People moving to Bend?

Stopped by U-Haul the other day and noticed a few people renting rigs to move out of town.

So I asked them if more people were leaving Bend than coming in.

Nope. Just the opposite. U-Haul's lot is getting so overcrowded that it needs to bring in drivers to move the vans to other locations. This is just an anecdotal snapshot, but it is real.

That's the story of Bend. Just when you think the local economy and housing market can't get much worse, people start to move in.

It seems counterintuitive with an unemployment rate at about 15 percent.

But, home prices continue to free-fall from nearly $400,000 four years ago to the $170,000 range today.

Perhaps more Californians are fleeing their state. Or maybe westside residents in Washington and Oregon are tired of the rain.

In any event, Bend isn't blowing away in the high desert wind just yet.