Bend Home Prices Up 136% in Decade Amid Remote Worker Boom

Bend, Oregon's crown jewel of Central Oregon, has led a real estate renaissance driven by out-of-state professionals relocating for its ski slopes, craft breweries and Cascade Mountain views. From Q4 2015 to Q4 2025, the area's average home sale prices jumped 34% regionwide to $405,300, but Bend's market exploded with median sale prices rocketing 119% to $749,400 and averages soaring 136% to $963,716, according to Bend Source Weekly analysis. The city's population swelled from 74,000 in 2010 to over 110,000 by 2026, per city data and World Population Review, amplifying demand amid limited supply.

Remote work supercharged the surge, with rural vacation counties like those in Central Oregon seeing home values climb 51.1% from March 2020 to March 2023—more than double pre-pandemic rates—per The Mortgage Point. Net domestic migration flipped positive, adding 540,400 residents to non-metro areas between 2021 and 2023 after years of losses. In Bend-Redmond, leisure and hospitality lagged remote-friendly sectors, yet job growth hit 9.5% year-over-year to 15,000 jobs by late 2025, drawing tech transplants and retirees, as detailed in HUD's Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis.

Recent data signals a pivot. Redfin reports Bend's median sale price at $679,000 last month, down 0.44% from last year, with homes lingering 92 days and receiving just one offer on average. Pending sales spiked 29% in 30 days per local updates, but inventory climbed to 5.2 months, per YouTube market analyses. City leaders, addressing the crunch in March via KTVZ, push for diverse housing as a 2016 $295,000 home now nears $895,000 per Realtor.com. Bend's 2025 State of Housing Report warns of persistent expense, urging more supply to match the boom.