No surprises: national statistics confirm bustling Central Oregon

            For any resident driving around, shopping or otherwise out-and-about in Central Oregon the past year the release of several categories of statistics will come as no surprise.      

Among the numbers:

·         The Bend-Redmond metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, is Oregon’s fastest growing in terms of population, with a 3.4% increase among areas with more than 50,000 residents.

·         Bend-Redmond ranks seventh among the top 10 metro areas in net in- migration with 4,289 reported new residents in 2014 according to US Census figures, a 2.5% increase.

·         The Federal Housing Finance Agency ranks the area No. 3 nationally for 12-month housing appreciation through March of this year, at a 14.44% increase.

·         For the past five years through March Bend tops all of the more than 260 MSAs in the FHFA for housing appreciation index, at 69.90%.

            The Bend trend tracks the overall state peformance, with the FHFA reporting that that Oregon led all states in housing appreciation as measured by purchases, not-including refinancing, at an increase of nearly 12% for the 12 months ending March 31. Florida was tops in the nation, followed by Washington, Nevada and Colorado.

            Another set of statistics for larger metro areas in the new S&P/Case-Shiller index, a widely followed national housing barometer, ranks Portland at the top of appreciation, at 12.3%, followed by Seattle, 10.8%: Denver, 10.0%; Dallas, 8.5%; and San Francisco, 8.5%.