Bend Luxury Home Sales Have Spiked in the Last Year
When we think of luxury homes in Bend, we have a vision of a grand property with stunning mountain or river views, lots of elbow room, and fabulous amenities. Easy location to access the Bend lifestyle, which includes proximity to downtown, the mountains, the river, and the Old Mill also checks a lot of homebuyer's luxury wish lists. Having an up-to-date architectural design and interior features are also important to many who are making Bend their home. Yet with so many people moving to Bend over the past year and with inventory supply not keeping up with demand, homes that are not considered luxury have pushed the million dollar market into never before seen figures.
The chart below outlines the last ten years of million dollar home sales in Bend. As you can see, from 2011 through 2014, high end home sales were almost nonexistent. Coming out of the great recession, it took time to sell all the accumulated inventory at all price points that were subject to foreclosures and short sales; during the peak of the recession Bend had over 17 months of inventory which made it one of the best times ever to be a Bend homebuyer. It wasn't until 2016 that inventory levels dropped below 5 months, entering into the seller's market that has been with us ever since. This seller's market became intensified when the Covid-19 pandemic spread throughout the country and the stay-at-home orders made Americans realize that if they were to work from home, home should be where the lifestyle suited them. Bend has been a mecca for decades for people wanting to live where the recreational opportunities Bend offers were easily accessible. This became the reality for many when the pandemic hit and moving to Bend became a priority. The demand for Bend homes pushed the prices up; when 10 potential homebuyers were bidding on the same home, prices rose beyond expectation. What sold last year at $800,000 was suddenly worth $1,100,000. Bend has had both a median and an average price increase of 40% for single family homes since the year before. The words "affordable" and "Bend" no longer work together.
Where Do We Predict Bend High End Home Sales Will Be in the Next Year?
Since the Covid restrictions were lifted the beginning of July, we have started to notice a change to the Bend real estate market. The huge demand which pushed home prices up has softened somewhat. Bend homes that have sat without offers are starting to show price reductions. The huge number of multiple offers that we were seeing for certain homes have dropped. We are also starting to see counter offers on deals - something that disappeared during the last year when seller demands were met and exceeded by desperate home buyers. We believe that these changes will accelerate as the emphasis on buying Bend Oregon real estate diminishes.
