The median sales price of a home in Bend, Oregon, set another record in July, the second month in a row that figure has reached unprecedented levels. But along with the rising median sales price came evidence that the market is highly competitive and buyers are pushing back on overpriced homes.
July’s median sales price was $412,500. That’s $3,500 (0.9 percent) more than June’s median price. June and July are the only two months out of the more than 10 years for which the Skjersaa Group has data that Bend’s median sales price has exceeded $400,000.
Compared with the median sales price of July 2016, this July’s figure rose 13.2 percent. The year-over-year increase in June was 10.5 percent – meaning that July’s sales prices showed a greater annual increase than June’s.
But there are signs that sellers need to get ahead of the game and price their homes competitively.
The average days on the market in July was 141 days, compared with 91 days in June. The 141 days is the highest for any July since 2012, which is the only year since 2010 that a July has had a higher days-on-market figure than this year. Put another way: July 2017’s days on the market are the second-highest for any July in the last eight years.
Looking at it another way, consider that the highest figure for average days on the market in any month in 2016 was 142 days – and that came in February, a typically slow month for home sales.
Inventory of homes matches high for 2017
And the inventory – the number of months it would take to sell all homes currently on the market given the current pace of sales – rose in July to 3.7 months, matching the highest month of this calendar year (January) and last exceeded in February 2016, when there was 4.9 months of inventory.
Our data is broken down by various price ranges, and as is usual with our monthly sales figures, not every price range tells the same story.
The inventory of homes priced at $625,000 and less is at most three months. Homes priced at more than $625,000 are driving a big part of the overall inventory figure.
Sellers reduce prices on sizable fraction of homes
Accompanying the record for median sales price figures these last two months is another noteworthy — and perhaps counterintuitive — statistic: the percentage of homes on the market with price reductions.
That number was 43 percent in June and 40 percent in July. We have to go back to February 2009 — before the housing market rebounded — to find a month in which 40 percent of the homes for sale had a price reduction.
There were 570 active listings in July. That’s the highest amount since August 2015 (583 active listings). And on Aug. 1, 2017, there were 638 active listings, the most since there were 638 in October 2014.
The sales data these past couple of months are open to various interpretations. Wherever you are in the real estate cycle — buying a home or thinking of selling — I can help you. My integrity, ethics and experience will ensure you of an optimal outcome. To learn more about how I can assist you in your real estate transaction, contact me at (541) 383-1426, or visit Bend Property Search to connect with me through my website.