Central Oregon
98 posts
How to Choose the Right Mortgage in Central Oregon (2026 Limits)Five loan programs with the 2026 Deschutes County limits, fees, and income caps from FHFA, HUD, the VA, and USDA, plus what changed on credit scores and PMI.
Homeowners Insurance in Central Oregon: What to Know Before You OfferQuotes vary by address because carriers model wildfire themselves. What the state changed, the FAIR Plan cap, flood and earthquake, and the mitigation that lowers the number.
Wildfire Building Codes and Defensible Space in Central OregonR327 is in force on new homes across Bend, Sisters, and Deschutes County. What it requires, what the 2025 law did to defensible space rules, and what insurers can and cannot use.
Bend's Housing Target: What the Numbers Are and Where They Come FromTwo targets, what Bend actually permitted in 2025, the certified population, and where Caldera Ranch stands, each traced to the agency that published it.
Second Home vs Investment Property: The 2026 Tax and Lending TestsThe IRS, your lender, and your insurer each classify the property differently. The tests, the 2026 thresholds, and Oregon's rules for renting, each traced to the statute.
Is Central Oregon a Good Real Estate Investment? The 2026 NumbersAppreciation in four towns from our MLS data, the demand and permit figures, and the rental math at Bend's median against HUD's 2026 fair market rent. It does not cash flow.
How Federal Policy Reaches a Central Oregon Closing TableFour channels from Washington to a Bend closing: the Fed and the 10-year, the 2026 tax numbers, the cost of building, and the loan programs, with the figures that verified.
How Mortgage Rates Are Set: The Fed, the 10-Year, and the SpreadThe Fed cut 1.75 points and the average mortgage rate fell a tenth. The 10-year Treasury and the spread set your rate, and here are the current numbers with their dates.
The Rate Lock-In Effect and Bend's Housing SupplyFHFA's 2026 Q1 rate distribution, the payment gap that keeps owners put, and Bend's active inventory by year from 2017 to 2026. It has been loosening, not tightening.
Building Equity in a Shifting Central Oregon MarketTwo engines build equity, the market and the loan. The 2017 to 2025 price run for four Central Oregon cities, what the loan retires each year, and how owners use equity without selling.
Buying vs Renting in Bend: The 2026 MathHUD's 2026 fair market rents against the full monthly cost of owning at Bend's current median, the break-even, and when each answer is right.
How Interest Rate Changes Affect a Bend Home PaymentThe payment at Bend's median at every rate from 5.5% to 7.5%, what a point does to buying power, and the three tools buyers use to manage the rate. Every figure dated and sourced.Index