Darla Maddalone

We all know the old saying "Cash is King", but does that apply to buying foreclosure properties - the REO and Bank Owned listings for sale throughout the country? I can only speak to the real estate activity in Bend, but I know a number of my recent clients have been cash buyers. And my guess is many of you are having the same experience - cash buyers coming in to make that super deal. But the question is, do these cash buyers really get a better deal buying bank owned properties...parting with their hard earned cash? Or is financing with a new FHA or Conventional loan the way to go?

While Bend itself is a relatively small area (~82,000 population), we have certainly had our share of distressed properties on the market. I did a quick look at the January 2010 stats. to answer the question, do "cash" buyers really get a better price than buyers having to obtain a a new loan? This is what I found:

Total SFR Sales in Bend (REO/bank owned) Jan 2010 44 Total Sales

# of sales that were all Cash sales and average DOM 11 cash sales 62 avg. DOM

# sales that were New Loans and average DOM 33 new loans 94 avg. DOM

Sales Price/List Price Ratio for the Cash sales 98.27%

Sales Price/List Price Ratio for New Loan sales 99.82%

So here in Bend, approximately 25% of the REO and Bank Owned sales are CASH transactions. The Cash Buyers "saved" approximately 1.5% MORE than their counterpart who purchased with new loans according to the statistics. Of course, I agree Cash transactions are typically much easier to close...no appraisals, no loan approvals falling out at the last minutes, etc.

But what do you think? Does it make sense to pay Cash to save that extra 1.5%? Are these statistics similar in your real estate market?

Darla Maddalone, Principal Broker, CSP
Bend Oregon Homes Online
541-350-4982
info@BendOregonHomesOnline.com

As I was reading through the Bend Bulletin this morning (yes, I admit it, I still read the newspaper), a headline caught my eye... "Putting Central Oregon On the Map". Wow, nice. But what really caught my attention was that the Bend and Central Oregon area has been featured by National Geographic as part of a "geotourism map" of the Central Cascades region. Of course we're just a small portion on the map - the entire area reaches all the way from Mount Rainier in Washington and then extends south to Crater Lake in Oregon and along the Cascade Mountain range. But what's really cool is that only 15 areas worldwide have been selected so far to develop the geotourism mapguides - and we're one of them!

If you'd like to take an online tour, our Deschutes Paddle Trail (right here in Bend) is a featured section on the mapguide. And if you've ever considered visiting Bend and Central Oregon, the mapguide contains a great list of annual events and things to see and do while you're here. To see more photos and maps of our area, check it out here:

With Spring and summer just around the corner, consider this an invitation to visit us in Bend!

Darla Maddalone, Principal Broker, CSP
Bend Oregon Homes Online
541-350-4982
info@BendOregonHomesOnline.com

What was 2009 "really" like for Bend, OR real estate? What are the final sold numbers for 2009 Bank Owned (foreclosure, REO) and Short Sales? Using the Central Oregon MLS, I sifted through all of the residential sales data for Bend and analyzed the numbers. The chart below shows a quarter by quarter comparison.

Bend, Oregon - Old Mill District

2009 Bend, OR Residential Real Estate Sales**

Distressed Sales Comparison (REO, Bank Owned and Short Sales)

**Residential Sales include single-family residential, townhome & condominium sales (does not include residential acreage) for Bend, OR

While at first glance this chart may not paint a pretty picture - just remember, these numbers are for 2009 - they are the past, they're history. To get a better view of what the future may bring for local real estate sales, I took a quick look at the number of currently "available" listings for Bend...and a different picture is emerging. Of the available listings, only 31% are bank owned and/or short sales! And the overall listing inventory is going down as well. That's good news for Seller's and could be a signal to Buyers they need to act now. We're certainly not out of the woods yet....but maybe there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Darla Maddalone, Principal Broker, CSP
Bend Oregon Homes Online
541-350-4982
info@BendOregonHomesOnline.com

Even real estate throughout Bend and Central Oregon appears to be taking another turn to the positive. Looking at data from the Bend (Central Oregon) MLS, there has been a noticeable increase in the overall number of real estate sales and, more importantly, a much needed reduction in the number of available real estate listings. This shift in momentum is a huge positive for the market and reason for celebration. Reducing the inventory of homes for sale is a necessary ingredient to a sustained housing recovery, especially considering home sales in Bend are about half of what they were at their peak.

Of course there are challenges, and we still have distressed properties dominating Bend area property sales and pressuring our home values. Yes, we have our share of foreclosures, REO, bank owned and short sales. But we haven't lost sight of the fact that the current mixture of affordable, low interest rates along with overall lower prices for Bend area real estate could usher in a more sustainable buyer's market. And we must admit the government's "first time homebuyer" and now "move-up homebuyer" tax credit incentives have contributed to the increase of home sales here in Bend. No on knows what the Bend real estate market will be 6 months from now, we've still got a long ways to go, but the New Year could be off to a good beginning.