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Over the summer, sale prices in Eugene have ping-ponged between a median of $450,000 and $480,000. We're back up to $480,000, even with inventory increasing slightly and properties spending a bit longer on the market. &&&We've say this a lot, but here it is again: Eugene is still very much a low-inventory market. Plenty of buyers are willing and able to pay the premium to buy a home here, even with mortgage rates increasing as much as they have. Buyer activity is now on somewhat of an upward trend, while listing activity is on a downward trend, an indication that Eugene's market is unlikely to become less competitive in the fall.

Bend's sale prices took a huge leap in July, rising 8% month-over-month to a median of $799,000, an all-time high even as inventory climbed to over 3 months for the first time since before the pandemic. So what drove that price surge? The answer is a little bit nuanced. &&&The number of sales in the sub-$700k price range dropped from 116 in June to just 74 in July, a 36% month-over-month decline. Clearly, buyers at price points below Bend's median are feeling the squeeze from high mortgage rates. Meanwhile, with the onset of the summer buying season, Bend's luxury market has been less affected. &&&It's difficult to say where Bend's market will go from here. We'll be watching closely as the summer buying season wraps up. New listings were down a whopping 36% month-over-month in July, indicating that inventory will likely remain flat rather than continuing to accumulate like it has over the past few months.

Home prices in Bend continued their late-spring resurgance in June, rising 1% month-over-month to a median of $737,000. Realistically, this number seems to be a ceiling, at least for the time being. List prices were down 4% month-over-month in June, while days on the market increased from 8 to 13. Homes also sold for a median of 97.4% of their original list price, down from 98% in May. &&&All of this fits with our prediction of a surge of activity in the spring followed by a flattening in the summer. Inventory is now up to 2.8 months in Bend, which is a point where competition should drop a notch or two. That doesn't mean we're expecting prices to collapse, but rather, we expect sale prices to hover around a median of $700,000. &&&Even though listing activity is down 16% year-over-year, the ratio of new homes entering the market to pending sales is about 3:2. If you're meaning to list your home this summer or fall, it might be good to do so sooner rather than later, when inventory is likely to be higher.

After reaching an all-time high in May, prices are back down 6% month-over-month in Eugene to a median of $455,000. That movement doesn't appear to have any statistical significance. Homes sold for 98.9% of their original list price in June, compared to 98.4% in May. That means that people simply bought slightly less expensive homes in June. &&&With that being said, inventory is up in Eugene to 1.6 months. New listings were up 27% month-over-month, while pending sales were down 4%. If you're a buyer, you're probably hoping that this trend will continue and that prices will flatten heading into the summer and fall. At the same time, if mortgage rates do start to drop, that could lead more buyers to enter the market, driving prices back up again.

Buyer and seller activity remain relatively muted in Eugene relative to last year. However, prices have continued to rise, reaching a median of $485,500 in May. That's an all-time high for Eugene. Inventory is higher than it was a year ago, and homes aren't selling quite as rapidly, but Eugene is still a highly competitive market. &&&There are plenty of people looking at properties right now who may have missed out last year and are eager to get into a home regardless of high mortgage rates. Prices in Eugene aren't quite high enough - yet - that it's reached the same level of unaffordability as Bend. For that reason, and for a multitude of other reasons, the landscape of Eugene's market hasn't shifted dramatically over the past year. &&&May's sale prices probably aren't a fluke. With that said, we don't expect prices to necessarily climb from here through the remainder of the year. 30-year fixed mortgage rates in the 7% range again and inventory will most likely increase as we get into the summer.

The market data in Bend is finally reflecting the real onset of the spring and sumer buying season. Time on the market is down to a median of 8 days, while prices are up significantly month-over-month. April's median sale price was only $669,000. In May, Bend's median rose to $730,000, higher than any point since July last year. &&&While higher mortgage rates have undoubtably impacted real estate markets all over, it's also worth recognizing the seasonal nature of Bend's market. The winters of 2020/21 and 2021/22 were exceptions to the norm, in which activity and prices decline significantly over the colder months. That especially applies to Bend's higher-end homes. Surging prices reflect higher activity at the upper end of Bend's market more than they necessarily reflect appreciation. &&&Right now, mortgage rates are higher than 7% again after a bit of a reprieve in the earlier spring. That could stifle buyer activity and lead to higher inventory. June's numbers will reveal a lot about the shape of Bend's market, so stay tuned.

Buyer and seller activity have both remained pretty flat heading into the spring months in Eugene. As has been the case for the past five years, a lack of inventory is the primary factor impacting Eugene's market. Buyers aren't turning out because people aren't listing their homes, and there's a huge lack of new construction. &&&With that said, sale prices are up 3% month-over-month to a median of $452,500, down just 6% from the all-time high we saw in April of 2022. When all is said and done, Eugene's market has proved remarkably resilient, which shouldn't come as a surprise. Although homes are spending longer on the market than they did last spring, sellers with move-in-ready homes in desirable locations have little to worry about, except for finding a replacement property.

Sale prices in Bend are continuing to zigzag, with April's sales hitting a median of $669,000, down 3% month-over-month. One thing to note is that we're dealing with a pretty small sample size - only 173 sales, down 39% year-over-year. It's hard to extrapolate a trend from these kinds of numbers, but if we zoom out a bit, sale prices have basically been flat over the past few months. &&&We had predicted a surge of activity in the spring months, and so far it hasn't materialized in Bend. In particular, new listings were actually down 13% month-over-month. Homes are selling faster, however. We're back down to a median of 11 days, and that's a good sign for sellers. &&&However, we're seeing buyers hesitate more at the upper end of Bend's market. Now that the weather's turning, more higher-end homes are hitting the market, but buyer activity is still concentrated at lower price points. Affordability is very much a concern, and that could keep prices down even as competition ramps up for less expensive properties.