The Bend real estate market is in transition. With high mortgage interest rates impacting the buying power of potential Bend homebuyers and with sellers who may currently own a home financed under a low mortgage interest rate not listing, low inventory levels are keeping home prices up while the number of sales have dramatically dropped. We are seeing fewer new listings hitting the market, resulting in fewer pending sales and closed transactions. This is beyond the normal slow down that happens in Bend after school starts. This change is being felt nation wide and fewer home sales are happening with mortgage rates now approaching 8%.
We compare Bend Home sales year over year in order to be consistent in our data. When September 2023 sales of Bend single family homes are compared with those from September 2022, the following changes can be noted...
Started in 1993, the Broken Top community and golf club have been one of Bend's premier subdivisions for many decades. Situated in Bend's west side, the private Morrish-Weiskopf designed 18 hole golf course and club have hosted professional and local tournaments and have been member owned for the past few years. Residences in the gated community include custom designed luxury homes on large lots, luxury townhomes, and a handful of vacation rentals which can also be used as year-round dwellings.
Broken Top real estate sales experienced the same pattern that much of Bend did during the Covid-19 pandemic with home prices and demand rising dramatically during 2020-2021, and then leveling off once interest rates doubled in 2022. Today, median sales prices have dropped from their 2022 peak with inventory levels and the number of sales rising.
Prior to the recent adoption of hiking passes in the last 3 years, Pamelia Lake was one of a handful of Central Oregon hikes requiring a pass to access. This special lake is an easy 2.5 mile hike which gains 550 feet of elevation as it passes through beautiful old growth forest, complete with many rhododendrons which bloom in late spring. Our hike in late September, 2023, included some views of fall color in sunny spaces where vine maple grew. We could also see areas where the 2006 flood from Mt Jefferson's Milk Creek Glacier wiped out portions of the trail and lovely moss covered forest floor. Plant life is returning and the area should eventually fully recover.
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Past the lake, the trail steepens for those planning on summiting Grizzly Mountain. Although over 2200 feet is gained, the path is well graded and doesn't feel as steep as other hikes we have taken in the past. It is another 3.3 miles to reach the top, the entire way in forest with a great viewpoint break roughly .7 miles from the summit. On a clear day, fabulous views of Mt Jefferson should be visible. For us, however, it was cloudy and while peek-a-boo views of Mt Jefferson appeared as the clouds moved, we never saw the entire mountain at once. However, the top of Grizzly Mountain was a great place for a lunch break before we returned back the way we came, enjoying again the hike through the forest with portions of the trail next to lovely Pamelia Creek. Our entire hike was 11.66 miles with 2739 feet of elevation gain. We hope to return next spring to see the rhododendrons in bloom.
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