Awbrey Butte is One of Bend's Premier Luxury Neighborhoods

Originally developed by Brooks Resources in 1984, Awbrey Butte was "finished" in 2005. Containing over 1800 acres with 782 homesites, Awbrey Butte remains one of Bend's most prestigious neighborhoods. The development focused early on large homesites providing for privacy and retained much of the natural landscape and mature trees which existed there. Many homesites were situated to provide for Cascade Mountain, city or eastern views. A large number of the homes were built at a time in which natural woods were popular and the resulting neighborhoods often contained many large, lodge-style homes. Today's home buyers usually recognize the quality of these beautiful properties and may remodel them to a more current look while retaining much of the original ambiance.

Market Trends for Awbrey Butte Homes

Awbrey Butte experienced the same market trends of most of Bend during the past three years. Covid c...

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What's in the September 2023 Bend Premier Real Estate Newsletter?

• Bend Real Estate Sales Cooling
• Air Fryer Apple Fritters
• 9 Things You Should Do to Your Home Before Fall Starts
• Crater Rim Trail at Newberry National Volcanic Monument
• Homeowners Have a Lot of Equity Right Now

Bend Real Estate Sales Cooling Fall 2023

While it is typical in the Bend and Central Oregon real estate markets to see a slowdown in sales once we enter into late fall, the change to our market seen in August 2023 did not follow the normal trends. With the 30 year mortgage interest rate now above 7%, the purchasing power of many potential home buyers has been significantly changed. In addition, the number of sellers willing to sell a home which has a mortgage of less than 5% has curtailed new listings coming on the market. This has kept inventory low, pushed prices up and greatly impacted the number of Bend real estate sales.

Year Over Year Trends for Bend Single Family Home Sales

When we compare August of 2023 with August of 2022, Bend single family home sales on less than an acre show the following trends:

Bend Homes Sales Price Over Million Dollars

We never thought this would happen, but the average Bend single family home sold for over a million dollars in July, 2023. Despite mortgage interest rates hovering around 7%, high end Bend homes are selling. When demand exceeds supply, home prices rise. When mortgage rates jumped from 3.5% to 7% in the space of a few months, there was a drop in home sales. However, it appears that home buyers have become used to higher rates, and there are still a large number of Bend home buyers who are purchasing with cash. Lack of inventory continues to be a big problem and lack of affordability for Bend first time homeowners has pushed many to alternative cities.

When figures for Bend single family home sales are compared between July 2023 and July 2022, the following changes can be noted:

• Average sales price is up 8.8% to $1,012,215*
• Median sales price up 4.2% to $797,450
• New listings down 28.6% to...

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Bend High End Home Sales Reflect a Changing Market

It has been awhile since we last reported on Bend luxury home sales. We pulled a report showing year to date activity over the past three years. While Bend home prices in general are back to a small upward trajectory year over year, the numbers of sales are significantly down, as they are in all price points in most of the markets in Central Oregon and across the country.  Higher interest rates have changed the buying power of would-be home purchasers, even in the high end, and have also kept many would-be sellers off market. Why sell when the mortgage interest rate many homeowners have is so good? A replacement home, while potentially being better for the current lifestyle of a home seller, may cost more on a monthly basis with the higher interest rate with which they may need to purchase.

When the first six months of high end Bend home sales are compared year over year between 2022 and 2023, the following change...

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