The trend seen over the past four months changed in October when year over year Bend home prices rose rather than fell. Both average and median Bend single family home sales prices were up, perhaps a reflection of lower interest rates seen in September which enabled more home buyers to purchase higher priced homes or an unusual anomaly which was reflected with a large number of million dollar plus homes (over 35% of total home sales) closing. Typically in the fall,
Did you know? Homeowners are often able to put more money down when they buy their next home. That's because, once they sell, they can use the equity they have in their current house toward their next down payment. And it's why as home equity reaches a new height, the median down payment has too.
According to the latest data from Redfin, the typical down payment for U.S. homebuyers is $67,500—that's nearly 15% more than last year, and the highest on record (see graph below):
In Q3 2024, the Bend Oregon Real Estate market and surrounding communities experienced a change, moving closer to a balanced market after many years of being a seller's market. The number of listings grew, days on market increased, but prices appear to have leveled off, at least within Bend and Redmond. In Bend, Redmond, Powell Butte and Black Butte Ranch, the number of sold homes increased as third quarter 2024 also saw mortgage interest rates drop. Outside of Redmond and Sunriver, all of the Central Oregon real estate markets saw an increase in new listings year over year, many above 20%. This can partly be attributed to sellers recognizing that with lower mortgage interest rates, the cost of their replacement property would be less and the delayed move they planned on taking could finally happen.
It appears that the tide has turned and Bend home buyers are now experiencing lower prices, more choices with more inventory, and better interests rates. This has enabled more buyers to enter the market and more sellers to have confidence listing their home, knowing that their replacement property will cost less than it did just six months ago. This has generated more early fall business than we normally see and a more balanced Bend real estate market.
When September 2024 is compared with September 2023, the following changes to Bend home sales can be noted: