One spring market. Four completely different realities

I was originally going to call this month’s write-up “A Tale of Four Cities” as a nod to the Charles Dickens novel. After a quick refresher on the actual plot, I realized there’s absolutely no overlap. So instead, let’s get straight into what we’re seeing play out across Bend, Redmond, Sisters, and La Pine.

Across all four markets, the typical spring pattern is still in place. Inventory is increasing and buyer activity is picking up. That’s where the similarities end.

So far this year, Bend is the closest thing we have to a “best-case scenario” market. Inventory grew quickly through the first three months of the year, then slowed a bit in April. That has left buyers with more options without pushing the market into oversupply. Buyer activity is stronger than it has been the past two years, but we’re not seeing any kind of frenzy. The result is a more balanced market, with months of inventory increasing at a healthier pace than last year. Bottom line: well-prepped and properly priced homes are still selling within the first 30 days.

Redmond is a very different story. Unless you’re selling a home between $400,000 and $449,000, it’s been a challenging year. In 2025, it took six months for inventory to climb from 2.8 months to its peak of 4.5. In 2026, that same jump happened by April. With most of the buyer activity concentrated in that $400K range, sellers outside of it are starting to feel increased pressure the longer their home sits.

Sisters and La Pine are where the imbalance is most pronounced right now. La Pine is following a similar path to last year, with high inventory at 7.6 months, fewer buyers overall, and most activity centered around the $300K range. Sisters, however, has become the most challenging market this spring. A total of 53 homes came to market in April, the highest number for that month dating back to 2000. That pushed inventory from 4 months in January to nearly 8 months by the end of April. What makes this more difficult is that buyer activity has remained flat. The average number of homes going under contract over the past 12 months, 6 months, and 3 months is the same at 15.

So what’s the takeaway?

If I’m a seller, I’d much rather be in Bend right now than any of the other three markets. If I’m a buyer looking for leverage, I’m focusing on Sisters. But even with those differences, one thing has remained surprisingly consistent. Across all four markets, most homes are still selling within about 2 to 3 percent of their list price, regardless of how long they’ve been on the market.

That’s an important reminder. No matter which city you’re watching or considering, the headline numbers only tell part of the story. The real picture of the market, and what a buyer or seller is likely to experience, comes from drilling down into the details.