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.
