Amazing Arizona » Valley Real Estate Market

The real estate market has been making a shift slowly but surely in the last several months, giving economists signs of a slow recovery. Here are some local and national sources of information, gleaned from the stats and figures from our local MLS and from other sources.

If you’re at all interested in making an investment, now is the time. As I mentioned previously, buyers have said to me in the past… if only I had invested then… well, now is then! J

Homebuilders busy again in corners of metro Phoenix (AZ Central)

Phoenix area’s biggest real estate deals (AZ Central)

The Phoenix area’s most expensive homes (AZ Central)

Older workers capture more new jobs (USA Today)

Investors rescue market, but future uncertain (AZ Central)

Median Valley home prices rebound (AZ Central)

Valley home prices headed upward (AZ Central)

and just to be contrary…

Scottsdale median house price falls 5% (AZ Central)

Median Valley home prices rebound (AZ Central)

Valley home prices headed upward (AZ Central)

Phoenix housing market shows strong rebound (Phoenix Business Journal)

Phoenix, Tucson among Top 50 U-Haul destination cities (Phoenix Business Journal)

Phoenix economy among fastest-growing in U.S. (Phoenix Business Journal)

Home prices fell in most U.S. cities (AZ Central)

Fewer homes are for sale in Phoenix area; prices up (AZ Central)

Phoenix mortgage bankers seeing boost from HARP 2.0 (Phoenix Business Journal)

Scottsdale approves $40M center to host Barrett-Jackson (Phoenix Business Journal)

Signs of upturn in Phoenix’s long-suffering housing market (USA Today)

5,700 apartment units planned for Scottsdale (AZ Central)

Bank-owned homes and short sales were 23% of all 2011 sales (USA Today)

42% of 2011 Ariz. home sales distressed (AZ Central)

Nearly half of Arizona homes are ‘under water’ (Phoenix Business Journal)

State exports up $1.9B, boosted by Asian copper rebound (Phoenix Business Journal)

2nd Phoenix-Mesa Gateway-area home plan

7 great Phoenix parks cater to one and all (AZ Central)

Mesa touts readiness to develop downtown (AZ Central)

Resort plans under review (AZ Central)

Home prices, sales inch up (AZ Central)

Phoenix-area homebuyers squeezed out by investors (AZ Central)

ASU’s business grad school again among the top (AZ Central)

Midwestern University’s Phoenix economic impact tops $300M (Phoenix Business Journal)

Boost your odds of qualifying for a mortgage – Mar. 9, 2012 (MONEY.CNN.COM)

Is using a home equity loan to pay off mortgage a good idea?

Finally, mortgage relief is on the way

BofA to offer rentals as foreclosure alternative

AP TOP NEWS | MARCH 22, 2012

Positive signs at airport, home, work

Valley home prices headed upward

Fun Facts about Leap Year

Alice — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:04:40 +0000

Julius Ceasar first adopted the Leap Day concept from the Egyptians. That was a long time ago! He figured out he could make an accurate calendar by adding a day every 4 years. This accuracy enabled them to plant seeds at the right time.

There’s a one in 1,461 chance that a person will be born on Leap Day.

Leap Day babies have to be 116 before they turn 29 on the 29^th!

When a baby is born on Leap Day, physicians will often ask the parents to choose either Feb. 28^th or March 1^st for the birth certificate.

More fun facts for kids of all ages.

February 2012 Market Articles

Alice — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:03:01 +0000

Existing-Home Sales Rise Again in January, Inventory Down

Home sales rise, but prices may be slow to follow

Rising sales point to a stronger year for housing

Building jobs on rebound

Upbeat findings for Arizona housing market

Home builders and investors both see signs of a turn

Why housing demand defies real estate fundamentals

Small investors step up home buying

Foreclosures hit 4-year low in metro area

Lenders embrace more short sales

Lenders paying borrowers to do short sales

Banks paying delinquent borrowers to sell their homes

CNN MONEY | FEBRUARY 9, 2012

Hoping to cut their losses, banks are paying delinquent homeowners up to $35,000 in incentives to sell their homes in short sales and avoid… Read more

Questions and answers on the mortgage settlement

Homebuyers can tap into $116 million

CoreLogic: Phoenix home foreclosures on the decline

Swing into Spring with the Cactus League!

Alice — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:56:36 +0000

Check out the stadiums in this slideshow: The stadiums of the Cactus League, thanks to the Phoenix Business Journal.

D-Backs report to camp!

For photos of the Diamondbacks at practice: http://www.azcentral.com/photo/Sports/CactusLeague/21627 and 20 more slide shows of the Cactus League adventures.

Join the Giants as they celebrate 30 years of Scottsdale spring training

The San Francisco Giants’ first home game of the spring is Saturday, March 3, against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tickets can be purchased at the Scottsdale Stadium box office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays or by calling 1-877-473-4849. Tickets are also available at www.sfgiants.com. To purchase group tickets, season tickets or to reserve the press box suites, ramada or patio area, call (415) 972-2209. To purchase tickets for the Charro Lodge and Pavilion, call (480) 990-2977 or visit www.springtraining.com. For more information and a schedule of games visit www.scottsdaleaz.gov/stadium.

Last year, the Cactus League set an attendance record with 1.59 million fans pouring into the ballparks. The opening of the Salt River Fields I wrote about last season, home to the Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, accounted for 22% of that ticket surge.

Here’s a list of the 10 ballparks and their ticket phone numbers.

Salt River Fields – 7555 N. Pima Rd. Scottsdale – (480) 362-9467 Arizona Diamondbacks & Colorado Rockies

Scottsdale Stadium – 7408 E. Osborn Rd. Scottsdale – (877) 473-4849 San Francisco Giants

Hohokum Stadium – 1235 N. Center St. Mesa – (480) 964-4467 Chicago Cubs

Tempe Diablo Stadium – 2200 W. Alameda Dr. Tempe (800) 745-3000 Los Angeles Angels

Camelback Ranch – 10710 W. Camelback Rd. Phoenix (800) 745-3000 Chicago White Socks

Peoria Sports Complex – 16101 N. 83^rd Ave. Peoria (623) 773-8720 San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners

Surprise Stadium – 15850 N. Bullard Ave. Surprise (623) 222-2222 Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers

Goodyear Recreational Complex – 1933 S. Ballpark Way Goodyear (800) 745-3000 Cincinnati Red, Cleveland Indians

Maryvale Baseball Park – 3600 N. 51^st Ave. Phoenix (800) 933-7890 Milwaukee Brewers

Insider tips – How to Do Cactus League Spring Training: http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/events/articles/2012/02/20/20120220how-to-cactus-league-spring-training-phoenix.html

Arizona’s Market Update as of February, 2012

Alice — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:54:26 +0000

Arizona’s Market Update as of February, 2012

In the last few weeks in February, articles in RisMedia, USA Today, Realtor.com, our local paper, the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix Business Journal, CNN, have all had upbeat and encouraging news about our economy, and our local economy in particular.

As any scale goes, there will be a down and an up (think stock market), but if that scale still has an upward slant to it… now that’s encouraging.

For example, here are the headlines just this month…

Existing-Home Sales Rise Again in January, Inventory Down

Home sales rise, but prices may be slow to follow

Rising sales point to a stronger year for housing

Building jobs on rebound

Upbeat findings for Arizona housing market

Home builders and investors both see signs of a turn

Why housing demand defies real estate fundamentals

Small investors step up home buying

Foreclosures hit 4-year low in metro area

Lenders embrace more short sales

Banks paying delinquent borrowers to sell their homes

Questions and answers on the mortgage settlement

Homebuyers can tap into $116 million

CoreLogic: Phoenix home foreclosures on the decline

Personally, as I interact with buyers and sellers here in the greater Phoenix area, I am surprised to see that there have been multiple offers on homes that are just 1 and 2 days on the market. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s definitely different than it has been.

Another encouraging sign is that banks are actually lending again. I temper this good news with the knowledge that we still have job losses. However, even there, there have been steady news in our local media, the Phoenix Business Journal and the Arizona Republic of various companies coming here and hiring. I have a list in the next article on my blog.

If you’d like any more economic or housing market news, please just email at alice@amazingarizona.com and I’ll be happy to send you the information. You could also call at (602) 763-3874

Housing Bust Nearly Over as Prices, Incomes Balance

Alice — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:07:39 +0000

By Tim Mullaney, USA TODAY, December 21, 2011

After years of pain and a market free fall that has shaved $6.8 trillion off the value of the nation’s 104 million homes, the decline in U.S. house prices may be nearly over.

U.S. homeowners lost $681 billion this year, according to a study by real estate website operator Zillow set for release today. That’s less than the $1.1 trillion drop in value in 2010, let alone the $2.7 trillion in losses in 2008, Zillow said. And a Zillow survey of 109 economists says U.S. home prices will stop falling late next year or early 2013, with the most optimistic quarter of economists predicting an 18% rebound by 2016.

The reason is that the economy is slowly turning around, as prices have come into balance with buyers’ incomes and how much they’d pay to rent comparable homes, said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s, which publishes the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index.

The negatives are that consumer confidence is low and there’s an overhang of foreclosed homes whose owners will discount them for resale, economists say.

“If it weren’t for confidence and consumer debt, we’d be in a boom,” Blitzer said. “Houses are cheaper than they have been since 2003, and mortgage rates are the lowest in 40 years.”

Two key numbers that foreshadowed the housing bust that began in 2006 now point to a stabilization and recovery, economists say.

•The ratio of the average home price to median income is now 13% lower than its average from 1990 to this year, Moody’s says. In 2005, the average price was 44% higher than the long-run average.

•The ratio of rental costs to home-buying expenses is about 15% lower than in 2000, according to S&P. At the peak, housing prices were about 20% higher than average, relative to rents.

Economists differ over how sharp the housing recovery will be, said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow. The most pessimistic economist in Zillow’s survey thinks prices will decline an additional 26%, he said.

His own forecast is 3% appreciation by 2016 — total, not annually, he said. One reason is that unemployment, while falling, is still high.

The nation’s largest real-estate brokerage firm expects little recovery without a turn in the job market, said Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy, owner of Coldwell Banker and Century 21.

“I don’t see a spiking recovery until there’s an improvement in jobs, and until then it’s a steady but slow recovery off a pretty dismal pace,” Smith said.

Click the link for the article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2011-12-21/home-prices/52149756/1

An Angel By Your Side

Alice — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:34:07 +0000

An Angel By Your Side

May you always have an angel by your side
Watching out for you in all the things you do
Reminding you to keep believing in brighter days
Finding ways for your wishes and dreams
To take you to beautiful places

Giving you hope that is as certain as the sun
Giving you the strength of serenity as your guide
May you always have love and comfort and courage
And may you always have an angel by your side

May you always have an angel by your side
Someone there to catch you if you fall
Encouraging your dreams
Inspiring your happiness
Holding your hand and helping you through it all

In all of our days, our lives are always changing
Tears come along as well as smiles
Along the roads you travel,
May the miles be a thousand times more lovely than lonely,
May they give you the kind of gifts that never, ever end:

Someone wonderful to love
And a dear friend in whom you can confide
May you have rainbows after every storm
May you have hopes to keep you warm
And may you always have an angel
By your side…

~Emilia Larson~

Who’s the Brainiest, the Smartest in the Valley?

Alice — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:04:07 +0000

Carefree’s the smartest small town in Arizona according to data from On Numbers rankings nationwide. Small towns are those with 1,000 to 9,999 residents.

And Paradise Valley is the brainiest of the mid-sized cities in Arizona. The population of those cities are between 10,000 and 49,999 residents.

On Numbers rated local brainpower by using raw 2009 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s five-year American Community Survey. Each place’s score was based on its percentage of adults (25 or older) at each level of a five-rung educational ladder:

AND, Scottsdale and Tempe are the smartest big cities in Arizona. The East Valley is the place to be for the smartest big city folk in Arizona, based on a population of a city of at least 100,000 people. It’s followed, in order, by Tempe, Gilbert and Chandler.

Another interesting statistic is that only 38% of Arizonans were born in the state. When I moved here 33 years ago, the joke was finding someone who was a native. But, we’ve surely had an influx of people from all over during that time looking to enjoy our sun and amenities since then!

Arizona was the No. 2 state for relocations from California, with 47,164 people moving here last year from the Golden State. A majority of people who moved during 2010 reported housing related issues (44.9 percent) as their reason for relocating. Family related (27.9 percent) and employment related (18.5 percent) were reasons the others cited in the U.S. Census Bureau report.

Stats from Phoenix Business Journal, November, 2011

Scottsdale Gets More Shopping!

Alice — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 03:02:08 +0000

I know, I know… we have plenty and all kinds, from small malls to gigantic malls (Fashion Square, Kierland Commons, Promenade, from quaint downtown Scottsdale shops to Carefree’s El Pedregal. But, this is different! It’s Scottsdale’s first factory outlet shopping center!

It’ll be on a new location on the Salt River Reservation on the border of Scottsdale’s 101. The same Salt River tribe that gave us the new Talking Stick spring-training fields for the Diamondbacks this spring. They bought the Pavilions Shopping Center just south of it, and are renovating that right now, so it will be one dynamite shopping mecca. The Tangier Factory Outlet will complement the Pavilions at Talking Stick and typically includes Aeropostale, Banana Republic, Coach, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Reebok and Rockport