After months of low inventory, low-interest rates, and unprecedented demand, the Central Oregon real estate market has cooled off in lock-step with old-man winter! For those of you reading this report from outside of Oregon, I can report snow on the ground in Three Rivers South. Although unsettled weather will continue through the week, daytime highs are tracking well above freezing. The snow and arrival of winter close down the Cascade Lakes Highway and higher elevation trails and roads. But, the real estate market never sleeps! Reduced pressure from multiple buyers can make the winter a fantastic time to home shop. If selling your home has been on your mind, it is hard to imagine a better time than now. Even though I anticipate continued growth in Central Oregon for the foreseeable future, predicting what the market will look like this spring is impossible. Strong buyer demand and low home inventory are likely to continue into 2021, but sellers with plans to leave Oregon may want to make hay while the sun shines! Or more accurately, while the snow flies.
The average, median list price of the ten zip codes I track in Central Oregon this week is $739,500, with Sisters leading the charge at 999k. Four of the ten zip codes have a median list price of over 900k. Homes in the higher price points take longer to sell, while homes affordable for most buyers have been flying off the shelves. With the majority of the more affordable homes sold or not currently listed, the market at the moment is loaded with higher-priced properties, skewing the median price skyward! In the property search links above, you will find many properties listed considerably lower than the median, so don't get discouraged. The charts on my Market Trends page have mostly been pointing straight up, but as we move into winter, tracking this information will be invaluable to understand the ebbs and flows of Central Oregon real estate. It only takes a few minutes a week to check in on these reports, and before long, you will know more about the market trends than many agents! If charts are not your thing, reach out to me, and I will be happy to help you decipher our inventory. The chart below for Sisters shows how list price directly correlates with how many days a home is on the market.
