February’s median sales price in the Bend, Oregon, real estate market hit $773,000, a record high and 12.7% more than the previous record – set the month prior.
February’s median sales price is noteworthy for reasons beyond just being an all-time high for the market.
The 12.7 percent month-over-month jump isn’t unprecedented in the Bend market. That big of a jump making for a streak of positive monthly increases, however, is highly unusual, even for Bend.
Dating to the start of 2013, when the housing market had at least begun to regain its footing coming out of the Great Recession, only one other time has the month-over-month median sales price increased at least 10 percent immediately after an increase in sales price the month prior. Every other time there was a double-digit monthly gain in the median sales price, that gain followed a price drop in the previous month.
The other instance I refer to came in July 2020, when the median price rose 14.3 percent coming off a record high in June 2020. If you recall the early summer of 2020, you’ll remember that lockdown measures were being eased and the desire to live outside of densely populated areas appeared to be the rage. Those factors presumably contributed to the steep jump in the median price in the Bend, Oregon, real estate market.
The leap from one record price to another in February – that 12.7 percent gain – is the biggest increase in the record median sales price dating to at least the start of 2013. The closest precedent came in April 2021, when the median price rose 9.1 percent from a record $597,500 to $652,000. It’s much more common for a record sales price to be a few percentage points – if that – more than the previous record.
Perhaps not surprisingly, homes in the highest price tier in the Bend, Oregon, real estate market were among the most abundantly sold in February. Thirty-two of February’s 132 sales were priced at more than $925,000 – matching the $625,100 to $725,000 tier for the most sales that month.
Those 32 homes priced at more than $925,000 drew an average sales price to list price of 102.8 percent. That ratio was more than the ratio for any other tier of homes priced at more than $425,000.
February’s increase in median sales price came even as some aspects of the market reflected pre-pandemic characteristics. There were 209 homes new to market in February, an amount in line with the same month in calendar years before 2020. The average days on market was 28 – significantly fewer than was to be expected for a pre-pandemic February yet more than in February 2021.
Looking ahead, February ended with 55 pending sales of homes priced at more than $925,000. That is 25 percent more than in the price tier with the next highest number of pending sales ($625,100 to $725,000). That would seem to indicate that the median sales price in the Bend, Oregon, real estate market will continue its general trajectory – which makes for an environment demanding you have a trustworthy, ethical and knowledgeable Realtor on your side. If you’re looking to buy or considering selling our home, I encourage you to contact me at (541) 362-1031 or to visit Bend Property Search to connect with me through my website.