After falling hard in the Great Recession, Bend is now on the upswing and today the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis released an update on Bend’s employment and housing expansion for the first time since 2009. “Expansions in Bend are awesome,” notes Josh Lehner, Senior Economist with the State of Oregon, pointing out Bend’s 6-8 percent job growth, which significantly outpaces the state overall, which also significantly outpaces the nation. Bend’s growth is now nearly 7 percent.
Home prices are escalating based on limited supply and demand, and home building will continue to pick up if the expansion rate continues. Read more of Lehner’s Central Oregon update here.