Months of supply is the one number behind who holds the leverage in a housing market. How it works, and where every Central Oregon town stands as of July 2026.
If you only track one housing statistic, track months of supply. Median prices tell you what already happened. Months of supply tells you who holds the leverage right now.
The formula
Months of supply answers one question: if no new listings appeared, how long would it take the current sales pace to sell everything on the market? The math is active listings divided by the monthly sales rate, where the monthly rate is the last six months of closings divided by six. A market with 900 active listings selling 200 homes a month has 4.5 months of supply. A market with 500 active listings selling 250 a month has 2.0.
The thresholds
- 4 months or less: a seller's market. Demand outruns supply and sellers hold pricing power.
- 4 to 6 months: balanced. Neither side has a structural edge, and pricing accuracy decides outcomes.
- 6 months or more: a buyer's market. Supply outruns demand and buyers gain time and negotiating room.
Where Central Oregon stands
Computed from our live MLS database, single-family homes, as of Sep 14, 2026. Each figure is current active listings divided by that market's average monthly sales over the last six months.
- Redmond: 3.7 months, a seller's market
- Bend: 3.6 months, a seller's market
- Prineville: 6.6 months, a buyer's market
- Sisters: 6.5 months, a buyer's market
- La Pine: 8.7 months, a buyer's market
- Madras: 5.8 months, a balanced market
- Central Oregon overall: 4.6 months, a balanced market
How we got here: eight Junes of data
Measured the same way at the end of every June, Central Oregon's months of supply ran 4.1 in 2019, 2.0 in 2020, 0.9 in 2021, 2.0 in 2022, 3.1 in 2023, 3.9 in 2024, 5.1 in 2025, and 6.0 in 2026. The 2021 floor of 0.9 months was the pandemic market at full heat, when a typical listing had multiple offers inside a weekend. Supply has rebuilt every year since, five years running, and the 2026 reading is the highest June figure in our series.
What it means if you are selling
Months of supply sets your negotiating posture before you list. In Redmond at 3.7 months, you can hold closer to your number. The regional trend points the same direction. Waiting a year has meant more competition, not less, in each of the last five years.
What it means if you are buying
The same number tells you how hard to push. Below 4 months, a lowball offer mostly loses you the house. Above 6, the median listing has been waiting weeks and sellers are pricing against visible competition, so ask for the credits, the repairs, and the timeline you want. Between 4 and 6, the leverage lives in the specific comp. The per-market number matters more than the regional one.
The bottom line
One region, readings from 3.6 to 8.7. Before you price a listing or write an offer, know your market's number. Request a valuation and we will run it for your specific market, or watch the numbers move on the live Central Oregon dashboard.
