Land values have been going up and new construction has been booming for the last five years. Now the market is in a slow down and is being flooded with inventory. Homes are taking longer to sell and builders are being forced to lower their prices.



New home developers and builders were able to sell homes in the past few years before they broke ground. They had buyers waiting in the wings to purchase these homes as soon as the lots were developed and the builder priced the homes. The buyers chose their finish materials and waited for construction to be finished.

The winter of 2006 is going to be the best time to buy a new home in Bend Oregon. The National Association of Realtors reported "In the West, existing-home sales declined 3.1 percent to an annual pace of 1.25 million in September, and were 23.8 percent lower that a year earlier. The median price in the West was $332,000, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier."

One developer/builder in Bend recently lowered prices $20,000 across the board on all of his homes. He now has eight homes sitting finished. He is also including central air-conditioning, upgraded tile counter tops, a refrigerator and backyard landscaping. These free upgrades and lower prices were not available last year.

As new and used home sales continue to fall and inventories continue to build Bend is starting to look like a candy store for home buyers. The new home market will show some of the best buys because builders have to sell. They cannot afford to sit on millions of dollars of inventory.

As we go into winter and the temperature starts to drop the heat bills start to go up. This increases the holding costs of a developer/builder. Builders are also starting to pay closing costs for a buyer which indirectly gives today's buyers a better value yet.

Developers are usually large businesses that can afford to sell a few houses at a loss to get them through the winter. One builder has lowered his asking price of one particular home to almost $50,000 lower that the same floor plan sitting vacant down the street. He has several homes finished and sitting vacant and his interest payments continue and now winter heat bills will be adding to his holding costs.

This "buyer's market" won't last for long though. Interest rates are still around 6.25 percent and the Federal Reserve just held tight with no interest increase. So interest rates should stay low over the winter.

Gasoline prices are falling and it was just reported by the Bend Bulletin, Central Oregon's local news paper that "Deschutes County jobless rate sinks To 3.7 percent." Bend continues to grow. There are good jobs available and people continue to move to Bend.

Bend is also one of the most desirable places to live in the United States. If you live in Bend you can drive 30 minutes west and be in the mountains with great fishing, hunting, hiking and biking. You can drive 30 minutes east and be in the high desert with spectacular mountain views and fresh clear air.

It is said that Bend's local ski mountain, Mount Bachelor has some of the best powder in the Northwest. Golf magazines also report that Bend is one of the best golf communities in the West. Golf is available for golfers of any budget from inexpensive public courses to luxury private courses.

The Deschutes River runs through the middle of Bend. It is a nationally famous trout stream and also has Steelhead and Salmon runs in its lower reaches. Because Bend is such a great place to live there will always be a demand for new homes.

Local Realtors look for prices to stabilize and start back up next spring. David Lereah, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors said, "When consumers recognize that home sales are stabilizing, we'll see the buyers who've been on the sidelines get back into the market, and sales will be at more normal levels in the wake of the unsustainable boom that we say last year."

The next few months will be the best time in a long time to buy a new home in Bend Oregon.