Million-Dollar Listings Surge in Quirky Oregon Town Full of Outdoor Charms

A small Oregon city known for its charming quirks and lush nature has seen a surge in luxury buyers snapping up $1 million-plus homes.

Lauded for its skiing and hiking, but also its curious attractions—such as a tavern with two giant ponderosa pine trees growing in the dining area, and the last Blockbuster video store operating in the world—Bend, OR, is increasingly luring deep-pocketed buyers who could afford to live anywhere.

“Bend is no longer the hidden gem it once was,” according to a new Realtor.com® luxury housing spotlight report, which notes the plethora of seven-figure-plus listings in the town of approximately 107,000 people.

Bend had 723 home listings priced at $1 million-plus hit the market in May 2026, compared to only 153 in 2017, a 372% increase that really began taking off in the peak COVID-19 pandemic era of 2021.

While the premium had been ramping up since even before the pandemic boom—prices began steadily rising in 2017—the local luxury market has only continued to skyrocket. As of May 2026, Bend’s median listing price reached $709,900 compared with $429,500 nationally, a premium of about 65%.

But the divide is more dramatic at the top of the market. Since 2017, Bend’s luxury threshold (defined as the top 10% of the market) has climbed more than 80% to roughly $1.8 million, above the national threshold of $1.28 million.

While many urban-adjacent small cities saw soaring prices during the pandemic as people sought more space, more recreation options, and fewer restrictions, many of those destinations have since given back much—if not all—of those double-digit gains.

However, Bend, which saw an even steeper run-up than the national median, with luxury prices climbing more than 67%, has managed to hold on to 89% of those gains, a sharp contrast to many other markets.

Denver, for instance, saw its luxury threshold climb nearly 33% at the peak, but prices have since fallen below pre-pandemic levels entirely.

The enduring appeal of Bend

So what’s driving the run-up of prices in Bend and the durability of that run-up?

According to the report, Bend’s run-up retention is “a sign that the demand driving its luxury market wasn’t a pandemic fluke but a lasting reassessment of what buyers are willing to pay for mountain access, small-town character, and a quality of life larger metros can’t replicate.”

Renee Ann Kittrell, who sells luxury real estate in the area along with her husband, Russ, of Camerelle Real Estate, says the pair are seeing plenty of cash-flush tech executives snapping up luxe homes, relocating from Silicon Valley or Los Angeles.

According to the agents, these tech execs come for the Bend lifestyle, which includes outdoorsy pursuits such as skiing on Mt. Bachelor or enjoying the abundance of wildlife, stunning blue pools, rapids, and waterfalls of several surrounding state parks.

But Kittrell says it’s the “authenticity” of the town that draws deep-pocketed buyers, including a senior executive from the miniature-collectible company Funko Pop, who just purchased a $9.5 million manse, or one of the many Google execs or NBA players who’ve snapped up local dwellings.

These are people who could afford to live in Aspen, CO, Sun Valley, ID, or anywhere else, but choose Bend because it’s not (yet) overrun with bumper-to-bumper traffic or pompous glamour, she explains.

“They’re not interested in wine cellars or theater rooms,” Kittrell says of her clients. “They’re interested in seeing the stars at night and going fly-fishing or paddleboarding at lunch.”

Kittrell says these well-heeled buyers aren’t making Bend their vacation destination, but their primary base—and they can always jet off to Silicon Valley from the Redmond Municipal Airport if need be.

Kittrell and her husband currently represent a $7.9 million seven-bedroom estate on nearly 10 acres in Bend’s “Golden Triangle”—a coveted central area of town—which offers breathtaking Cascade Mountain views.

Of buyers shopping in the $7 million to $11 million range, Kittrell says, “They fly in from Sun Valley or Jackson Hole. They want luxury without pretentiousness and a better quality of life.”

Despite the big money jetting into town, Bend is still the kind of place where locals bring their rewound VHS tapes back to the last Blockbuster (which has become a major tourist attraction and the subject of a documentary). And the highest-end retail store isn’t Louis Vuitton but Patagonia.

Bend is “still kind of the Wild West,” says Kittrell. “It’s changing but it was ‘good ol’ boy’ for a long time.”

East and West Bend

As for where people are moving, there’s a subtle rivalry between the East and West sides of town, concludes the report.

West Bend, which runs along the slopes of the Cascades with dense ponderosa pine and direct access to the Deschutes River, tends to attract the more well-heeled newcomers.

Seven of the most expensive Bend neighborhoods are located on the West side. Old Bend has the highest median listing price, coming in at roughly $1.35 million, and homes here can quickly top $3 million.

Then there’s Awbrey Butte, which follows close behind at $1.3 million, with 79% of its listings priced above $1 million, the highest million-dollar concentration of any neighborhood in Bend.

While Old Bend is dotted with smaller, more historic lots close to downtown, Awbrey Butte boasts sprawling, newer builds.

If Bend sounds like your dream but shelling out $1 million or more is your nightmare, then head southeast to Larkspur.

This neighborhood offers one of the more attainable entry points into the local market at $614,450, without giving up much in the way access to recreation in Pine Nursery Park.

Moving to Bend

In 2019, Kimberly Keefer, a student success coordinator in the Bend-La Pine school district, relocated from Pacific Grove, CA, to southwest Bend in search of a more outdoorsy lifestyle.

She says her family checked out multiple areas, but it was Bend that stole their hearts.

“We liked the people and the way of life,” she tells Realtor.com. “It’s casual and welcoming.”

While she says at first she feared the area would be too dark or rainy, she soon realized that Bend—despite being blanketed with lush forest—is also high desert and therefore sunny much of the time.

“It’s this protected little oasis of sunshine,” she says.

While temperatures can reach the 90s in summer, they drop precipitously when the sun dips below the horizon.

She notes that her adopted hometown has “boomed” since she moved there, to the point where her two college graduate children have to live at home, unable to find affordable housing in town. (Some of her children’s friends live in the house, too.)

“They are building like crazy here,” she says. “They’re building these massive, beautiful places, but none of the younger people can afford them.”

Still, she doesn’t see herself leaving anytime soon.

Beyond soaking up the untamed nature, dining out at casual but high-end restaurants, and enjoying year-round seasonal festivals with music, art, and sporting events, Keefer gels with the town’s artistic and health-conscious vibe.

At a recent yoga class, she notes that “at least 60% of the people in class had just moved here like a week ago. Some were college age, some middle-aged. Some from California, a couple from Brooklyn. I was like, ‘Whaaat?'”

But she gets it—after all, she too fell in love with Bend. She notes that her son, who is currently living in Florida, can’t wait to move back home.

“He’s like, ‘Mom, there’s nothing to do here but go to the beach.'”