site and workers were cutting trees and moving dirt for construction roads. The date was significant in that it was the deadline for a group of mostly west side residents opposed to the campus to file an appeal with the state Court of Appeals.

Site preparation is underway at the OSU-Cascades campus

            The site opponents, acting under the umbrella Truth in Site, had earlier lost appeals of the city’s approval of the first phase campus by the city, and a subsequent appeal rebuffed by the state Land Use Board of Appeals.

            One spokesman was reported by local media to say the opponents would take their fight to the Oregon Supreme Court. However, by July 4 the latest action item posted on the Trust in Site website was before the LUBA decision.

            OSU-Cascades has already delayed start of the proposed campus on 10 acres on the northwest corner of NW Chandler Avenue and NW Century Drive pending the earlier appeals.

            To accommodate the first group of approximately 100 students in Fall of 2015 the university will provide classes and housing at facilities of Central Oregon Community College and other classes at the OSU-Cascades Graduate & Research Center on Colorado Avenue.

            In a statement issues June 18, OSU President Ed Ray noted that every delay of construction would mean, “..another group of young people leave Central Oregon to seek a four-year university degree, and many never return.”

            Bend and Central Oregon is has the largest population of any area in the state without a university, Ray emphasized, but a 30-year “aspiration...is finally being realized.”

            OSU Cascades Vice President Becky Johnson said the start of construction could make it possible for students could attend classes and live on the new campus site by the Fall of 2016.

            The initial 10-acre campus will have two buildings, one a 113,000 square foot dormitory and dining center and the other a 43,650 square foot academic building, altogether designed to accommodate 1,890 students.

            At issue with opponents of the site is the lack of a master plan for an adjacent 46-acre site, known as the pumice mine property, on which the university has a purchase option.

            Although opponents argued the university should have developed a master plan including the larger site, both the hearing officer and state LUBA decisions ruled otherwise.

            Even with the appeal to the state Court of Appeals, Johnson said in announcing the start of construction that, “Oregon state is confident that significant construction progress can be made while a potential appeal is being considered and still allow the university to adjust to changes that could result from an unlikely remand or reversal by the Court of Appeals.”