Associated Press
 
October 16, 2008
 
BEND, Ore. -- One of Bend's top real estate brokerage firms is closing its doors at the end of the month, a victim of the deflating housing bubble.
 
Employees at RE/MAX Equity Group got the news Wednesday in a letter from the company's corporate offices in Denver. The 55 employees, mostly brokers, were encouraged to join one of the company's three independently owned branches in Central Oregon.
 
There were 864 sales of single-family homes in Bend from January through September, 30 percent fewer than the same nine-month period in 2007 and 49 percent fewer than the same period in 2006. That's according to a report released last week by the Bratton Appraisal Group.