Linda and I went for a drive yesterday, and decided to check out Pronghorn. We were met at the gate and told to turn around, but we weaseled our way into the place a little bit and got a bit of a gander.
I reserve my comments. Well, O.K. -- it looked like Golf Heaven (or Hell depending on your perspective...)
But it brings me to the current listings of houses in Central Oregon.
If you want to know how much trouble we're in, go the Bend Economy Bulletin Board Real Estate section, and check out Month End Summary for May, 2010.
Scroll down the listings.
And scroll...
and scroll...and scroll....go fix yourself lunch....and scroll....go have a short walk....and scroll and scroll.....
Frightening number of houses and lots for sale.
But I noticed something that -- since I've always been bit perturbed by the ''exclusivity" purveyors of the west side -- that really stood out.
There are plenty of houses for sale on the east side, but they are very spread out. A few in every neighborhood, but not wholesale massacres. Places like Williamson Park and Woodside Ranch or even modest subdivisions like Tanglewood and Stonehaven have a few house for sale each.
But the west side? We have it for you in bulk, wholesale!!!
I picked out a few of the more notable neighborhood and counted how many lots and houses were for sale. This isn't 100% accurate, as it was counted by hand, but it's close.
Awbrey Butte, for instance. I chose this neighborhood because its on the higher end, and because it's mostly matured and mostly houses.
I counted 51 houses for sale.
(This isn't counting Awbrey --- "Court; Glen; North Rim; Park; Meadows; Ridge; Heights;Point....etc. etc. Methinks the builders think that 'Awbrey' has a certain ring.)
I could just have easily chosen Broken Top, or some of the other big house neighborhoods, and found just as many houses for sale.
Northwest Crossing: which was held up to all as a place that would resist falling prices because it was just so darn neat?
44 houses for sale, and 25 empty lots.
Tetherow?
22 houses and 10 lots. (For both Tetherow and Pronghorn, I couldn't be sure if there was a domicile on the lot or not, because even the lots are expensive...)
Hell, I didn't think they had built 22 houses yet....
Pronghorn? (O.K. it's east side, but EXCLUSIVE).
30 houses and 20 lots.
The all time winner (loser?) Ridge at Eagle Crest in Redmond, with something like 180 lots and houses for sale. (Again, I didn't count Eagle Crest itself, which had plenty of houses for sale...)
There is at least one caveat: (I'm sure you guys will point out others....) Older subdivisions like Williamson Park and Woodside Ranch have fewer houses per acre, so less houses to be put on the market. But, hey, that's sort of the point, isn't it? Overbuilding per acre isn't an excuse for house many houses for sale as far as I'm concerned. Driving around the east side, some of these cheaper subdivisions, which you would have thought would be wholesale slaughter, are actually holding up pretty well.
The west side premium houses? Not so much.
I reserve my comments. Well, O.K. -- it looked like Golf Heaven (or Hell depending on your perspective...)
But it brings me to the current listings of houses in Central Oregon.
If you want to know how much trouble we're in, go the Bend Economy Bulletin Board Real Estate section, and check out Month End Summary for May, 2010.
Scroll down the listings.
And scroll...
and scroll...and scroll....go fix yourself lunch....and scroll....go have a short walk....and scroll and scroll.....
Frightening number of houses and lots for sale.
But I noticed something that -- since I've always been bit perturbed by the ''exclusivity" purveyors of the west side -- that really stood out.
There are plenty of houses for sale on the east side, but they are very spread out. A few in every neighborhood, but not wholesale massacres. Places like Williamson Park and Woodside Ranch or even modest subdivisions like Tanglewood and Stonehaven have a few house for sale each.
But the west side? We have it for you in bulk, wholesale!!!
I picked out a few of the more notable neighborhood and counted how many lots and houses were for sale. This isn't 100% accurate, as it was counted by hand, but it's close.
Awbrey Butte, for instance. I chose this neighborhood because its on the higher end, and because it's mostly matured and mostly houses.
I counted 51 houses for sale.
(This isn't counting Awbrey --- "Court; Glen; North Rim; Park; Meadows; Ridge; Heights;Point....etc. etc. Methinks the builders think that 'Awbrey' has a certain ring.)
I could just have easily chosen Broken Top, or some of the other big house neighborhoods, and found just as many houses for sale.
Northwest Crossing: which was held up to all as a place that would resist falling prices because it was just so darn neat?
44 houses for sale, and 25 empty lots.
Tetherow?
22 houses and 10 lots. (For both Tetherow and Pronghorn, I couldn't be sure if there was a domicile on the lot or not, because even the lots are expensive...)
Hell, I didn't think they had built 22 houses yet....
Pronghorn? (O.K. it's east side, but EXCLUSIVE).
30 houses and 20 lots.
The all time winner (loser?) Ridge at Eagle Crest in Redmond, with something like 180 lots and houses for sale. (Again, I didn't count Eagle Crest itself, which had plenty of houses for sale...)
There is at least one caveat: (I'm sure you guys will point out others....) Older subdivisions like Williamson Park and Woodside Ranch have fewer houses per acre, so less houses to be put on the market. But, hey, that's sort of the point, isn't it? Overbuilding per acre isn't an excuse for house many houses for sale as far as I'm concerned. Driving around the east side, some of these cheaper subdivisions, which you would have thought would be wholesale slaughter, are actually holding up pretty well.
The west side premium houses? Not so much.