January another strong month for Bend home sales
By Jason Boone So much for freezing the Bend real estate market this winter. In fact, the local market pretty much started 2016 in the same way it ended 2015: with a record-breaking month. According to data recently compiled by the Skjersaa Group, 155 homes were sold through January. That might...
January another strong month for Bend real estate
By Jason Boone So much for freezing the Bend real estate market this winter. In fact, the local market pretty much started 2016 in the same way it ended 2015: with a record-breaking month. According to data recently compiled by the Skjersaa Group, 155 homes were sold through January. That might...
Amid flurry of news, mortgage rates likely to remain low
By Jason Boone The Federal Reserve’s plan for its federal funds rate has been making plenty of news as of late. The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee decided last week to keep the range for the federal funds rate — the rate at which banks charge other banks on overnight loans — steady at...
Buying a home in Bend a bit different
By Jason Boone As just about any longtime resident will tell you, living in Bend can seem like a dream. We are lucky to live in a beautiful place that puts just about any adventure sport within minutes of any Bend front door. It’s a wonder the area managed to stay a secret for so long. Well, the...
The benefits of a respected full-service agency immense
By Jason Boone During the heady days of the real estate boom, it was not uncommon for home sellers to enlist the help of discount real estate brokers. Back then sellers had all the leverage amid the frenzy, tempting many to look for ways to save on commission. Then the real estate market began to...
2015 ends with a banner month of home sales in Bend
By Jason Boone What was already an impressive year in 2015 ended on a particular high note in December. In fact, an almost shocking number of homes were sold during the last month of 2015, pushing the year into record-breaking territory. How good of a month was it? Through the month of December...
Exciting Bend redevelopment, expansion projects on the way
By Jason Boone New development in and around Bend has certainly been at the top of mind in the resurgent last few years on the High Desert. For better or for worse, growth is on most everybody’s mind here in Bend. But new development is not all that has been going up. In fact, there have been some...
The new year brings optimism of healthy, normal market
By Jason Boone Predicting the future is a fool’s errand. As the last 15 years of peaks and valleys in real estate has taught us, it can be particularly foolhardy to say with any certainty what the year ahead will bring. Yet we all still look ahead to 2016 with a sense of optimism and excitement of...
Despite hike, relatively low mortgage rates likely to continue
By Jason Boone The news was hardly surprising last week when the announcement came that the Federal Open Market Committee would be hiking the target range of the federal funds rate a quarter point. After seven years of a zero-interest policy, such a move from the Federal Reserve had been rumored...
Affordable housing is a complicated issue that is worth watching
By Jason Boone Affordable housing, or supposed lack thereof, has been a much-discussed subject around Oregon. And Bend has not been immune, with a historically tight rental market, rising rents and a median home price that at last count sat at $321,500. Such market pressures have created a need...