The Central Oregon housing market continued to see home price appreciation across most of the region in the third quarter of 2018. Other data points—days on market, sales volume, etc.—varied from city to city. Altogether, the region continues on a stable path forward through 2018.
Here are some of the economic highlights from the third quarter of 2018:
Bend: Bend recently updated the comprehensive and zoning plans to match, removing the need for property owners to pay for compliance. Bend has also approved planning funds for the UGB expansion area known as the Elbow in SE Bend.
La Pine: In early 2019, La Pine will begin $25 million in infrastructure improvements to connect two neighborhoods to the city’s water system. The project will bring water and sewer to 275 developed homes and undeveloped lots.
Madras: The Madras Municipal Airport has received more than $2.5 million in federal grants to help with much needed repairs and upgrades.
Prineville: Facebook announced that two additional buildings will be constructed at its data center in Crook County. This represents a $750 million investment and approximately 100 jobs.
Redmond: A project in Redmond that aims to bring businesses, a fairgrounds expansion, and a new military readiness center moved forward with state approval. This includes lands for large-lot industrial land, which has been seen as critical to growing central Oregon employment lands.
Sisters: Although the company only opened in 2016, Laird Superfood is expanding rapidly. Their five-year expansion plan calls for adding over 250 new employees.
Bend showed consistency across most data points in the third quarter of 2018. Home sales volume, days-on-market, sales price to listing price all were practically unchanged from the same quarter this time last year. Bend homes do continue to see price appreciation—the median home price in Bend is up almost five percent from the third quarter of 2017. Bend stands out from other home markets in the region in several ways. In addition to having some of the highest priced homes in the area, there is also more new home construction in Bend than in any other city in the region.
Crook County is one of the residential markets in the Central Oregon region where home pricing appears to be stable. Median home price in this market has been consistent across all quarters of 2018. One notable change for the third quarter of 2018—sales volume is down over 20 percent from this quarter last year.
The demand for homes continues to build in Jefferson County. The County’s home market saw an increase in sales volume and activity over the same quarter last year. Quarterly sales volume is up over 30 percent from the third quarter last year, and days-on-market has decreased by more than 17 percent. Home prices, both on a nominal level and on a per-square foot basis continue to increase.
La Pine/Three Rivers South is another Central Oregon home market with consistent data trends. Days-on-market is on par with this time last year, and prices continue their incremental quarter over quarter increases. One change from this time last year; sales volume is down by almost 14 percent.
After Bend, the Redmond area is the second largest home market in Central Oregon region. During the third quarter of 2018 most data points are consistent with this time last year. Sales volume is on par; days-on-market saw a 13 percent increase. Home prices in this submarket continue to appreciate at steady levels. Like Bend, the Redmond market has a large portion of new homes being constructed and sold— this quarter almost 25 percent of homes sold were new construction.
Sisters continues to feature some of the highest priced homes on average in the Central Oregon region. Most indicators in the Sisters market are close to levels seen this time last year. Sales volume is up slightly; days-on-market is also up. Home prices in Sisters are up over seven percent from this time last year. However, home pricing in Sisters has kept to a fairly even level since early 2017. Another notable data point unique to the Sisters home market: there were zero homes financed through FHA loans this quarter.
Last quarter the median home price in Sunriver broke the $500,000 mark for the first time in years. This quarter the median home price has dropped back to $412,000—a level more in line with prices seen over the past year. The most notable data point change from this time last year is the almost 35 percent increase in sales volume. More homes were sold during the third quarter of 2018 than any other quarter since the beginning of 2017.
