Bend Oregon Homes for Sale Archives - Preferred Residential

What Luxury Homeowners Want

A recent survey of luxury homeowners by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate sheds some light on how these consumers view the current real estate market and what they are looking for in a new home. How do these finding match up with your feelings about real estate?

I will admit that I was a little surprised to find that 75 percent of the 500 luxury homebuyers surveyed believe that homeownership is a more sound investment than the stock market. Granted, the stock market hasn’t exactly been on fire lately but the real estate market is still recovering from The Great Recession and many houses are still under water.

What do you consider to be a better indicator of your success, your job title or the fact that you own a home? If you answered home ownership then you might be a luxury home owner. Almost 60% of survey respondents answered the same way.

Another indicator that luxury home buyers are confident in the real estate market can be seen in their preference to own multiple “lifestyle” homes. More than half of those surveyed (58%) said they own multiple homes to support their lifestyle activities. The way I read this is vacation homes. Maybe not every “other” home is located in what most would consider a vacation destination but for the luxury home owner, having a condo downtown in addition to a house at the beach and/or in the mountains makes sense for their lifestyle.

When most of us think about a luxury home we think of a huge house, on a big lot with a three or four car garage but for those surveyed bigger isn’t necessarily better – or more luxurious. In fact, 60 percent of luxury homebuyers surveyed would rather have as many upgrades as they can afford in their home, rather than more square footage. Similarly, nearly all (94%) luxury homebuyers surveyed would be willing to give up 1,000 square feet of living space from their next home in order to get a lifestyle amenity they desire, such as; living in a better neighborhood (54%), living in a house with “character” (51%), more land (44%), access to dining and entertainment (39%), and a shorter commute (38%).

Taking their preference for upgrades and amenities one step further, 66 percent of luxury homebuyers responded to the survey by saying that a “smart” home is more important to them than a “green” home. In fact, 87 percent of those surveyed said they would not consider living in a home that isn’t tech-friendly. Even though technology is important to luxury home owners three of the top five “must-haves” for those buying a luxury home are not tech related: 53% wanted a garden oasis, 50% wanted an outdoor fireplace or fire pit, and 47% wanted a separate guest house outside of the main home.

Now we know what 500 luxury home buyers/owners look for in their next home. Take a look below at the luxury homes listed for sale in Bend. How do you think they match up with the survey results?

Bend Oregon Luxury Real Estate $1 million to $1.5 million

Bend Oregon Luxury Real Estate $1.5 million to $2 million

Bend Oregon Luxury Real Estate over $2 million

Time to Sell Your House and Move-Up?

One segment of the real estate market that has been missing for the last 6 years is the move-up buyer. These are the home buyers that have outgrown their current home and are now in need of something more. Or maybe they don’t need more house but they want to live on a golf course or have panoramic views of the Cascades or they just don’t want to be able to reach out their window and touch their neighbor’s house.

The reasons these folks haven’t been in the market is primarily because of all of the equity they lost in the real estate crash. Despite super low prices in 2011 and interest rates below 3 percent in 2012 many would-be buyers needed more (or even some) equity in their current home before they could consider buying something new.

The run up in home prices over the last twelve months appears to have provided the boost in equity people were looking for. A recent article on HousingWire.com quotes Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac a real estate market research company, as saying 18.5 million homeowners, 40% of all homeowners, have at least 20% equity or more.

He goes on to say, “We show 8.3 million homeowners who are on the equity fence, and should have at least 20% equity in the next 15 months if home prices continue to appreciate at the same rate we’ve seen over the past 15 months.” Blomquist noted that if 5% of these 8.3 million homeowners list their homes for sale, that’s an additional 415,000 homes that will be available for sale in the coming months.

How much equity do you have in your home? The best way to find out is to call your Bend real estate agent. Be careful about holding out for the price of your home to go up further because while the value of your home is rising so is the value of the home you want to buy. The other thing that is likely to rise while you wait for more equity is interest rates. The combination of rising interest rates and home prices can make a real difference in the kind of home you qualify to move up to.

Is it a Good Time to Buy or Sell in Bend?

The answer is, yes. Now is a good time to buy a home in Bend AND it is also a good time to sell a home in Bend.

In April I wrote that it was a good time to sell your Bend, Oregon home. Home prices were higher than they had been since November 2008. Demand from buyers was stronger than it had been since March 2006 with 472 pended sales and inventory had just hit bottom two months earlier meaning buyers were competing for the relatively few homes that were for sale. And finally, if you were going to buy another home, interest rates were still below 4 percent.

The situation for sellers has continued to improve since April. Average price per square foot for homes sold in Central Oregon has risen 8.3 percent since April to $156 and demand remains strong with 529 sales pended in July. The only indicator that hasn’t improved for sellers is inventory. The number of homes for sale in Central Oregon has risen 34 percent since April. However, that isn’t completely bad news as inventory remains relatively low historically speaking.

Can it be BOTH a good time to sell your home AND a good time to buy a home? According to respondents of the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey released in July, the answer is yes. Tying the highest number to feel this way over the last three years, 40 percent of those questioned think now is a good time to sell. On the flip side, nearly three quarters of the respondents believe now is a good time to buy. They presumably feel that way because they think interest rates (62 percent) and home prices (53 percent) will continue to rise over the next 12 months.

So, because 74 percent of those surveyed think now is a good time to buy a home does that mean now is a better time to buy a home than it was two years ago? No, it isn’t, but we can’t turn back the clock and the fear is that two years from now we may look back on August 2013 and say, “Why didn’t I buy a house back then when I had the chance?” Hindsight is always 20/20 but if you look at the current Bend real estate market from a historical perspective things look pretty darn good.

The 30-year mortgage is at 4.39 percent today. Take a look at this list of mortgage rates by month since 1971 and tell me 4.39 isn’t awesome. The problem for home buyers is it appears interest rates are only going to go up from here and home prices aren’t likely to fall back to 2011 levels even though they are still well below the June 2006 peak of $237/sqft. Take a look at the chart below to see what home prices in Bend have been doing over the last 15 months. Buyers are right to feel a sense of urgency.

COBA Tour of Homes 2013: One More Weekend

New homes for sale Bend OR — House listed for sale by Kelly Johnson, Bend Premier Real Estate

The Central Oregon Builders Association 2013 tour of homes is under way and there is just one more weekend to view the homes on tour. Homes will be open for viewing this Friday through Sunday, July 26 – 28. On Friday the hours are noon to 6 pm, Saturday 10 am to 6 pm and Sunday 10 am – 6 pm.

There are 45 homes on the tour this year spread as far south as Sunriver and as far north as Terrebonne. If you aren’t up for putting that many miles on your car in one weekend you can preview each of the 45 homes first and decide which homes look most interesting. COBA Tour of Homes for Sale.

Another thing that might help you choose which homes to look at is the list of this year’s award winners. There are at least 7 categories for each price range including Best of Show, Best Features, Best Value, Best Landscaping,and my favorite, Best Kitchen.

If you can’t find anything on the tour of homes that interests you take a look at some of the other new homes for sale in Central Oregon. The homes you will see on this list are from all of Central Oregon and I have not put any limits on price. You can narrow the search results by clicking the “Modify Search” button to set parameters for price, city, county, bedrooms, bathrooms, and a whole lot more. Be sure to scroll below the blue “Search” button for more search parameters such as view, addition, high school and exterior features.

Home Buying: Existing Home in an Unfinished Development

You finally found it! Your dream home. There are three bedrooms with the master on the main floor. A huge bonus room and a fenced yard for the kids to play in. The kitchen is bigger than you hoped for and it doesn’t need to be updated. The house is in the perfect part of town for both school and work. Best of all, it’s in a quiet neighborhood….because there are more empty lots than houses. That is not necessarily a good thing.

Take the neighborhood below for example. This subdivision was started during the boom in 2005 and 2006. The original developer completed 12 homes before the bottom fell out of the market and they had to stop building. Ultimately they lost the development to the bank.

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If your dream home is one of the 12 houses in this development there are some things that your Bend, Oregon Realtor® should help you discover before you make an offer to buy.

Who owns the remaining lots now? If the bank still owns the land you could be setting yourself up for a fall if you buy this house. Sure the neighborhood is quiet and there is lots of room for the kids to play and ride their bikes but you don’t know who may end up buying the remaining lots and how they might develop them.

Not all developers are created equal. If the lots are now owned by a developer, who is it? Do they have a good reputation? Do they build good, quality homes or do they just slap them together as fast as they can and move on to the next development?

Will the new homes in this neighborhood help or hurt the value of the home you want to buy? The home I described above is at least 2000 square feet and has a yard bigger than a postage stamp. If the new developer is going to come in and build a bunch of single level homes that are 1400 square feet with zero lot lines the house in question could lose tens of thousands of dollars in value.

There are numerous neighborhoods just like this one throughout Bend and Redmond where the developer only managed to complete a few houses before going under. Before you make an offer in a situation like this, make sure you have a Bend real estate agent who can answer these important questions.

Strong Housing Market in Bend Oregon

The real estate market in Bend, Oregon continues to show strength as the Federal Housing Finance Agency( FHFA) releases first quarter 2013 numbers for their House Price Index (HPI). Click here to view full size image.

The House Price Index shows homes in the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) had price gains of 7.69 percent year over year from the first quarter of 2012 through the first quarter of 2013. Those gains are enough to rank as the 20th best price improvement of all 374 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States. The top three MSA’s for price gain were Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ (15.27%), Bismarck, ND (12.81%), and Stockton, CA (11.38%).

During the first quarter of this year home prices in Bend rose 3.71 percent according to the FHFA report. That is a better gain than 13 of the 19 MSA’s that ranked above Bend for annual percentage price improvement.

Oregon ranked 11th among all 50 states in the House Price Index. For the 12 months ending March 31, 2013 house prices in Oregon rose 10 percent. In the first quarter of this year prices were up 3.4 percent. The three states with the highest percentage price gains over the last year were; Nevada (22.0%), Arizona (19.8%) and California (16.6%).

The House Price Index for states was calculated using home sales price information from mortgages sold to or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Transaction information from county recorder offices and the Federal Housing Administration was added to data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in calculating the House Price Index for Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

A little more than one year after Business Insider called Bend the best real estate market to be invested in for the next five years it appears that while their predictions may not have been 100% accurate (so far), the House Price Index numbers do support the notion that Bend is one of the best places in the United States to be invested in real estate.

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House Flipping: Get an Inspection

When house prices are rising flipping houses becomes more popular to investors. Lately at Preferred Residential we are seeing more real estate investors coming into the real estate market with the intent of flipping. House flipping is defined as buying and selling a property within a six month period.

There are some inherent dangers in flipping houses and one of those is not being exactly sure about what surprises might be lurking in the house you buy. Houses requiring unexpected repairs can throw a wrench in the timeline and the pocketbook leading to reduced profits or even losses.

A good way to avoid losing money is to have the home you are thinking about buying professionally inspected. Pay for a professional inspection? That is heresy to many investors who flip houses. Why pay $500 when “I know houses and if I waive the inspection contingency it will make my offer look much more attractive to the seller?”

The answer is: Because you don’t know everything about houses and even something as readily visible as stucco siding can ruin a flip. We just had buyers in a multiple offer situation NOT waive an inspection and boy are they thankful now. The inspection found some issues in the stucco siding which made the buyers ask more questions. After some research we found that the siding process used was extremely rare and three different siding contractors told the buyers they didn’t even know how to get it off the house.

Think of it from a return on investment perspective. A thorough inspection can save a person flipping houses thousands of dollars. It can mean the difference between a profitable flip and one that puts you out of the house flipping business.

Time to Sell Your House? More Are Saying Yes!

Now is a good time to sell your house according to a new survey by Redfin, a Seattle based online brokerage. Of the nearly 2,000 home owners surveyed this month, 45 percent said that now is a good time to sell a home. That is double the number of home owners who said it was a good time to sell in January 2013.

Fear of missing future price gains seems to be one factor in holding back more people from feeling like now is a good time to sell. Just over 32 percent of those surveyed told Redfin the thought of missing additional appreciation was holding them back.

On the other side of the coin, home buyers’ enthusiasm is sagging just a bit. Steadily rising home prices reduced the percentage of respondents who feel now is a good time to buy from 54 percent in January to 44 percent in April.

“More folks who bought before the bubble burst are now above water and listing their homes,” says Chad Dierickx, a real estate practitioner with Redfin. “When sellers see their neighbors’ homes selling quickly and for prices they never would have imagined a couple of years ago, they can’t help but be optimistic about the market.”

If you know you want or need to sell your home but aren’t sure if now is the right time, there are a couple steps you can take to help you decide one way or the other. Our previous post about not waiting too long to sell your home should add some clarity to current real estate market conditions. After reading that post, if you are feeling a little more like now could be the right time to sell, email one of our real estate agents for a current market analysis of your home. We can tell you how much your home is worth today. Knowing how much your home is worth will help you figure out how much you can spend on your next home.

NorthWest Crossing Neighborhood in Bend, Oregon Featured in New Book

NorthWest Crossing, Bend, Oregon (PRWEB) April 24, 2013

NorthWest Crossing, a mixed-use neighborhood on Bend’s west side, is featured in a brand-new book by Simmons Buntin and Ken Pirie called Unsprawl: Remixing Spaces as Places. The book, released last month by Planetizen Press, highlights twelve communities that were developed as innovative alternatives to urban sprawl. NorthWest Crossing was included in the book as an example of a new community that highlights the essence of good urban design while also creating a sense of place and an economically-successful result for the developers, West Bend Property Company.

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Ken Pirie who contributed to the book, works for the landscape architecture and urban planning firm Walker Macy, who continue work on the NorthWest Crossing master plan. He noted, “NorthWest Crossing was a perfect fit as a case study for this book. As a new neighborhood, the vision had to overcome challenges with city zoning, as well as respect the natural features that are such an integral part of the Bend community today. The result is a neighborhood that provides new urban growth in a seamless extension to Bend, avoiding sprawl, which helps to protect the backdrop of natural areas that enrich daily life in Central Oregon.

The new book addresses the unsustainable, auto-centric, environmentally-damaging ways in which new suburban communities have been built over the last half-century and the challenges this presents for our quality of life. NorthWest Crossing is one of a dozen case studies from throughout North America that are examined in Unsprawl to reveal successful strategies “employed to introduce new patterns of development into a regulatory, cultural and financial landscape” in order to help to discourage sprawl in the future.

Craftsman by Muddy River Design in NW Crossing — Craftsman home in Nortwest Crossing, Bend, Oregon. Designed by Muddy River Design

NorthWest Crossing’s vision and design is rooted in the landscape and urban fabric of Bend. Streets are designed to protect mature Ponderosa pines and are well-connected with the existing Bend street network. The neighborhood features a balance of jobs, housing types retail, schools, recreation, civic uses, parks and natural places. Residents benefit from homes built to Earth Advantage and ENERGY STAR standards, access to alternative transportation and amenities, such as a 59-plot community garden and an extensive trail system connecting to the National Forests west of Bend as well as the thriving Downtown Bend core.

“We hope people can learn from what we and other communities have experienced while trying to combat urban sprawl with new ideas and innovative visions. This book will help to highlight how we can all start to live and think sustainably when it comes to growth, and NorthWest Crossing was excited to be included as a case study,” said David Ford, general manager for the Bend, Oregon neighborhood.

About NorthWest Crossing in Bend, Oregon
NorthWest Crossing is a mixed-use community on Bend’s west side which has won several national awards for its green building practices, as well as being a 2011 recipient of the Environmental Center’s Sustainability Award and 2010 Building a Better Central Oregon Award. West Bend Property Company LLC, a partnership of Brooks Resources Corporation and Tennant Family Limited Partnership, is developing the community. Both companies, based in Bend, have solid histories of commitment to thoughtful, quality real estate developments in Central Oregon. Their goal of creating a livable and sustainable community at NorthWest Crossing is rooted in their understanding and respect for the true essence of Bend and the Central Oregon lifestyle.

More information about NorthWest Crossing and more posts where NorthWest Crossing is tagged.

West Side Bend Real Estate for Sale

Median Home Price Just One Indicator of Market Strength in Bend

How important is median price when it comes to determining the value of your home? The answer is: Not at all. It is a good indicator of what is happening in the real estate market as a whole but not for your house specifically. For most people a short article in the Bend Bulletin about how the median price of homes sold rose 15% in March would be cause for celebration. I’m sure there were a number of people running around their houses this morning saying, “Honey, the price of our house went up 15% last month!!” The problem is, we tend to think of median price as the average price when more often than not it is anything but average.

Median price is just the middle price of however many homes have sold. If 100 homes sold in a given period with prices ranging from $150,000 to $850,000 the median price would not be $500,000. This is a bit of oversimplification but to determine the median put the price of each home that sold on a line going from lowest to highest. Draw a line in the middle so there are 50 numbers on each side of the line. The number that falls in the middle where they were divided is the median. So if the median price is $271,000 it would mean that half of the homes sold for less than that amount and the other half sold for more.

It just so happens that $271,000 was the median price of homes sold in Bend during the month of March (2013). While the aforementioned one month improvement of 15% is quite a gain it would be unwise to assume that all homes in Bend gained that much value. There are a few factors that make median home price a less than reliable or accurate indicator in today’s real estate market.

One of those factors is inventory which has been an issue in Bend and Central Oregon for more than a year. Low inventory keeps the number of sales lower than they would otherwise be. When the number of sales in a real estate market is low, the median price tends to be less reliable because it can go up or down very quickly with just a few sales.

The kind of homes that are selling also plays a role in determining median home price. Bend is unique in that there are a wide range of homes to meet the needs of many different kinds of home owners. We see people buying homes not just to live in but as investments (rentals), second homes, future retirement homes and vacation homes. Vacation and second home owners make up a larger percentage of owners here than in most markets and they aren’t necessarily interested in the same kinds of homes as those who live here full time.

Another thing to keep in mind where median price is concerned is the sample. In other words, is the median price based on sales for the whole county, the city or just a neighborhood? While the house you own or are thinking about buying may be located in Deschutes County and Bend, Oregon the neighborhood where you live will have a much smaller sample. Therefore things like how recently the homes were built, the school district, distance to restaurants and shopping and overall desirability will play a larger role in determining median price.

If your goal is to figure out what the value of your home might be, median price is not the place to start. It can help us understand the real estate market as a whole but a Current Market Analysis from your favorite real estate agent will provide a much more accurate valuation. The sales used by your agent will be from homes that are similar in size, year built, improvements and are close in proximity to your home. Sales used to determine median price are all inclusive meaning median price doesn’t discriminate between young and old, mountain views or train tracks. You might be surprised by the value of your home like some clients were today when they found out their home was worth $200,000 instead of the $160,000 they thought it could sell for. Call us today at (541) 508-2930.