Real Estate Revolution – Why People Are Relocating to Eugene and Bend

Last Updated June 14, 2022

The cat is out of the bag – Eugene and Bend are places that people want to be, and an influx of folks moving in from out-of-state is certainly having an impact on our local markets.

Kip and Ryan give an overview of what makes the Eugene/Springfield and Bend/Redmond areas special places to live. They also go into a bit more detail than usual about what’s going on in our local markets, and how mortgage rate increases are (or aren’t) impacting the dynamic.

Voiceover: 0:04

The world is changing fast. And so are the local real estate markets. Don’t worry, though, we’ve got you covered. Welcome to the Real Estate Revolution.

Kip Lohr: 0:13

This is the Real Estate Revolution Podcast. I am Kip Lohr, your host. And well, as you can tell, today we’re doing something a little bit different. We have decided to go video. You guys have asked out there in the interwebs, and we are trying to deliver. So we are at the LOHR Real Estate world headquarters’ new video studio. Tada. What do you think?

Ryan Neal: 0:36

Crazy, it’s kind of fun to be on camera. And, you know, in our headquarters, it kind of feels like I should be sipping on a cognac and smoking a cigar.

Kip Lohr: 0:47

Exactly. Well, this is going to be a work in progress, everybody. So hopefully over the next several weeks, we’ll kind of refine things, and until then just kind of bear with us. So today, our topic is we’re going to kind of discuss why people are flocking from out of area to the Bend and Eugene markets. So we’re going to talk Bend life and Eugene life and kind of give some insight as to well, what most of you that live in these communities already know is that they’re really an amazing place to live. And so, as always, we should probably start out with our weekly market report with Ryan Neal. So why don’t you take it away, Ryan. It’s amazing that we’re already into the mid-five

Ryan Neal: 1:30

I know this is why all of you are really tuning in to the show – to get the market report. So here it is. Okay. So to start with, like usual, we’re going to go into our weekly mortgage rate update. As you know, we’re in quite a dynamic situation right now. With that said, you know, rates in Oregon, the average 30 year fixed rate has stayed pretty steady, you know, right around 5.5%. If we look at it in terms of APR, for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage, we’re right at 5.43%. So for VA and FHA loans, we’re right around 5.3%, just a bit lower than that. range. And we’re not even into the heat of the market season yet. We’re not into the heat of the market season. So, you know, stay tuned. And, you know, if you’re right on the edge of being able to qualify for the kind of property that you’re looking for, you know, it’s time to start really, you know, putting your nose to the grindstone, and we aren’t thinking that there’s going to be a ton more inventory coming onto the market. And we’re kind of at this point where people are really jumping in, but you know, it could be just as good of a time as any to start looking.

Kip Lohr: 2:38

Well. Yeah, I mean, on that level, really with interest rates going up and prices continuing to go up, every minute you delay getting into the market, whether you’re looking at the Eugene/Springfield area or the Bend/Redmond area, you are costing yourself more money. And it’s through the rest of this year. And we’ve been preaching this for the last several months on the podcast, but with interest rates, it’s just created more earnestness. And so what are we what are we looking at as far as the numbers in the Bend/Redmond area this week?

Ryan Neal: 3:09

Yeah. So let’s look at the numbers for the past week. So in the Bend/Redmond area, basically in Bend, you know, we’ve been seeing activity shift toward the lower portion of the market. So last week’s new listings had a median ask price of just $699,000. And if you haven’t been paying too much attention to Ben’s market, that probably seems really high, but it’s actually lower than, you know, the kind of seller activity that we’ve been seeing, where we were definitely getting closer to the $800,000 range. So there’s stuff hitting the market that’s a little less expensive. And it might be tempting to think that, hey, prices are dropping in Bend, but we don’t really think that’s the case. It’s more just, the kind of inventory that’s sitting on the market is more weighted toward that lower end. So if you’re shopping in that range, that’s, you know, that’s good news, but we can’t exactly unfurl the banner that hey, prices are dropping. You know, we’re not really seeing that yet.

Kip Lohr: 3:58

Right. So for folks that don’t understand median home prices, you’ve got the equal, middle point between – the equal number of sales above that number equal the number of sales below that number. So we really can see no tracking of a decline or even slowdown in the increase of prices so far, just based on the median home price coming down a bit this week.

Ryan Neal: 4:26

Yeah. You know, over the past month or so, we’ve been seeing some steady inventory increases in Bend, but you know, that’s really after we were at record lows, you know, even compared to last year when inventory was incredibly low. We were even lower this year in the kind of mid to late winter seasons. So more inventory started to come onto the market. But last week, we did see a bit of a drop; we saw the market get a little bit tighter. Buyer activity, basically, is still more than seller activity. There are more pending sales than there were new listings. So, you know, that’s definitely going to be a factor which is going to contribute to prices not declining much, if at all. So in Redmond, we’re pretty much looking at the same situation more-or-less we’re seeing in Bend. So activity in Redmond was significantly higher than seller activity. We had 30 pending sales compared to just 20 new listings. Where we are with inventory in Redmond is right around 90 properties – a little more than in Bend. You know, that’s something like three quarters of a month’s worth of inventory. It’s just so super low. But it’s more than in Bend, where we’re at about two thirds of a month. So, Eugene and Springfield – last week, when I gave my market update, we saw a huge leap in sale prices. In Eugene, where we were at, I think it was $515,000, which –

Kip Lohr: 5:50

You’re talking the median home price.

Ryan Neal: 5:51

It’s the median sale price in Eugene, and that was just an incredible leap. And, you know, when we’re giving you updates on a week to week basis, sometimes we see these kind of, you know, we kind of see these big jumps or these big declines. And to put that in context, you know, when we’re looking at the week-by-week, we have a relatively small sample size. So we can’t put too much stock in those numbers. But really, what we need to look more at is the kind of overall trend line that we’re seeing, and the trend line in Eugene has definitely not been toward prices dropping. It hasn’t even been toward prices flattening. The trend line is up. But you know, last week’s numbers were exceptionally high. And we didn’t see that quite this week, where the median sale price was $475,000, which, you know, is still a significant jump over what we were seeing in March or February. But, you know, one thing that we want to be paying attention to is this question of, you know, have sale prices kind of peaked, you know, have things gotten as hot as we’re going to get? Are interest rates – you know, with these interest rate increases that we’re seeing, are buyers going to be forced to make less aggressive offers? And is that going to, you know, kind of impact the bottom line for sellers in both the Eugene/Springfield and Bend/Redmond areas, and it’s kind of TBD. We just don’t have enough data yet. But we’re going be keeping track of this stuff. So keep tuning in. In Springfield, it’s it’s looking like the lower end inventory in Springfield is getting bought up super fast. So what we saw last month was that there were a lot of listings in the kind of sub-$400k range. So, you know, Springfield has been for a while a kind of pretty compelling, lower cost alternative to Eugene. You’re looking at these lower price points. And, you know, at least during March, it was significantly easier to find one of these sub 400k homes in Springfield, but what we’re seeing now is that they’re just getting bought up really fast, right. Yeah, I mean, the gap is really closing between Eugene

Kip Lohr: 7:52

And part of that is we see migration out of the preferred areas. So, like, people that want to live in Eugene or want to live in Bend are getting forced out of living and Springfield on one hand and Bend/Redmond on the other, in those cities. And because Redmond is so close to Bend, and Springfield is so close to Eugene, we’re seeing just more where, you know in the past, that gap was much larger, where migration into the, you know, just marginally less expensive markets. it was significantly cheaper to live in Springfield, significantly cheaper to live in Redmond. And well, you know, looking at what’s available right now in Springfield, there are only 40 properties active on the market, and they have a median ask price of $477,000.

Ryan Neal: 8:43

In Springfield. So, you know, in Eugene it’s

Kip Lohr: 8:43

In Springfield. something more like $500,000 – and I don’t have the number in front of me, but okay, yeah, $527,000. So the gap is really narrowing. And at least during the past week, you know, we started to see more high-end listing activity in Springfield, you know, where a lot more properties in the $500,000, $600,000 range or higher – and in March, there’s a real shortage of these, people are just grabbing them up as fast as they can be listed. So, you know, things are kind of, you know, going back and forth. But right now, if you’re looking for a somewhat higher-end home in Springfield, you will have a little bit easier time than at least you would have about a month ago. Looking for a lower end home – then it will be pretty rough. Good luck. Don’t kill the messengers.

Ryan Neal: 9:30

So the question right now in all of our local markets is really, you know, whether the unaffordability that we’re seeing, where it’s getting more and more difficult for people to qualify, period, to purchase a home in our communities – you know, the question is whether that’s going to start to tip the scales where we do start to see inventory accumulate just a bit. And when I say “accumulate,” we’re so low right now that we’re not gonna have a buyers market. That’s just not gonna happen. But, we may see a little bit of easing compared to what buyers have become all too accustomed to the past few years.

Kip Lohr: 10:08

Yeah. And what we’ve been telling our clients is, And the list price is going to be higher than it was during the unfortunately, it’s not a matter of seeing prices go down, really, it’s a matter of seeing – how much above list price that you’re going to need to come in at is coming down. So even right now, in comparison with last year, at the same time, we’re seeing people make $100,000 over list price offers, and they’re getting declined. I do believe that we’ll see, you know, that narrowing down like we did last year, when mid-summer, by the time we hit the fall, you’re still gonna have to come in above list price, but maybe $30,000 or $40,000, maybe even $10,000. spring. Well, for sure. I mean, that’s the thing. But, you know, to your point, really seeing even a modest amount of inventory increase, because we’re seeing some people drop out of the market because of affordability, it’s going to translate to just, you know, still insane offers. But you know, it’s it’s a matter of degrees at this point.

Ryan Neal: 11:14

So yeah, and the thing is, you know, if you’re just – if you’re paying attention to the national media, you’re probably seeing all these news stories about how, you know, these markets that were super hot. Like, I was just reading something about an agent in Portland talking about how this was the first time in the last couple of years that he had had a listing stay on the market through the weekend. You know, he listed it Thursday, or Friday or whatever. And, you know, he had a couple of people, they said they’re going to make these offers. And he was starting to sweat because it was Monday or Tuesday and nobody made an offer yet. And finally, somebody made an offer at ask price, which is seller accepted. And he said – yeah, this is you know, the market is changing here. But even if you look at Portland, compared to the Eugene/Springfield or Bend/Redmond markets, you know, they’re not facing the same inventory crunch that we are, and these markets all across the country where the temperature is cooling significantly compared to how things were a year ago – that’s not what we’re seeing here. We’re not seeing our markets cooling off at all relative to what they were last year. In fact, we came into the spring buying season here with even less inventory than we had then. So it’s going to take some time, you know, for these interest rate increases to, you know, start to be actually reflected in how it how it feels to be looking for a home in our communities.

Kip Lohr: 12:34

Well, and one of the differences between the Bend and Redmond area – mostly the Bend area – and the Eugene area is that, I would say, prices pushed the first-time homebuyer segment out of the market for the most part last year. And so, you know, here in Eugene, we we saw several people last year get pushed out of the market because of price. But because interest rates were still, you know, historically low, we’re still seeing, you know, a decent amount of that kind of first-time homebuyer segment of the market. And as we see these interest rates go up, we will see the remainder of the Eugene first-time homebuyer market kind of disappear because of interest rates. But in Bend, we kind of already got there last year. So this idea that we’re going to see a mass exodus of buyers out of the market because of interest rates, especially in Bend, I think is over-optimistic, where we might see some, you know, people leave the market and -in Bend, it’s folks that are looking at second homes – and they’re starting to see, you know, you know, with interest rates going up, it’s going to, you know – if they’re financing their second home, they’re gonna have to start seeing whether the numbers really pencil for them to have a home sitting that’s costing them an extra $1,000, $1,500 a month to, you know, just to service debt. But that’s – the people buying second homes in the Bend and Redmond area, it’s still not a large enough segment of the buyer pool to really send a meaningful amount of inventory increase to the Bend area. And so here in Eugene, Eugene/Springfield, we might see some of that – interest rates suppressing buyer activity – which, you know, relates to an increase in inventory. I just don’t see that happening.

Ryan Neal: 14:35

Yeah, well, we will continue to monitor the situation and the numbers on a weekly basis. Our markets are very dynamic. Our economy is very dynamic. The geopolitical situation is very dynamic. So, you know, there’s gonna be some wiggle room, and whatever happens, we don’t have a crystal ball, but we’re just calling it like we see it and we’ll continue to do that.

Kip Lohr: 14:56

Yeah. So any other numbers before we move on to the next portion of the show?

Ryan Neal: 15:00

That’s about all I got for this week.

Kip Lohr: 15:02

All right, well, we’re gonna take a little break. And when we come back, we’re going to kind of dive into the Bend life, the Eugene life, why are people from all over the country coming into this area and, you know, becoming a big part of the inventory crunch problems. So we’ll be right back. Welcome back to The Real Estate Revolution podcast. I’m your host with LOHR Real Estate. We have Ryan Neal in the studio today. And we’re recording video. Pretty crazy, huh?

Ryan Neal: 15:41

Crazy, but also a natural evolution. It’s great to be connecting with people in this way. It feels a little different even. You know, even though we’re in front of the same microphones, same mixing console.

Kip Lohr: 15:58

Well, you know, there’s things that go on behind the scenes that, when it’s just audio, it’s a lot easier to get away with. But since you’re looking at us right now, we can’t really get get away with too much. So today, the subject matter is, we are going to talk about Bend life. We’re going to talk Eugene life. Just what is it that’s bringing so many people to our areas or communities and helping to create kind of the housing crisis that we’ve got right now? And, you know, it’s twofold. It’s not just a ton of people coming in from out-of-area. But the folks that are relocating from out of area are a significant enough number that they are putting a lot of pressure on our inventory and definitely contributing towards, you know, these price increases and the lack of inventory that we see. So let’s start with Eugene.

Ryan Neal: 16:53

So, you know, maybe to start the conversation, both me and Kip have spent pretty significant portions of our life living here in Eugene. I first moved here in 2004, when I entered the University of Oregon as a student. I got an English degree there and kind of stayed around after I graduated. I’ve gone back and forth to a few different places. But I always keep coming back to Eugene. There’s just something about the community here that keeps drawing me.

Kip Lohr: 17:21

Yeah. And what’s interesting about that story is, Yeah, well, “top-notch” might be stretching it a little bit, but I can almost duplicate it. I came here for the first time to go to the University of Oregon, got a degree in music performance and, you know, migrated out of the area. But I think this is my third stint back in the Eugene/Springfield area and – certainly quality of life, certainly there is a certain je ne sais quoi abou, Eugene – that is, I think people are seeing that it’s very unique in comparison with a lot of other communities in the country. And I think one of the things that I’ve observed is – Eugene has definitely, since I was in college here – it’s a very different town. And I think part of that has to do with just growing up a little bit. Part of it has to do with the transplants that have come into the community. But I think part of the allure for folks and part of the allure for me, quite frankly, is, you know, you’ve got a lot of the urban advantages, but not as many of the urban disadvantages, right. So the food is good, the restaurants are good. It’s a very clean city for the most part. Actually, our transit system here is very top notch. Especially pre COVID. Would you agree? it’s not bad. You know, we have we have a pretty functional bus system. I’ll say that. Well, I mean, I just – if we go to talk about Bend, Bend almost has a non-existent transit system. But I would say you know, crime rate here is fairly low. And it’s beautiful. I mean, especially this time of year, right. The flowers are blooming, the bees are starting to buzz.

Ryan Neal: 19:25

And we’re right in the midst of Eugene’s most bipolar kind of season, where just about a week and a half ago, we had an 80 degree day, and then the next weekend it proceeded to snow. We’ve had rain pretty much nonstop ever since then, which it – you know, I want to feel bummed out about the rain, but I don’t let myself feel too bummed out about it, because we need the moisture, and the more rain we get, the less likely we are to have significant wildfires late in the summer. We’ve had some of those the past couple of years,

Kip Lohr: 19:56

That’s for sure. Yeah, and I think one of the things that is very unique about our community is, we have this balance. You know, Eugene was an old mill town. And so we’ve got plenty of folks that are very – you know, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh-generation Oregonians that have grown up here and trend towards, you know, being a little more conservative. And then Ken Kesey rolled into town in the 60s. And the University of Oregon really started to grow and become kind of a national spot for people to come and go to university. And so there was kind of this balancing flavor of a little bit of more of a progressive vibe and a little hippie vibe.

Ryan Neal: 20:46

Yeah, Oregon – I mean, Eugene definitely started to get an injection of the counterculture in the late 60s. And actually, Ken Kesey was born in Springfield. So that’s kind of the connection there. And the Springfield Creamery was started, I believe, in the late 60s, or may have been early 70s, by Ken Kesey’s sister. I may be mixing some of the details. But the Springfield Creamery is now known as Nancy’s yogurt, which you’ll see in stores, definitely around here. And I’m not sure how, you know – to what far flung regions Nancy’s Yogurt has reached, but it’s definitely a well-known brand in the community.

Kip Lohr: 21:21

Yeah, for sure. And so we’ve got kind of this, in some respects, a bipolar community of conservative and progressive folks. But one of the things I have a lot of deep pride in our community is that I feel like, particularly in the times that we live in now, that division becomes very vitriolic. And I think in our community, we’ve been able to find a more moderate way to stay plugged into the community and communicate with our neighbors. Even if we don’t necessarily agree with them, we can agree that we love our Ducks, we can agree that we love our city, and we love the state of Oregon, and we want to keep our water clean and our air clean, you know. And so there’s a lot of common ground that I think people here, regardless of where they’re at on the political spectrum, we come together, you know, to be Eugene city dwellers, to be Oregonians, and to really enjoy this area. And I think folks from out of area can kind of get a sense of that. And we’re seeing a lot of, like, political migration throughout the country. And so there’s a lot of folks that are relocating to the Eugene area that I think are are looking for a little more balance in and working, you know, on more communication between the different ideologies. And I think that that’s very unique to Eugene.

Ryan Neal: 22:43

I think a word that I would use to describe Eugene is “unpretentious,” right. There’s – people can kind of be themselves here, you know. There’s not this sense of a dominant culture. And if you look at the image, the popular image of Eugene, where it’s this kind of hippie haven – you know, there’s tie-dye and clouds of marijuana smoke rising from every street corner in town. I mean, you can definitely encounter, you know, bits and pieces of that, but it’s not like that’s the dominant culture here. We really are this kind of melting pot where all sorts of different folks have come here for all sorts of different reasons. And, you know, like Kip is mentioning, there are these kind of multi – you know, these families who have been in the area for generations. We also have a lot of newcomers, you know, coming in from California – and kind of contrary to popular belief, we do not all dislike Californians.

Kip Lohr: 23:40

And they’re not all horrible human beings that are ruining our city. No, I mean, they’re bringing some – I think some great injection of some, you know, new, fresh –

Ryan Neal: 23:51

Yeah, I mean, I’ll venture to say here, to make a

Kip Lohr: 23:52

It’s quality of life. generalization, but migration is a fact of life. You know, people

Ryan Neal: 23:56

Quality of life. You know, it’s this connection, it’s people are moving to here and there for different reasons. And, you know, people are coming to our area for particular the wonderful access to nature that we have here, the culture reasons, and they’re also bringing quite a lot of things with them. And, you know, we can also look at that, you know, in the context of what’s happening with the housing market, and, you know, definitely there’s a conversation to be had there. But I think the place that we really want to start with is that, you know, people are feeling drawn to Eugene, they are feeling drawn to Bend and to Oregon in general. And there’s a reason that they’re feeling drawn here. And – that we’re talking about. There are a lot of different reasons

Kip Lohr: 24:47

And so, a brief rundown – as you know, Eugene is for it. is strategically located within an hour, hour and 20 minutes drive to the east to get into the mountains to hike. It’s an hour drive to get to the to the coast and be able to get your feet in the sand. And we’re only a couple hours south of the largest city here in Oregon, which is Portland. So, you know, Eugene is big enough that for the most part, we have all of the cultural pieces where you don’t really need to go to Portland to go catch a ballet performance. Or we, you know, we have our own symphony here in Eugene, the Eugene symphony, and they’re very, very good. And the music scene is vibrant here, in part I think due to the University of Oregon’s music school. So there are a lot of young musicians that are studying there and playing locally here. And as I mentioned before, the food is actually very, very good, with a diverse amount of different cultural representations here that are very good quality, and, you know, the food cart pod scene in Oregon in general – I think Portland kind of, you know, brought it to the national attention. But Eugene – and both Eugene and Bend have a decent selection of food cart courts, and good quality food cart food. And particularly here in the age of COVID, you know, it’s nice to be able to have some of that outdoor seating, and some of the venues are, you know, almost four seasons. So what am I missing?

Ryan Neal: 26:27

Well, so a few years back, the city of Eugene came up with the advertising slogan, “The world’s greatest city for the arts and outdoors.” And, you know, let’s face it, they kind of overshot the mark there. Maybe just a little bit. And I think within a year or two that was amended to “A great city for the arts and outdoors.” So, you know, let’s start there. So Eugene is a great city for the arts and outdoors. And, you know, talking about different cultural opportunities, I mean, the Hult Center here brings in a number of world class performers, you know, coming through every month. Ballet, orchestra, you know, plenty of different art forms, performing art forms. Other than that, you know, we kind of have to go into this kind of – we have to use words like “vibe.”

Kip Lohr: 27:22

Eugene’s definitely got a vibe.

Ryan Neal: 27:23

It’s got a vibe. And there are different ways, definitely, to tune into that. You can, you know, kind of go into the Whitaker neighborhood on a Friday night, go to Sam Barnes garage, order a local craft brew and drink it out of a mason jar while you’re listening to a bluegrass band play on the stage at the bar. And that’s definitely a window into what makes Eugene Eugene. And on the other hand, you can, you know, go to Autzen Stadium, you can catch a football game you can be with – what is it, 60,000? More than that?

Kip Lohr: 27:59

No, it’s around 50.

Ryan Neal: 28:02

It’s one of the bigger stadiums around. Not the biggest, but it’s pretty big and it’s pretty loud. Autzen Stadium is known for being loud, and it never rains it Autzen.That’s the slogan that we have here. You can go there, and that’s showing you something about Eugene too. It’s just, we have these multiple facets and there’s a real sense of community here. There’s a sense of identity around being a Eugeneian, being Oregonian, without that becoming this kind of exclusive kind of

Kip Lohr: 28:34

That’s right, and, you know, kind of to dovetail into thing. the Autzen Stadium and Oregon Ducks football team, we have a world-class track and field facility, Hayward Field at the U of O. It was remodeled about three years ago, and they finally were able to start using it last year. And this year, we’re hosting the World Track and Field Competition, for instance, which is usually reserved for much bigger metro areas than Eugene is. We host the PAC 12 Track and Field competitions. We had the US Track and Field trials before the Olympics last year. So, you know, the athletic scene – you know, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight founded Nike together. I mean, there’s just a lot of – you know, there’s a lot of vibe here in Eugene. And we could probably talk for hours about Eugene and the many reasons why people are, you know – it’s on the radar for folks that are relocating here. So I’m going to make a suggestion that we segue into our other community that we represent and talk about, you know, Bend and the Central Oregon area. What do you think?

Ryan Neal: 29:48

Let’s do it.

Kip Lohr: 29:49

All right. So talking about vibe, Bend in Central Oregon has a completely different vibe. And I would say part of that is due to – you know, it started out as a small mill town as well. But it’s on the other side of the Cascade Mountain Range. And so it’s been traditionally isolated from the rest of the state and, and especially before the town grew, and it kind of got on the national map, it was a little, tiny, sleepy mill town. And I would say you could go back 30 or 35 years ago, and it was a very, very small, sleepy community. And over the last 30, 35 years Bend is working really hard. When the timber industry, the mill industry kind of wound down and could no longer support the community, Bend decided it wanted to be the Aspen of the Northwest, and it boomed and busted several times over the last 30, 35 years. And funnily enough, the great recession, the great market crash of of 2007 actually helped facilitate and usher in the final arriving of Bend as being kind of this destination resort, kind of elevated on the national scene where you could talk about it in the same breath with Aspen or Jackson Hole or Lake Tahoe. And part of that happened because market values dropped by about 50% in Central Oregon, in Bend in particular during the last market crash, and it became immediately affordable. And it also wiped out a lot of people. And so Bend, as it kind of rose from the ashes, was no longer a speculative market. People were relocating to Bend because they could afford to relocate to Bend. And then, on top of that, as we started to become less affordable, people were moving, either retiring to Central Oregon or buying a second home in Central Oregon. And now, prices are – we have clients that thought that they could buy homes in Bend because they had been priced out of the Lake Tahoe market, for instance, coming out of the Bay Area, and there’s a sticker shock for them looking at properties in Central Oregon, where we’re kind of in line with these other communities. And so, the Bend vibe is a mountain town. It’s all about getting outside and hitting the river and hitting the trails, getting on your mountain bike. And there’s a little competitive vibe with that too.

Ryan Neal: 32:37

Yeah, I think there’s probably a higher concentration of extreme endurance athletes coming through the Bend area than perhaps anywhere else. You know, one thing I think to note about Bend is that, you know, you’re comparing it to places like Aspen and Lake Tahoe, but Bedn is also more of a city than these places while still maintaining that same kind of, you know, outdoor-resort-slash-vacation-destination kind of vibe.

Kip Lohr: 33:02

Yeah, I agree with that. I agree with that. And so, you know, what draws people to the Bend/Redmond area are more more consecutive days of sunshine, much less rain, drier air. The air just seems, you know, crisper, sweeter to breathe over there for some reason. And here again, the food scene over there is great. I would say, Bend hasn’t quite gotten, you know, kind of in line with the Eugene/Springfield areas, the cultural vibe there. There are not as many venues you know, the music scene there – there aren’t as many venues where you can go see live music there. They don’t have their own, you know, symphony, or we’re not getting ballet coming to to Bend. The outdoor live music arena, the – well it’s now the Hayden Homes Amphitheater. When it was first built, it was sponsored by Les Schwab, which is a local tire company here in Oregon. And so I kind of have to call it the Les Schwab Amphitheater until I die. Although, I’ve got to give props to Hayden Homes for taking on the sponsorship. And it’s been – you know, they’ve been a great partnership for that amphitheater. It’s just hard for me to make the shift and call it something different, but it’s a great venue. Some of the best concerts that I’ve been to in my life have been at that amphitheater. And so you can hop in the river and take a two hour float with a beer in your hand. You can go out your front door and get on your mountain bike and hit Phil’s Trail. The walkability in Bend is really outstanding. Traditionally, the walkability in Bend was really just limited to the downtown area of Bend, but now the Northwest Crossing area has its own wonderful shops and restaurants and walkability. You don’t have to come into town. And there’s other parts of Bend that are, you know, these growing kinds of walkable communities that are sprouting up that are just far enough outside of the city center that they’re creating kind of their own walkable neighborhoods and bikable neighborhoods. And it’s just – you know, it’s just a different vibe.

Ryan Neal: 35:20

Yeah. So Kip, you mentioned, you know, being back and forth, leaving Eugene, coming back to Eugene and spending significant time in Bend, and you actually – you know, you’re kind of spending half of your time there now, and then half of it in Eugene. So, you know, you are speaking from the perspective of somebody who has and is still living there.

Kip Lohr: 35:41

That’s right. And I actually feel kind of spoiled about it as well. I am a little bit, I blush a little bit about it. Because I do get to live in both communities about half time. My wife works at the University of Oregon as a student health nurse at the Student Health Center, but she doesn’t work summers. So we get to spend all of our summer days over there in Bend, and then having an office both in both cities, I travel back and forth quite a bit, almost on a weekly Yeah. So this is the Real Estate Revolution. All roads lead back basis, back-and-forth from here to Bend or from Bend to here. And so I feel very invested and embedded in both communities. And in a way, I feel like I get the best of both worlds, the best of both vibes. And there are definitely some restaurants here in Eugene that just – I can’t wait to get back over here to you know, have my favorites. Well, you know, Tacovore, come on, man, there’s no Tacovore in Bend. But I feel the same way about Bend. I can’t wait to get back over there and hop on my mountain bike or hit the river with a paddle board. And so it’s – here again, what these two communities have in common is livability, is quality of life. And I think that both of these communities on each side of the Cascades have really, you know, hit the radar on the national scene, and we’re just seeing, particularly because of, you know, COVID, the last few years, I think people are really starting to orient towards quality of life and making decisions about where they want to live not based on work or where they can get a job, but you know, where it’s going be a good place for my kids to go to school. We want to be able to go hiking or biking or fishing, we want to be able to go to the beach, we want to be able to slow down a little bit and smell the roses. So both communities on both sides of the mountains, just in their own beautiful ways really provide a lot of quality of life to folks that have lived here for many years, and for the folks that are fortunate enough to be able to come into our community and become a part of the community. to real estate. So, you know, I think it’s time to talk a little bit about how, you know, the livability of both areas, how the real estate scene in Eugene/Springfield, the real estate scene in Bend/Redmond – kind of how that factors into the conversation there. Well, yeah, and I think, you know, the difficult thing now because of the lack of inventory is – obviously there are a lot of folks that are getting priced out of both communities. And so, in a way, that’s really unfortunate for, you know, the less fortunate folks who can’t – you know, that don’t have the resources to be able to come into the community. And I think that this combination of high demand, particularly from well, you know, it’s also from folks that don’t want to leave the area. And part of the crunch in inventory is the people that live here don’t want to go. And so they’re not putting their house on the market. So we’ve got people who want to move in, and we’ve got people who don’t want to leave. And so it really creates a, you know, a crunch in that inventory, which makes it very difficult for folks who aren’t already established here to get here and get established.

Ryan Neal: 39:13

It’s brutally competitive right now to find a home in both of our markets. And, you know, for the last few years, at least, perhaps a little longer than that, Eugene has had especially low inventory. We’re talking below – you know, certainly below one month in the past couple of years, but even before that we were hovering below two months, around one-and-a-half or so. And one thing we need to talk about if you are considering finding a home in Eugene is that the quality of inventory here is not excellent. We’ve had a severe shortage of new construction over the past three decades, actually, and there just aren’t many homes being built that have these more modern features that people are looking for especially, and when homes do come up on the market that – you know, we have these 60s, 50s-vintage homes, particularly in the areas that are pretty desirable around the city center. We have these homes coming up that are pretty vintage, but they’ve had a nice remodel. These are these are the homes that tend to get 20 offers coming in on them, and you end up paying $100,000 over list price. Well, I think in episodes, in weeks to come, we’re going to go

Kip Lohr: 40:20

That’s right. And that – and I think that that is kind of the the salt in the wound for folks. Not only is it hard to into more detail about the dynamics that are affecting our get into contract on a home, but likely you’ve paid top dollar, you know, in some cases $100,000 over list price, and now you’ve got to spend another $20,000 or $30,000 fixing the house up. So it is tough. And I think the takeaway for today is that both of these communities are wonderful communities to relocate to. And there are certainly many, many reasons that folks like you out there are looking to make a new home in one of these two communities. And I would say – well, I’ve got my idea for Kip’s Tips this week. So I’m gonna hold back and wait for Kip’s Tips for my final thought. Do you have any final thoughts before we move on to the final portion of the program? housing markets right now. So we’ll have plenty of time to discuss the picture there. So, you know, I think we had a good overview of it this week. So, you know, just kind of preparing the ground for a deeper conversation to come. All right. Well, as always, we appreciate you joining us each week for the Real Estate Revolution podcast, and we’ll see you next week. Welcome back to The Real Estate Revolution Podcast. I am Kip Lohr, your host for LOHR Real Estate, and we are in the home stretch. We are in our final segment, and it is called Kip’s Tips. And my tip today is “carpe diem,” seize the day. I think if you are thinking about purchasing, I mean, probably in any community that folks are wanting to live in these days, the markets are very similar – low inventory, prices going up, interest rates going up. So if you’re thinking about doing it, and you’re ready to do it, you need to jump in now. For the foreseeable future, we’re gonna see interest rates continue to go up, and we’re gonna see prices continue to go up. So by waiting, it’s just going to cost you more money. So jump into the market, don’t be afraid.

Ryan Neal: 42:55

Don’t be afraid. And that doesn’t mean not doing your research, not doing your due diligence. We’re assuming that you’ve been through a process, you’ve decided that these are the communities for you that you can make it work financially. And once you’ve reached that, once you’ve reached that point, there can be a lot of second guessing. Is the market going to tank right after I buy my home? And am I gonna, you know, lose all this equity that I’ve accumulated very shortly after my purchase? Am I gonna put myself in a rotten financial situation, especially if you’ve been through 2008. But, you know, we’re really looking at a very different kind of scenario.

Kip Lohr: 43:29

That’s right. So carpet Diem. Anyway, that’s it for the show today. Thanks for joining us and come back next week. Thanks, Ryan.

Ryan Neal: 43:38

See you next week.

Voiceover: 43:44

Thank you for joining the revolution. We are over and out until next week, when we’ll continue to fill you in on all that matters most in our local Bend and Eugene real estate scenes. See you next time on The Real Estate Revolution.