Statistics show mixed signals in housing market 

     Third-quarter statistics from the Central Oregon Association of Builders show a clear slowdown in sales, but not in sale prices. Through September of this year, 1,675 houses sold – a 19 percent decrease from January through September of 2005. Days on the market also are up – an average of 130 days, compared to 119 days in 2005. However, the average sales amount of a home this year is $404,972, compared to $323,752 through the third quarter of 2005. Redmond showed similar statistics, with sales down but housing prices up from last year. The average sales price of a home in Redmond this year is $289,755, up from $219,116 last year. On a related note, an economist at the University of California-Berkeley, Ken Rosen, said at a presentation Monday that he expects the median price of an existing home in California to fall 4.8 percent next year and 2.9 percent in 2008. The San Francisco Chronicle quoted Rosen as saying “It’s going to take three or four years for incomes to catch up to housing prices.”

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Tree lighting in Bend Friday has special meaning 

     The 35-foot blue spruce that will be lit in Mirror Pond Plaza on Friday has a special story. The spruce was planted by the Harold Hart family in 1976 on their property after their son Jim died the day after Christmas in 1975. The tree eventually became too big and was harvested this year to become the official 2006 Downtown Bend Holiday Tree. This year’s festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday when Bob Shaw, meteorologist with NewsChannel 21, will emcee the ceremonies that begin with the singing of Christmas carols. At 7 p.m., Santa will arrive and turn on the tree lights. Shops will be open late to begin the shopping season.

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City should sell proposed City Hall site, Chamber members say 

     Last week’s survey question was, “Should the city of Bend put the piece of property it owns at Olney Avenue and Wall Street on the market, and, if so, should the city put any restrictions on private development other than existing land-use ordinances?” The city earlier this year purchased the land for $4.8 million with the idea of possibly locating a new City Hall there. Some responses:
    “The city should sell the property as soon as possible. The interest payments alone could eat up any prospective profits on a zone change. The city could make it very attractive and get more money now by planning to rezone it to downtown commercial. I don’t think the city should get into trying to control what goes in there over and above existing codes and zoning ordinances. … If the city starts placing excessive restrictions on that site, it risks stalling the sale and wasting more of the taxpayers’ money.”
      “The city should try to sell the old Bulletin site the best way it can. What will surface is that the city paid too much. They have a loss coming. The old saying, ‘Your first loss is your least loss’ applies here. The city should auction the property to recover as much as it can as quickly as it can. Adding the property to the CB zone only increases the problems downtown (with parking particularly). So auction ‘as is,’ and do so quickly.”
     “I’d like to see the council get public opinion and not jump to sell the property.”

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Annual sessions, pay raises for legislators? 

     The Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature recently ended 15 months of meetings and public hearings with several suggestions for changes to the Legislature, including trying annual sessions, limiting non-campaign uses of campaign money and increasing pay for legislators. The commission was formed by last year’s Legislature, which had determined that the Legislature had lost credibility with the citizens of Oregon. The commission’s report did recommend that lawmakers be paid more (each last year was paid $17,244 annually plus $99 per day for expenses), but did not suggest a specific increase. The commission recommended that the House and Senate both organize in January in 2007 but then postpone daily floor sessions until April with a goal of finishing by July 30. Further, the commission recommended the Legislature hold a 60-day session in 2008 and decide after that whether to hold annual sessions. The 2007 Legislature will discuss the commission’s recommendations.

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How much snow? Take a guess 

     It’s that time of year for the Bend Chamber’s annual snow-forecasting contest. Guess how much snow is going to fall at the city of Bend’s public works office near Pilot Butte from Nov. 1 through April 30, and e-mail your guess to jeff@bendchamber.org. The person who comes the closest to the actual snowfall without going over will win a prize. This past season’s winner was Sue Falltrick of William Smith Properties, Inc., who guessed 32 inches; the actual snowfall total was 33.61 inches.

This week’s survey question