Tetherow Bend Oregon Quarterly Newsletter

Q2 – 2024

We like to provide you with 12-month snapshots in the weekly “What’s Happening in Tetherow” article, but for this quarterly edition, we thought we would again discuss yearly data and see how this compares to years past, talk about the market as a whole, and discuss what we expect to see as the year progresses.

Let’s start with a discussion of average prices in Tetherow. Please keep in mind that the numbers below include everything from 1000 sq ft vacation homes to 5000 plus sq ft custom homes on estate lots. We have certainly seen Tetherow mature as a community and it is undoubtedly one of the most coveted locations across Bend. What we have also seen is that it has shifted from a neighborhood dominated by lot sales and builder specs homes to one where custom resales are the driving force.

At first glance, this seems like we are experiencing a drop in Tetherow. However, we do not believe this is true. As we have mentioned, there are distinct product types in Tetherow, and with each comes a different expected cost. The planned communities near the clubhouse offer smaller lots with pre-planned designs and this brings with it great quality at a lower cost. However, the larger lots of the Heath, Crescent, Glen, and Tartan Druim all also have homes that are more custom. In 2023 16 homes sold above $2M (highest was $4.1M) and so far in 2024, there have been only 5 homes above $2M (highest was $3.15M). However, currently, there are 6 homes listed above $2M in Tetherow and when these sell, it will pull the average sale price higher and show that prices are still steady here. For a full breakdown of the Tetherow Market, click here. This link is updated constantly and can show you that things are more flat than anything else.

This next table really highlights just how tight the market is for land in Tetherow right now. Although build costs have come down slightly, building a home generally comes at a premium to buying a resale home. However, the benefit of buying land and building is that you get exactly what you want. The other plus right now is that there are a number of options to choose from for land. There are currently 12 lots available in Tetherow and they offer a wide range of settings and views. Buyers who aren’t finding the home that meets their needs have been re-exploring land. Although we have only seen one lot sell in Tetherow this year, there have been a number of luxury lots selling on the Westside of Bend in 2024 which shows that buyers are out there and they are starting to act again. The trend so far has been that in 2024 buyers have been opting for the larger (1-5 acre) parcels available in some of the newer Westside communities. As inventory disappears in some of these communities, we believe Tetherow is well positioned and expect that we have a couple more sales by the end of 2024.

On that note, if you’re like most of our clients, the next thing on your mind is the question of what we are expecting to end this year. Below we have put a few bullet points that provide some perspective on where we are and where we may head.

• We would expect inventory to continue to rise. Some sellers have put their lives on hold for quite some time waiting for the “right time” to sell. Often this “right time” is market driven and when they think they will get the absolute highest amount for their home. However, the real reason people move is due to a need (more space, less space, fewer stairs, new job, new climate, etc). Sellers are often only willing to continue to live with homes or locations that don’t work for them for so long. We talked about this effect in the Buyers Corner, but this really applies to sellers as well. We encourage you to read it on page 5 of this report.
• We would expect sales activity to fall leading into the election. Regardless of which side of the aisle you find yourself on, we generally see a slowing of sales activity in the month or two leading up to the November election. However, what we also have seen is that in 9 of the last 11 election years, home sales picked up the following year.
• The last phase of Highlands Ridge is about half sold and so there will be limited new inventory coming to Tetherow outside of this development. If you have any questions about what is in store up there, please reach out to us.

Analyzing the data and keeping up with the trends is a daily task for us. We believe there are opportunities for both buyers and sellers right now, but we need to be strategic and have a plan. We have great confidence in Tetherow and its future, and are excited to have been a fixture here for more than a decade. We would love to talk about your needs and how to make those a reality.

To access our latest monthly market update for Bend as a whole, please click here. You can join the newsletter there as well to make sure you have our latest State of the Market which will come out in September.