Your Residential Real Estate Resource for Central Oregon.
According to the USA Today, mortgage rates sank to the lowest level in decades this week, pushed down by the Federal Reserve’s move to buy up government debt to help lift the economic recovery. The average rate for 30-year fixed loans this week was 4.44%, down from 4.49% last week. That’s the lowest since >> continue >>
The statistics are now in for home sale activity for the Bend and Central Oregon real estate activity for the month of June 2010. It is not surprising that home sales posted a gain over the same period in 2009. At the end of June 2010 the Total Residential Sold was 816 compared with 587 >> continue >>
Trend or blip? Today the Bend Bulletin shares a report from Bend-based Bratton Appraisal Group that the median sales price of a single-family home in Bend in May rose 5.5 percent from April, hitting $190,000.
To put that in perspective, in May 2009, Bend’s median sales price was $215,000, so while the market is up >> continue >>
Although the financial crisis has hammered retirement accounts, it has also converted a number of popular retirement destinations into bargains for home buyers, including Bend, Oregon. This development has handed today’s seniors a chance to scoop up property for a great deal.
Here’s what US News had to say about Bend, Oregon in >> continue >>
Some good news on the home building front in Bend, OR:
In Bend’s NorthWest Crossing neighborhood, builder Matt Cloninger is building a house.
It’s a spec house, or a house he’s building on speculation that a buyer will come along and want to call it home. He broke ground earlier this month and plans >> continue >>
Bend is used to being included in many Top 10 lists, but here’s an unusual list to find ourselves on: Bend, Oregon is one of the top 5 cities with the largest concentration of iPads in the country. The top five cities are:
San Francisco, Calif. (0.25% Internet share)
Grand Junction, Colo. (0.23%)
Santa Barbara, Calif. (0.19%)
Honolulu, Hawaii (0.19%)
Bend, Ore. >> continue >>
This is pretty neat: NorthWest Crossing was named as one of the nation’s Top 10 Green Neighborhoods in Natural Home Magazine. The article, which appeared in the magazine’s May/June issue, covered planned communities that demonstrated a commitment to responsible construction and the promotion of sustainable living. You can read the whole article here (PDF).
NorthWest Crossing >> continue >>
According to a new survey, most consumers think U.S. homes are affordable and the time is ripe to buy as many expect prices to rise in the next year:
U.S. home buyers remain worried about the economy. But with average home prices down about 30 percent nationally from 2006, mortgage rates low and federal tax >> continue >>
Interesting news from Oregonlive.com’s excellent Front Porch real estate blog:
The housing markets around the Portland-area and Central Oregon will not rise back to their peak-era pricing levels until after 2015, according to research firm Fiserv.
The Seattle and Eugene area will bounce back between 2013 and 2014, the firm forecasts.
The Northwest forecasts are far better than >> continue >>
Trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes hasn’t helped end the foreclosure crisis. So what happens if instead we pay the defaulting owners to leave? That’s the thinking behind a new program taking effect next month. According to this article in the New York Times, the program will pay owners $1,500 in “relocation assistance” >> continue >>
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As an agent, team leader and broker/owner, Martha Hendrick has closed more than 1,600 transactions valued at more than $550 million in current dollars.