According to the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) annual Priced-Out Estimates released earlier this month, 71.5% of Bend residents have been priced out of the Bend real estate market based on a median priced home of $409,281. Although the NAHB figures are fairly recent, this number is roughly 73% since the median price of a home in Bend today is closer to $520,000. And for every $5000 increase in the median price for a Bend home, another 700 local residents will be priced out of this market.

These Bend numbers are higher than the national median home price of $346,757, resulting in about 75 million households, or roughly 60% of all U.S. residents, being priced out of the U.S. market. Just an additional $1000 increase in the median home price “would make 153,967 more households disqualify for the new home mortgage,” according to the NAHB. Additionally, NAHB figures show that just a quarter point added to the mortgage rate of a 30 year loan would price out an additional 1.29 million households.

The numbers provided by the NAHB are based on standard underwriting criterion which determines affordability by the sum of mortgage payments, property taxes, homeowners insurance, and PMI not being more than 28% of household income. Based on these numbers, 21.1 million American households can only afford a home of between $0-$100,000. Another 19.1 million can afford a home between $100,000 and $200,000. And the top of the pyramid shows that there are around 6 million households that can afford a home priced above 1 million dollars. Obviously, we are seeing more of these wealthier individuals purchasing in Bend where a larger percentage of homes for sale are now over the 1 million dollar threshold. But for Bend lower end homebuyers, is increasingly difficult if not impossible to find any stick built homes for sale under $350,000.