With big price gains, waning investor interest and plunging foreclosure activity, the metro Phoenix housing market was looking more “normal” this summer than its been for several years, according to a new report by Arizona State University. Even the number of buyers and sellers has finally begun showing some signs of balance after two years of a chronic shortage of homes for sale. But there is still much room for improvement, particularly in the new-home market where sales rates are still less than one third … [Read more...]
Condo Boom? Market Shows Signs of a Revival
September 13, 2013 by 1 Comment
This headline rings especially true for the immediate area surrounding our offices here in old town Scottsdale. There are currently 4 projects underway within a mile radius. And with an estimated 3,000 or so units available in the next few years, there should be a good mix of baby boomers and first time buyers flooding the area. This mass influx of residents to the old town area should have a significant impact on the area's infrastructure and commerce options - and we are already seeing the beginning of it … [Read more...]
Home Prices Edge Closer To Pre-Crash Levels
August 27, 2013 by Leave a Comment
-In Arizona, we are still about 30% off pre-crash levels but those numbers are moving fast back in the right direction. Read below for further info on this trend. Home prices keep edging closer to pre-crash price levels and today's Home Price Index report from Lender Processing Services (LPS) indicates that national prices are now backwithin 15.2 percent of that peak. The index for June rose to $229,000 from 226,000 in May, an increase of 1.2 percent and is up 6.9 percent from the end of last year. The … [Read more...]
10 Safest Cities in the U.S. (hint: 2 Arizona cities made the list)
July 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
For the first time since 2006, violent crime was on the rise last year, according to FBI data. But in some cities, violent crime remains well below national averages. AOL Real Estate recently analyzed the FBI’s report on crime to find the cities with populations of more than 200,000 that have violent crime rates “substantially” below the national average. Here are the top 10 “safe zones” that made its list: Irvine, Calif. (ninth consecutive year named safest city in the nation) Fremont, Calif. Plano, … [Read more...]
The kids aren’t buying homes: Generation Y may be holding back the housing recovery
July 25, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The number of “missing households” — that is, Americans who would be owning or renting a home now if prerecession economic trends had continued — hit 2.4 million as of March, according to an analysis of raw monthly government data by real-estate marketplace Trulia. That is down slightly from its peak of 2.6 million in 2011, but up 100,000 from the year prior. And 18- to 34-year-olds account for more than half of the missing households, according to the data. “Household formation is the most important indicator of … [Read more...]
Pending Sales at Strongest Pace Since 2006
June 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Pending home sales rose in May to the highest level since late 2006, implying a possible spark as mortgage interest rates began to rise, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 6.7 percent to 112.3 in May from a downwardly revised 105.2 in April, and is 12.1 percent above May 2012 when it was 100.2. Contract activity is at its strongest pace since December 2006, when it reached 112.8. Also, pending sales … [Read more...]
Arizona home prices rise 17.3% over last year
June 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
WASHINGTON - U.S. home prices soared 12.1 percent in April from a year earlier, the biggest gain since February 2006, as more buyers competed for fewer homes. Real estate data provider CoreLogic says prices rose in April from the previous April in 48 states. Prices also rose 3.2 percent in April from March, much better than the previous month-to-month gain of 1.9 percent. Prices in Nevada jumped 24.6 percent from a year earlier, the most among the states. California’s gain was next at 19.4 percent, followed … [Read more...]
The 10 Hottest U.S. Housing Markets of 2013
May 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment
After a long and painful downturn in the housing market, home prices in many—but not all—regions of the U.S. are showing signs of recovery. According to Zillow, a real estate listing website, home values rose 5.1% across the U.S. between February 2012 and February 2013. Many local housing markets are performing considerably better than the country as a whole. Home values rose more than 13% in 10 of the 30 largest housing markets for which Zillow has data, and rose more than 20% in five of them. Most of the 10 … [Read more...]
Vacation Homes Increasingly Enticing for Buyers
May 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The vacation housing market is looking bright these days in part because of favorable economic conditions, but second-home sellers attribute the increase to strategic marketing as well. “We tell people this is an important investment and not just another toy,” says Peter Colvin, co-developer of Kingfisher Cove, a luxury lakefront cottage community near Saugatuck, Mich. For Colvin, also a longtime investment advisor, you must first create reasonably priced vacation homes, and then convince potential buyers … [Read more...]
Is The Phoenix Real Estate Market In Another Bubble?
April 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment
According to Michael Orr, Director of Real Estate at W.P. Carey school of business at Arizona State, we are not even close to a bubble at this point. Michael has thus put together a 'top ten' list of reasons why we are not currently in a bubble. CLICK HERE to read his findings. … [Read more...]
