A6 THE SPOKESMAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2022
Median sales price in Redmond stagnant in April
weeks worth.
The national average is six months,
said Donnie Montagner, owner of
Beacon Appraisal Group in Red-
mond.
“It’s hard to say if this is an ongoing
trend,” Montagner said. “What I see is
that when there’s change, it takes time
to process the change. Best case sce-
nario is that we’ll see reasonable levels
of inventory and price increases as we
get back to a more balanced market.”
It’s been pretty much a sellers’ mar-
BY SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
The median sales price of a sin-
gle-family home in Bend slipped
slightly in May and the number of
homes on the market increased, indi-
cating a shift in the market, according
to monthly real estate report.
In Bend the median sales price for
a single-family home was $740,000 in
May, compared to $770,000 in April.
During the same time, the amount
of homes for sale grew to about five
ket since the pandemic as more peo-
ple flock to Central Oregon seeking
that work-life-balance, he said.
The Beacon report uses the median
sales price, which is the midpoint
value of all transactions in a month.
Since May, Montagner said he’s
seen more price reductions, indicat-
ing a softening of the market.
That could be a reflection of rising
mortgage interest rates or a slowing of
the market, he said.
“The rise in mortgage interest rates
hasn’t bumped people out of the mar-
ket yet, particularly in Bend,” Mon-
tagner said.
“New buyers from out of state can
afford to pay higher rates because
they have a larger down payment. It’s
the first-time homebuyers it affects.”
The average interest rate currently
is 5.25%, Montagner said.
In Redmond, the median sales
price for a single-family home in
May was $519,000, about the same
as in April, according to the report.
In Sisters, the median sales price
for a single-family home in May was
$691,000, up from April when it was
$650,000. Less than a month’s worth
of inventory was available for sale in
May and April.
And in Sunriver, the median
price of a single-family home was
$893,000 in May, compared to $1.06
million in April, according to the re-
port.
█
Reporter: 541-633-2117,
sroig@bendbulletin.com
May in the Cascades brought precipitation well above average
BY MICHAEL KOHN
CO Media Group
The amount of precipitation
that fell in the Central Oregon
Cascades last month was the
highest since the late 1990s,
offering some relief to the
parched forested mountains
ahead of fire season.
In May the Upper De-
schutes and Crooked River ba-
sins had precipitation that was
202% of normal, according to
data compiled by the Natural
Resources Conservation Ser-
vice. Precipitation since Oct.
1, the start of the water year, is
98% of normal.
The strong precipitation to-
tals are a relief for Central Or-
egon, which has been facing
multiple years of drought. The
lack of precipitation creates a
wildfire risk, dries up aquifers
and hurts the region’s pros-
pects for agriculture.
The May precipitation level
was the highest since 1998,
when the Central Oregon
Cascades recorded precipita-
tion that was 199% of average.
Other recent May highs in-
clude 2011 (146% of average)
and 1996 (182% of average).
April also put up good
numbers with precipitation
that was 172% of average.
The precipitation total for
May in the Cascades was sig-
nificantly higher than the
amount of precipitation reg-
istered in the city of Bend,
which received just one quar-
ter of average.
Larry O’Neill, an associate
professor in the Oregon State
University College of Earth,
Ocean and Atmospheric Sci-
ences, said weather patterns
have been staying closer to the
Cascades.
“One interesting aspect of
the precipitation distribution
the last few years is a more ex-
aggerated rain shadow effect,
where rain falls preferentially
along or on the western side of
the Cascades while little falls
on the east side,” said O’Neill.
“It reflects why Bend is see-
ing so little precipitation while
the Cascade crest, 30 miles to
the west, is seeing so much.”
O’Neill said scientists are
not sure about whether these
weather patterns are a prod-
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uct of random variability or
whether it says something
about climate change.
Strong precipitation in
the mountains has not yet
translated into higher levels
of the area’s reservoirs. As of
Wednesday, Wickiup Reser-
voir was 38% full. Prineville
Reservoir was 29% full. Cres-
cent Lake was 16% full, and
Ochoco Reservoir was 21%
full.
█
Reporter: 541-617-7818,
mkohn@bendbulletin.com
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
An ominous storm cloud looms over Mount Jefferson as viewed from the Madras area on June 2.