Central Oregon Real Estate Market Report for July 2015

Here are some highlights of the July real estate market activity for Single Family Residential (SFR) and Residential with Acreage (RW) listings in Bend, Sisters and Tumalo.

• The number of homes on the market in Bend, Sisters and Tumalo saw little to no change from June to July. It was one of the rare months where the total number of Active listings in each market segment was almost identical to that of June (in fact, the number of Active Residential With Acreage listings in Tumalo and in Sisters was identical).
• The most popular price point, however, varied greatly when comparing Active Single Family Residential (SFR) listings to Active Residential With Acreage (RW) listings. For Bend’s SFR listings, $350,000-$400,000 was the most popular bracket, with $300,000-$350,000 closely behind in second. Similarly, the $300,000-$350,000 and $350,000-$400,000 brackets tied as most popular among Sisters’ Active SFR listings.
• Meanwhile, among Bend’s Active RW listings, the most popular price point was significantly higher: $500,000-$550,000. In Tumalo, the number of Active RW listings was fairly well distributed among the price brackets between $350,000 and $1,499,000, with a low of $249,000 and a high of $6,600,000. In Sisters, two million-dollar brackets ($1,000,000-$1,249,000 and $1,250,000-$1,499,000) tied for most popular among its Active RW listings.
• Speaking of million-dollar properties, it was a good month for million-dollar sales in Central Oregon – ironically, everywhere except Sisters. There were a total of 12 million-dollar sales: seven SFR sales in Bend, one RW sale in Bend, one RW sale in Tumalo and three sales in Three Rivers South (two RW sales in Vandevert Ranch, one SFR sale in Crosswater).
• In general, sales for the month were brisk, but the number was down ever so slightly in every segment but one: Tumalo. The number of RW sales in Tumalo increased from 10 in June to 12 in July. Sisters Residential With Acreage properties saw the only noticeable dip in sales — there were almost half the number of sales in July as there were in June (seven compared to 13), with the bulk of the sales activity among lower-priced properties. (The highest-priced Closed RW sale in Sisters was for $795,000, with only one other RW sale above $500,000.)
• By contrast, almost 75 percent of Tumalo’s RW sales were above $500,000 (nine of 12 sales). Fifty percent of Bend’s RW sales (13 of 27 sales) and 20 percent of Bend’s closed SFR sales were above $500,000 (50 of 252 sales).

Below are three graph overviews of real estate activity (the number of Active listings, the number of sales and the price of Active listings) from October 2013 through July 2015 for Bend, Tumalo and Sisters, based on data provided by MLSCO on Aug. 18, 2015.