Bend home price rise slows; Sales dropping but inventory remains tight

            A quick glance at Bend’s residential real estate market appears to show more of the same in terms of tight inventory and gradually increasing sales activity entering the traditional Spring sales cycle.
            But at the end of March the once superheated 12-month rolling median price increase of single family homes sold on less than an acre has slowed remarkably compared with the same period of 2021 to 2022. The new numbers come from the April report of Beacon Appraisal, based on MLS of Central Oregon data.
            The median price of sales ending March 31 of this year was $706,500, up 8.61% from the $650,500 for the 12 months ending March 31, 2022. However that rise was dramatically below the leap from the previous 12-month period  when the median rose by 21.59%, or $100,500 from $535,000.

            Most national, regonal and local market observers say pandemic-fueled housing price increases that began in 2020 appear to be abating. The question, though, is the extent to which markets may return to more normal price appreciation.
            The fact remains that in Bend, and many areas of the country, prices are beyond the reach of many families in the workforce.
            The key component for direction into the rest of 2023 and beyond will be interest rates for the mid to lower market price sectors, affecting not only first-time and move-up buyers but also builders relying on the commercial lending environment.
            For the first three months of 2023 inventory of single family homes on less than an acre remained steady at only a single month, dropping from a high of 2.06 months in July of 2022 and down from 1.5 months in December of last year. There were 1,890 sales in the past 12 months, 613 fewer – or 24.49% down – from the 2,503 for the same period ending in March of 2022.
            In Redmond, Central Oregon’s second largest home market, the 12 month median sale price was $491,500, $41,500 more than the same period from 2021 to 2022 – a 9.22% increase. That was below the 23.80% jump during the 12 months in 2020 to 2021.
            There were 693 sales in the 12 months ending March 31, 2023, a significant drop of 54% from the 1,506 single family sales in the 12 months ending March 31, 2022.
            The 93 Redmond listings at the end of March translated to an inventory of 1.6 months, still considered a seller’s market – although slightly less constricted that the supply of available homes in Bend.