Posts from September 2026
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6
Relocating to Bend, Oregon: What Buyers Should Know
People who are considering moving to Bend often begin with the same questions: How much does it cost to buy a home here? Which parts of town should I consider? What is it actually like to live in Bend rather than visit? And how do I figure out where I belong?
Those are good questions. But after working with buyers and studying the Bend market, I think there is an even better question to start with:
What do you want your life in Bend to look like?
Bend is a relatively small city, but the experience of living here can be remarkably different depending on where you buy.
Start with your reasons for moving to Bend
People relocate to Bend for all kinds of reasons.
6
East Bend vs. West Bend: Are They Really Different Housing Markets?
People talk about "the Bend real estate market" as though it were one market. But when I divided Bend into four geographic areas and looked at the numbers separately, something interesting happened.
I divided Bend's housing market into four. The data decided it should be two.
Northeast and southeast Bend behaved remarkably similarly. So did northwest and southwest Bend. The clearest difference in this particular set of data was between east Bend and west Bend.
What the Numbers Showed
| Area | Active Listings | Avg. Days on Market | Months of Inventory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northeast | 167 | 82 | 2.5 |
| Southeast | 160 | 81 | 3.0 |
| Southwest | 175 | 113 | 4.3 |
| Northwest | 194 | 107 | 5.0 |
In August, northeast and southeast Bend had about 2.5 to 3 months of inventory, while southwest and northwest Bend had 4.3 to 5 months.
The active listings told a similar story. As of September 2, homes currently for sale in northeast and southeast Bend had been on the market an average of 81 to 82 days. In northwest and southwest Bend, the averages were 107 and 113 days.
In other words, at the time I ran the numbers, homes on Bend's west side were generally taking longer to find buyers, and there was more inventory relative to the pace of sales.
Why Might East and West Bend Be Behaving Differently?
Price may be part of the explanation.
The average asking price of active homes was about $693,000 in northeast Bend and $642,000 in southeast Bend. On the west side, it was approximately $1.26 million in northwest Bend and $967,000 in southwest Bend.
The potential buyer pool is simply larger at the lower price points. At higher price points, the pool is smaller, and buyers may also be looking for a more specific combination of characteristics such as views, lot, architecture, privacy, finishes and location.
That can make it take longer for a particular home to find the right buyer.
But price alone probably doesn't tell the whole story.
There's Another Wrinkle in These Numbers
While I was looking at the data, I noticed something else.
The homes that actually sold had considerably shorter average market times than the homes that were still sitting on the market.
That may sound contradictory, but it isn't.
Sold homes and active listings are two different groups of properties. One group successfully found buyers. The other group hasn't yet.
That raises an interesting question:
What separates the homes that sell from the homes that sit?
I'll be taking a closer look at that distinction in my next market analysis.
About the Data
This analysis uses August 2026 Market Trends data and active residential listings as of September 2, 2026. It includes residential properties on lots under one acre, divided into four geographic areas within Bend city limits.
If you like this way of looking at real estate, you may enjoy reading a little more about how I work with buyers and sellers, and what I call the R Factor.
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