Good News!  We’ve seen an uptick in our sales city wide in March over February.  Total number of homes sold during the month was 104, and a whopping 190 homes went Pending sale.  Our weather wasn’t even that good in March so these are very encouraging statistics.  Bend Oregon Real Estate  seems to be making slow but steady progress in the right direction. 

This home is a very special retreat.  It has 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths and has nearly 1700 square feet.  It is one of the best floor plans for this square footage that I have ever seen.  The feeling it gives you is that of a peaceful refuge.  It has a bit of a nostalgic, old world feel about it.  You have both a Living Room, Family Room/Bonus area, a Formal Dining Room and a Breakfast Nook.  Most of the downstairs area is beautiful Hardwood Floors.  The Brick accented Fireplace, Central Air Conditioning and Central Vacuum System add some upscale touches to this adorable home.  You also get RV Parking with cement parking pad and electric hookup, a nice patio which overlooks a pond and waterfall and a completely landscaped yard with backyard fencing and automatic sprinkling system.  Wait until you see the HUGE Cascade Mountain Views from this home.  They are some of the best in the whole neighborhood!  This home is ready to go and has many more features to discover.  It is being offered at $289,900.  You can view more details by visiting its personalized website at www.2719WellsAcres.com

So what kind of MLS tracked home sales did February 2008 hold for Bend Oregon Real Estate?  It revealed two things.  First that those who wrote offers in January, followed through in February and closed on them.  The number of residential properties that went Pending (under contract) in January was 71.  In February 67 of that 71 closed sale.

The second thing it revealed is that the market has became more active.  In February, 111 homes received accepted offers on them and are now under contract.  It’s also noteworthy that our inventory of homes currently for sale is significantly less compared to last years statistics according to Dana Bratton, Bend’s leading Appraiser.  If our housing supply continues to head lower, demand will undoubtedly move the price of homes upwards.

Prospective Buyers should be watching our market closely.  At some point the market is going to turn and there is preliminary evidence to suggest that Buyers should be looking for a property now, while we have a nice selection of homes and Sellers are in a negotiating mood.  You can do an MLS search from my website:  www.mrrogersrealestate.com to see what is currently available.

The first month of the new year is now complete and our sales and pendings show decent activity in the Bend Oregon Real Estate market.  MLS tracked real estate sales show that 86 residential homes closed escrow in January and another 71 homes went Pending.  (under contract)  This does not include land sales which accounted for another 10 sales and pendings.  We’ve been hit with an unusual amount of snow this past week and a half, which undoubtedly kept some of our Buyers indoors.  The Feds are keeping their promise to cut interest rates.  It makes me wonder what would happen to the Buyers market if interest rates got back into the 4+ range.  Homes purchased as rental units might see an upswing as rents have definitely risen in the Bend and Central Oregon area over the past two years while purchase prices have dropped.  First-time and move-up buyers would be able to afford more house for the money and our selection of homes remains the best we’ve had, probably ever!  It will be very interesting to see what transpires between now and the beginning of summer.  Rest assured I’ll keep you posted.

We’ve finally reached the end of 2007.  This was the year that national news on Real Estate was downright depressing.  Bend, Oregon enjoyed unparalleled publicity, and home prices saw significant appreciation during the first part of this decade.  With all the gloomy real estate statistics, did the Bend market come crashing down?   Our 2007 MLS recorded home sales revealed that Bend Oregon Real Estate sales were on par with the total number of Bend homes sold in 2001.  I was a real estate agent in 2001 and we agents were not complaining about how slow the market was.  In 2001 our total number of homes sold was 1925 units.  So what was the news for 2007?  Our total was 1929.  At our peak sales record in 2005 we sold 3644 units.  That is a 48% decrease from our peak, but less than 16% for our 10 year average.  As real estate agents we’d love that number to be less but given the intensity of all the doomsday talk about real estate, 16% is not a horrific number.  What is also interesting is that, of the homes that sold in 2007, those sold in under 30 days fetched 98.72% of their listing price, whereas those that were on the market for 120 days or longer received 95.75% of their listing price.  It must be noted that the list price at time of sale does not calculate any price reductions the homes might have taken before an offer was received, however most of those homes that sold in less than 30 days were likely sold with their original asking price intact. 

Total home sales in Bend were over $858,000,000.  That is nearly one billion dollars in residential real estate for one town!  At the beginning of 2008 we have seen a nice uptick in real estate activity.  I wrote a piece for ezinearticles about whether it was a good time to buy Bend Oregon real estate.  I suspect that our numbers for 2008 will climb over 2007 due to the great prices and options available to Buyers right now.  At the moment, the skies might be cloudy…but the Mountain is still there.

Winter is here with a flurry of snow!  One of the things I love about Central Oregon winters is that we are not socked in with snow through the entire winter.  Many people who are thinking of moving here from warmer climates often ask me how much snow we get.  Here in Bend, we typically get light dustings.  More substantial snowfalls typically happen 3 or 4 times throughout the whole of winter.  It is rare that we ever get over a foot or more of snowfall.  (Unless you are looking at Sunriver or La Pine)  Thankfully the cold is offset by days of wonderful Central Oregon sunshine that keeps things bright and cheery.  This gives us locals and visitors full advantage of the countless winter sports available. 

Mt. Bachelor is certainly the center of gravity when it comes to winter recreation, however we have many others who love snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice fishing, sledding, cross country skiing and of course everyone’s favorite winter activity…cozying up with friends and family at one of our local Pubs.  For those of you who aren’t quite sure about winter, consider that you actually have more free time because all your yard work stops around the middle of November.  That gives you several months of extra time for hobbies, study, travel, recreation or maybe signing up for a class of interest at our community college.  Best of all, when you take that vacation in the middle of winter, you’ll really appreciate the palm trees, sandy beaches and warm tropical breezes of your vacation destination. 

My name is Tarris Rogers a Real Estate Broker here in Bend, Oregon.  Bend has received a tremendous amount of Press over the past few years and that has fueled a lot of curiosity about our recreational wonderland. 

My Blog will be used to highlight some of the features that make Bend such as great place to live and provide some fun and interesting features as well as stories about our area along with some market insight into Bend Oregon Real Estate. 

The reason I love living here in Bend is because it is one of those safe havens amidst a complex world.  I happen to love world travel and broadening my perspective on life by learning from other cultures.  But the fact that I don’t mind coming back to Bend after an amazing trip speaks volumes about the quality of life here. 

For those who live in larger metropolitan areas, one thing you’ll find is that you don’t give up many of the cultural and entertainment venues that larger cities afford.  We may not have as large of a variety, but you’d be surprised how much is going on in a town of approximately 80,000 people.  Whether its Music, Art, Film, Dining, Theater, Networking Clubs & Organizations; we’ve got you covered.  I’ll try and cover some of these in future posts. 

But far and away the best feature here is that literally within minutes from any location in Bend, you can commune with nature in all its diverse glory.  Whether you love Mountains, Forests, Valleys, Deserts, Rivers or Lakes, we have just about every variety of landscape you could ask for.  Yes its true that we don’t have Coastal Beaches, but in a few short hours you can be sticking your toes into the sand of one of the beautiful beaches to be found along the Oregon Coast.

I’ve sold real estate here for over 12 years and grew up here so I’ll have plenty to share with you in upcoming posts.  I look forward to hearing from you and learning from you as well.  Until then, have a great weekend everybody!