The median home price in Bend ended the 2008 year at $226,000 down from a peak of $386,000 in September of '06. This is a drop of 41.5%. Of course this is a huge hit to property owners and with more properties coming on the market the inventory is still 13 months of unsold homes starting the new year. Interestingly enough, bulding permits in the Bend area have fallen from a peak of 220 in March of '05 to a low of 7 in December '08. This indicates hardly any new homes coming on the market until things change. Another interesting factor is that the 1199 single family homes currently listed would represent only five months inventory at a rate of typical sales in a normal year prior to boom and bust.
115 homes over $650K in the Bend Area sold in 2008 but there are currently 210 homes listed over $650K. All this means that as prices have fallen and inventory risen the opportunities for anyone wishing to move to the Bend Area and get a fabulous home at incredible prices are spectacular. I am seeing homes that would have been listed at $1.2 to 1.4 million now listed in the $800s. Compared to how much house you can buy in other areas of the west these homes are sensational. One great home that sold for $849,900 in '05 and listed for $974,000 in '06 is now $779,000. This house has a guest cottage, 4 bedrooms, cascade and river views, stone front and timber beams. It is French Country style and beautiful.
If you saw CNN today, January 26, the existing home sales for the nation took a jump up by 6.5% unexpectedly. Here is the article:
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of existing homes sold in December rose 6.5% from the previous month, according to a report released Monday, as bargain hunters took advantage of plummeting prices.
The National Association of Realtors said that home sales increased to a seasonally-adjusted, annualized rate of 4.74 million units. That's up from a revised pace of 4.45 million units sold in November and more than the rate of 4.4 million units projected by a consensus of industry analysts as reported by Briefing.com.
"We have some months to go before we are out of the woods on the housing front," said Robert Dye, senior economist at PNC financial services group. Especially considering "weak consumer confidence and ongoing rapid deterioration in labor markets."
Still, December's existing home sales are down 3.5% compared with December of 2007, when the seasonally-adjusted, annual sales rate was 4.91 million. Existing homes include single family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops.
For all of 2008, there were 4,912,000 homes sold, which was the lowest volume since 1997, when there were 4,371,000 homes sold. Sales volume in 2008 was down 13.1% from the 5,652,000 existing homes sold in 2007.
Bargain hunters: Bargain prices are bringing buyers back into the market. The median existing home price was down 15.3% to $175,400 from December 2007, when the median price was $207,000. The median price measures where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
"Americans love a bargain, and the housing market is no exception," said Mike Larson, real estate and interest rate analyst for Weiss Research in a written statement.
So my point here is if you are paralized by the news of layoffs and downturn there are quite a few people who see this as the buying opportunity of the last forty years. What about you?
Joe