Garrett Myers is a Mortgage Broker at Elev8 Mortgage LLC, NMLS #2041420, based in Bend and lending throughout Redmond and Central Oregon, with six years originating loans in the area.
Written by Garrett Myers, Mortgage Broker, NMLS #2041420 · Updated September 2026
Price. Redmond's June 2026 closed median was $518,000, compared with $725,000 in Bend, per Oregon MLS data. That's a gap of about $207,000. In Bend the floor is around $475,000 to $500,000. In Redmond you can realistically find a home for $400,000 to $450,000, and that's where a lot of first-time and FHA buyers find their approval actually works.
Redmond isn't a second choice, either. The airport expansion is bringing more industry to town, and there's more room to build affordable housing than Bend has.
A few profiles come up again and again: first-time buyers who can't stretch to Bend, families who want more square footage for the money, people who work in Bend and commute to come out ahead on housing, and buyers relocating for jobs around the airport.
Redmond also has more new construction at accessible prices. Builder incentives can look great, but compare before you commit. Send me the builder's preferred-lender offer and I'll run the same purchase price, credits and loan structure through my lenders so you can see the real difference side by side.
Redmond is in Deschutes County, so the 2026 conforming limit for a one-unit home is $832,750, the same as Bend. The same limit applies in Crook and Jefferson counties.
The 2026 FHA limits for Deschutes County are $718,750 for one unit, $920,150 for two units, $1,112,250 for three units and $1,382,250 for four units. At Redmond's price points, most FHA buyers are well under the one-unit limit.
FHA limits are set by county. If you're also looking in Prineville or Madras, I'll confirm the limit for each county before you write an offer.
A Redmond first-time buyer needed FHA to keep her down payment at the minimum. She'd just left self-employment for a salaried W-2 job, so she had no pay stubs or W-2s from the new employer yet. She also had an unpaid IRS balance from her self-employed years.
We qualified her on her signed offer letter showing her base salary, and set her up on an IRS installment agreement so the balance became a fixed monthly payment. That payment went into her debt-to-income ratio like any other bill, and her new salary covered it.
Plenty of lenders would have stopped at the IRS balance. It's a solvable problem when you know the documentation up front and pick a lender whose guidelines fit.
First-time buyers, FHA and VA, self-employed borrowers, bank statement programs, investment properties, jumbo, new construction and construction financing, and properties with acreage or unusual features. Tell me your actual scenario and I'll tell you which programs and lenders are worth a look.
2026 conventional limits: FHFA. 2026 FHA limits: HUD. Limits can change every year, and each program has its own requirements.
Call or text 503-698-7724, email garrett@elev8mortgage.com, or apply online. Comparing towns? See Bend, Sisters and La Pine.
