How's the housing market over here now? (Portland, Bend: renter, condos)

[Room to Stand]

That was not an argument for your position, Steve. Exactly the opposite.

Fairly positive you're arguing against yourself at this point.

If I was 'investing' in property and I bought a house or two last January and that same house when sold was worth ~15% more this January.....I'm not sure how that could EVER be labeled as a 'bad' investment within that year.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by pkooistra

Do you live in Bend Steve? I think your projections are crazy and so would anyone else who moved here. I have lived in LA, PHX, WA. and now Bend and I can tell you WE LOVE BEND! And so does every other young family that we meet. I am not sure where you are drawing your information, but I have to respectfully say that it is very inaccurate. Even when the housing market CRASHED in Bend... people did not flee the city. Now the housing market is recovering at a rapid rate (try to buy a house here and you will find out how strong) and people are moving here all the time. The rate of people moving to Bend is far outnumbering the houses available on the market and that is going to cause prices to raise dramatically until they can add to the inventory of homes.

One example is our realtor has a person who is looking to move here from Seattle and so far they have been outbid on homes 12 times! And my parents have been looking for a home and every home they find has multiple offers within days of going on the market.

Sounds like your area is seeing some good activity. We are experiencing the same thing here. It's not what we'd refer to as strong but it's getting better. Brand new construction going on and that's an even better sign! The majority of foreclosures are gone now and short sales are at a minimum. Hoping the worst is behind us - and you too

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by HereOnMars

Sounds like your area is seeing some good activity. We are experiencing the same thing here. It's not what we'd refer to as strong but it's getting better. Brand new construction going on and that's an even better sign! The majority of foreclosures are gone now and short sales are at a minimum. Hoping the worst is behind us - and you too

I heard a story on NPR this morning in which some head of a national lumber trade organization commented that lumber orders are way up (13% last year and on track to beat that this year) because of strong building activity nationwide. Of course, some areas are doing better than others. But I do know there was a small custom house listed on the Bend MLS - it hadn't been built yet, but the lot + house to be built was listed and the plans were shown online. If I were ready to move I might have checked it out. But it was gone in a week.

[AK76]

Originally Posted by ukiyo-e

I heard a story on NPR this morning in which some head of a national lumber trade organization commented that lumber orders are way up (13% last year and on track to beat that this year) because of strong building activity nationwide. Of course, some areas are doing better than others. But I do know there was a small custom house listed on the Bend MLS - it hadn't been built yet, but the lot + house to be built was listed and the plans were shown online. If I were ready to move I might have checked it out. But it was gone in a week.

I am willing to bet that hurricane Sandy has more to do with materials demand than housing starts in general, not to mention the rebuilding that is still happening in Louisiana after hurricane Katrina. I have to agree, generaly speaking, that the housing market in Bend and other areas that I have been watching is picking up over the course of the last 12-18 months. I hope the opportunity for a good value is still present when/if I and my wife get there.

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by AK76

I am willing to bet that hurricane Sandy has more to do with materials demand than housing starts in general, not to mention the rebuilding that is still happening in Louisiana after hurricane Katrina. I have to agree, generaly speaking, that the housing market in Bend and other areas that I have been watching is picking up over the course of the last 12-18 months. I hope the opportunity for a good value is still present when/if I and my wife get there.

That's a good point, AK, and one that wasn't mentioned during the interview, but it does make a lot of sense. Without knowing the pace of sales on a quarterly basis, it's harder to say how much of the upturn is due to rebuilding and how much is due to new building.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

If you bought a house in Bend ten years ago at top dollar, you're probably still reeling from the bubble burst, and still not too optimistic about Bend's future.

If you bought a house in Bend a year or two at rock bottom prices, you are probably getting giddy with the slight upturn in real estate prices, seeing your equity growing.

Depends on your perspective.

I see Bend as a place that's totally dependant on people that have money and don't require a job to live there, or tourists.
If this dries up, the town will dry up.

Everybody else is just making a living feeding off each other with service jobs.

[delta07]

Originally Posted by pdxMIKEpdx

If you bought a house in Bend ten years ago at top dollar, you're probably still reeling from the bubble burst, and still not too optimistic about Bend's future.

If you bought a house in Bend a year or two at rock bottom prices, you are probably getting giddy with the slight upturn in real estate prices, seeing your equity growing.

Depends on your perspective.

I see Bend as a place that's totally dependant on people that have money and don't require a job to live there, or tourists.
If this dries up, the town will dry up.

Everybody else is just making a living feeding off each other with service jobs.

Somewhat. My husband & I moved to Bend in 2008 and bought our house in 2009. We didn't buy at rock bottom but we didn't buy at the height of the market either. We live very comfortably. We panicked a bit when the housing prices crashed, think we over paid for our home. But then, prices started creeping back up. We could probably break even now if we had to sell. That is a good thing!

We don't work in the service industry. We are not retired. My husband is a nurse and I'm building my own small business. While the economy, in general, does depend quite a bit on tourism and retirees, we are holding our own. Could we live in this place without them, probably not? But, we have survived one of the worst economic downturns this country has faced. And, neither of us are competing for service jobs. For that, I'm pretty happy!

[pdxMIKEpdx]

Good for you!

I always like to hear a success story!

[kapetrich]

I'm a pretty good 'Move to Bend during the great recession" success story too, pdxMIKEpdx. I moved here with two friends 2.5 years ago. We were all able to land salaried/benefited jobs within 2months (two of us had fulltime employment within two weeks). That said, none of our jobs were in our 'field of study' or what we were doing back east, but we were looking for ANYTHING that salaried/benifited which cast our net really wide. My situation is a bit different than my roommates, but we are all doing very well and none of us are living, necessarily, paycheck to paycheck. We all feel very fortunate considering how truly difficult the job market is here.

Both of my friends are now currently looking to buy houses in Bend.

[whirnot]

This morning the President of Lennar homes said there is no doubt we are in the midst of a housing recovery. Bend just can't be exempt. Lets just hope it is a more balanced growth this time. I think some of the new Lending practices will help that, but I have heard some adds for what it seems like less than solid procatices already. Do you think it will get back to being too easy for marginally qualified people to get loans?