If you ask me... now is a good time to buy a home in the gorge. There are a wide range of homes and properties to choose from.  For all the buyers who have been waiting for home prices in the gorge, especially Hood River, to drop to pre-1999 levels,  I think you might as well give up. Most sellers aren't desperate and won't just give their homes away. You've got to remember Hood River is a destination town. There are people who want to live here, want to play here, want a second home here. Future growth of the market in the gorge is limited by these things:

• National Scenic Area Boundaries-Urban, General, Scenic
• Exclusive Farm Use Land
• Current Urban Growth Boundaries

The Gorge will never see the Urban Sprawl like some other towns and cities. Bend for instance has plenty of room to spread out. I lived in Bend from 1991-1993. It was growing madly when I was there and had plenty of room for subdevelopments to grow across the sagebrush and juniper covered landscape. This simply can never happen in Hood River, The Dalles, White Salmon, Stevenson, or any of the smaller gorge communities. The towns are too small to begin with. The National Scenic Area set the Urban Areas in each town back in 1986. This is actually a good thing as who would want to see towns sprawling out through the beautiful gorge.

If you have been wanting to buy a special place in the gorge, now is a great time. Buy your piece of the Gorge today.

 Disclaimer: I assume no responsibilty for accuracy of information provided within this post and blog. Many entries on this blog are based on the opinions and  ideas of the author and are provided without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied.