Kimberly Handley Real Estate-Buying & Selling Bend Oregon Real Estate

02/04/2026

02/04/2026

Keller Williams is first to settle in Batton, will pay $20M

After five years of litigation, Keller Williams President and CEO Chris Czarnecki said the brokerage is turning its attention “back to what we do best.”

Keller Williams is first to settle in Batton, will pay $20M https://share.google/lt89In5H3WqUTvqQe

02/03/2026

Love this, and yes we did!!!🙂🙂🙂😁😁😁😆😆😆

01/29/2026

This article moved me and while I'll keep my personal thoughts and feelings private about this subject, that is a pandemic out of control in Bend and everywhere actually it seems, I do hope it makes us all think, gives another side, opens our hearts to compassion, empathy and makes us get on our knees everyday giving thanks for what we have because life changes on a dime!
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Phil Gordon and his wife, Megan, bought an RV a little more than a year ago. The RV wasn't for recreation purposes—it would be their new home.

They'd slept for a year in their SUV by then. They needed more space to stretch out than a Saturn Outlook could offer. They also needed a home that wasn't so vulnerable to the volatile dynamics of the Bend housing market.

'We thought we were safe': The story of a Bend family's fall into homelessness | Local News | centraloregondaily.com https://share.google/GuiG68AZCAP8awcHn

01/21/2026

At first glance, December’s numbers look uneventful. Activity slowed, fewer homes came on the market, and prices edged lower. That description, while accurate, misses what is actually happening beneath the surface. When we compare December not just to November, but also to the same time last year, a clearer picture emerges. This is not a market losing momentum. It is a market that has become more selective, more segmented, and more sensitive to strategy.

For both buyers and sellers, the biggest risk right now is assuming that silence means inactivity.

Mortgage Rates

Mortgage rates remained relatively stable through December, generally sitting in the low-6% range. However, in the first few weeks of January, rates have dipped even lower and now sit right around 6% and for some borrowers, the upper 5% range.  The chart below shows just how far we have come in the last year, which has no doubt helped with affordability. This past year, we have seen fewer buyers stretching to try to make numbers work and instead, those that can wait have been trying to remain patient for lower rates. We are now at rate levels we have seen only 1 other time since late 2022, and we will see how many of those potential buyers decide to take action. 

Median Price

The median price in Bend declined to $731,000 in December, down slightly from $737,450 in November and down about 1.4% from $741,250 in December of last year.

We have been saying for some time, despite monthly changes in the median price, this market has remained essentially flat over the past 4 years. Sellers are slowly adjusting expectations, and at the same time, buyers are consistently pushing back on anything that feels misaligned with current value.

For buyers, this creates opportunity, but not across the board. Discounts are showing up through negotiation and price reductions, not through widespread price collapse. For sellers, it reinforces that pricing correctly from the start matters.

New Listings

There were 85 new listings in December, down from 115 in November. What makes this more interesting is that this is identical to the number of new listings we saw in December 2024. Despite lower rates (and mild weat

01/20/2026

Goodbye kitchen islands: their 2026 replacement is emerging as a far more practical, elegant, and space-smart design trend

Why Kitchen Islands Are Quietly Losing Their Crown

Walk through any real-estate listing from the 2010s and you’ll see it: that wide angle shot of a kitchen island under pendant lights, bar stools lined up like a showroom. The island became a status symbol, a shorthand for “modern family life”. But talk to people actually cooking dinner at 7:30 pm on a weekday and you’ll hear a different story.

The island often eats up space, blocks circulation, and becomes a clutter magnet. Half-chopped onions next to homework, delivery parcels next to a cooling cake. The fantasy of the social chef hosting friends while stirring risotto rarely survives the reality of takeout containers and school backpacks. The layout that once screamed aspirational now quietly whispers: stuck.

Spend a day with a kitchen designer and you’ll notice a pattern in what clients say. “We never sit there.” “It’s always covered with stuff.” “I can’t open the dishwasher if someone is standing at the island.” One designer I met in London pulled out before-and-after photos from a 2025 remodel. Before: a big, blocky island in a narrow Victorian extension. After: no island, but a long, graceful piece that hugged the wall and turned at the end like an L-shaped bar.

So what’s replacing the island? Designers are betting on **peninsula kitchens** and *broken-plan* layouts as the next big wave. A peninsula is like an island that decided to be helpful: it’s attached on one side, often to a wall or run of cabinets, leaving the rest of the room open. You still get extra countertop, seating, and storage, but you don’t end up blocking every path.

01/10/2026

Industrial development continues at Bend’s Juniper Ridge

Industrial development continues at Bend’s Juniper Ridge Published 8:50 am Friday, January 9, 2026 By Suzanne Roig Serán Bioscience is one of the businesses incorporated in the industrial development by Taylor Brooks at Juniper Ridge in Bend. 01/07/26 (Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin) Bend’s northeast corner is about to get some new light industry with the development of 75 acres by two Central Oregon companies. Brooks Resources and Taylor Development partnered under the name Taylor Brooks to jointly develop a 74.5-acre parcel between NE Talus Place and NE Olivine Road. An eight-acre  portion of the property was sold to Mike’s Fence Center and Mike’s MobileMix Concrete companies, which will clsoe in the summer of 2027 and begin construction after on new facilities for both businesses. The development of the property is a long time coming. About 45 years ago, the 1,500 acres at Juniper Ridge was included in a land swap between the city of Bend and Deschutes County with an eye toward fulfilling the city’s longterm industrial needs. Fast forward to today and the city has indeed grown and needs the additional industrial space.

Read more at: https://bendbulletin.com/2026/01/09/1045202/

01/10/2026

Bend’s median home prices climb steadily, reach nearly $700,000- let's be brutally honest here and living here since the early 1980's, being in the real estate industry for years my heart breaks when I hsve to tell young working people, young families, first time himebuyers that they might not be able to afford a home purchase in Bend, Oregon.
Bend has become very unattainable for many and certainly not the working man's town we moved to years ago.

Just being real here - 😌

Read more at: https://bendbulletin.com/2026/01/08/bend-prices-nearly-doubled-again-in-20-years/

12/20/2025

"Planning holiday gatherings in a home that's too small hits different this year. If
your dining table seats 6 but you invited 12... if your garage is so full there's no
room for guests to park... if you're already dreading where everyone's going to
sleep... Maybe it's time. Homes that fit your actual life (not the life you had 5 years
ago) are still out there. And interest rates aren't as scary as everyone thinks. Let's
talk about what 2026 could look like in a home that actually works for your family.
DM me or comment 'ready' and I'll send you some options."

12/15/2025

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

12/11/2025

Sunset in Kuna, Idaho!

12/09/2025

What to expect from the Fed this week — and in 2026

interest rates by 25 basis points — but the Fed’s economic projections could keep mortgage rates sticky.

While most investors expect the Federal Reserve to cut short-term interest rates one more time before the end of the year, there's been enough jitteriness to impact mortgage rates in the days leading up to the central bank's final meeting of 2025.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has drifted upward ahead of the Dec. 9-10 meeting, averaging 6.36% as of Dec. 8, according to Mortgage News Daily — up from 6.27% a week ago. 

A third rate cut? Many investors are expecting the Fed to cut short-term interest rates by 25 basis points this week. If this occurs, it would be the Fed's third 25-basis-point cut since the start of the year.

Even though a December rate cut seems likely, "we should not expect that to translate into a big drop in mortgage rates," according to Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant. Since a cut has been widely anticipated for weeks, many economists believe that mortgage lenders have already priced it in.

More rate cuts in 2026? But investors may also be feeling wary about the Fed's quarterly update of economic projections, which could indicate what officials have in mind for the new year.

Currently, it seems like one more cut could occur next year. But the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) appears to be increasingly divided, noted Sam Williamson, senior economist at First American. When it comes to the Fed's economic projections, this division means that "even small revisions by a few participants could shift the 2026 median and spark outsized moves in market rate expectations."

A 'measured' recovery: Looking at the bigger picture for real estate in 2026, Williamson said the market should move in the right direction as home price growth continues to cool, incomes rise faster than prices and rates ease at the margin.

"Taken together, these forces point to a measured, but persistent, recovery in buying power through next year — even if mortgage rates don't decline meaningfully," Williamson said.

Shifting back to a neutral policy: When it comes to its decisions on short-term inter