In case you missed it…here are a few recent local real-estate-related news reports.
The Bend Bulletin has reported that the median price for a single-family home last month in Bend rose to its highest level in the past three years ($234,000). The last time Bend’s median price was this high was early in 2009. Also, permits for new homes in Bend are being issued at nearly twice the pace as this time last year. Through May of 2012, 158 permits were issued, compared to 82 through the end of May 2011.
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Earlier this month, Bend received approval to expand its business enterprise zone, which should attract some welcome new businesses to the area (the zone provides tax breaks to qualified businesses that develop land within its boundaries). The new additions will bring the total of land inside the zone from 1.69 square miles to 5.67 miles. A good chunk of the newly zoned land falls within the boundaries of Juniper Ridge (on Bend’s north side), but there’s also a stretch of land on Highway 20 east of Pilot Butte, and an area that runs along Highway 97 at Wilson Avenue south almost to the city limits.
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Meanwhile, some Deschutes County homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages will soon have another potential avenue of assistance. Through the innovative Loan Refinancing Assistance Pilot Project (LRAPP) program, the partipants’ homes will be purchased by investors via short sales, then resold to them at the current value. The program, overseen by the Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative, is designed for homeowners with a financial hardship who have substantial negative equity in their homes but can afford a payment at the current value of their home.
Applications for the project were first accepted June 18; another round of online submissions will open up July 2 at noon. For more information, contact homeownerhelp@hcs.state.or.us.