Blog of Craig's Arizona

February 2012 Phoenix Median Home Price

Craig — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:55:38 +0000

I’ve been saying it for a couple of weeks, we’ve hit bottom in the Phoenix Real Estate Market and we’re working our way up. Today, another indicator came up, the Median Home Price for Phoenix Resale Homes. We’re at $120,000. Let’s look at what it was 6 months ago… $108,000. A little $12,000 increase in 6 months, translates into a nice 11% return, show me another investment you can do that well in right now.

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Does Arizona Anti-Deficiency cover Investors?

Craig — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:41:21 +0000

My initial impression was that it did not, it would only cover primary home or possibly a second home, but not the investment. The Phoenix Real Estate market has been a big target for this discussion. Some additional research led me to a leading Arizona Real Estate Attorney, Chris Comb and a recent blog post on the topic. As long as the property was used as a dwelling, meaning it had a home that was legal to live in, the law covers it. After Foreclosure there cannot be a Deficiency per State Law. I know that there is some campaigning going on to have some of these laws changed or adjusted so I would suggest you consult with an attorney before assuming anything that is significant in your life. While I don’t know Chris personally, I will say he talks a considerable amount on this and other Real Estate topics and would be one that I would contact and have referred clients to.

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Another Phoenix Blog Post

Craig — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 20:45:11 +0000

Yesterday, Chris Butterworth, another Realtor® with Thompson Realty, wrote a very good and analytical post on the Buy versus Rent question. Rather than rehash the post I encourage you to go and read it. The only points that I can add to his post is that one of the main driving points of the rent being so much higher than buying is because the sheer number of residents that are still out in exile. These are the former homeowners that either short sold, bankrupt or foreclosed and are not able to do anything for at least 2 years, so they are left with renting a home. This is causing a high demand on rentals right now and those that have a cash for a home can only afford the lower cost homes, which are the targets of the investors as well. We are in very unique and strange times right now.

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ARMLS® Weekly Lockbox Report

Craig — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:11:10 +0000

Now that Super Bowl is over and we’re back to showing houses 7 days a week, we saw a little up tick in the number of properties opened by ARMLS® subscribers:

We showed 10.6% more houses last week over the previous week, which amounts to 36,232 key box openings.

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February 2012 ARMLS® Subscriber Confidence

Craig — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 04:24:39 +0000

ARMLS® has released this month’s Subscriber Confidence Index. I like this report, it’s just another one that they came up with that I think is a good indicator. For the general public they probably don’t understand what this report means, to put it briefly, most of the subscribers of the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service are real estate agents that are helping clients to buy and sell real estate. ARMLS routinely surveys a sample of those that depend on real estate for a living or at least partially and ask them how they feel today and how they feel about the future of their industry.

In the February 2012 ARMLS® Subscriber Confidence Report, we see a 5th month in a row where the index is going up. Just another sign from within the industry that in the Phoenix Real Estate arena, we’ve turned a corner and the market is improving. While I can’t and won’t speak for the rest of the country, I know in my own backyard, real estate is taking off.

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If you want to buy a Phoenix Home…

Craig — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:10:55 +0000

You better do it soon, because I don’t recall the inventory this low in quite a while. In Maricopa County, there are currently 14,152 Residential Homes for sale, this includes everything from Mobile Homes to Condos to Single Family Homes. The demand is outpacing supply right now and in several cases I’ve put in an offer on a property that has more than 10 other offers causing a bit of a bidding war. If you are thinking about buying a home, I would suggest contacting a Mortgage Officer now and getting qualified so you can jump on the opportunity that presents itself when the time is right.

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February 2012 Video Report

Craig — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:25:11 +0000

This month I touch on two topics for the Phoenix Real Estate Market. First is the HARP 2.0 and the second is the extended tax break for those that had a Foreclosure or Short Sale in 2011.

HARP 2.0 FAQs

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More Stats on Price per Square Foot

Craig — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:09:25 +0000

I’ve been on a bit of a run with statistics as of late, and ARMLS has continued to expand their offering and I couldn’t be happier with the direction or success of that work. Today I’m going to set my eyes on the ARMLS Pending Price Index™, more specifically the Price per Square Foot supplement. For the past several weeks, I’ve noticed the trend of above list price closings on the investment properties that I find for my clients. Typically below $150,000. Often I find it’s a bit of a bidding war, so I’ve been stating that properties in this price point is very much a seller’s market. After reviewing this cart:

I’ve changed my position to say anything $350,000 and below is probably a seller’s market, even though my recent experience with $300,000 and above is mostly difficult sellers than multiple offer. Price per sq foot is starting to creep upward. While I don’t agree with the over all report that shows prices will go down, mostly because I’m seeing an upward trend and my experience in the field are saying other wards. It lends itself to be a good statistical report.

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10 questions to ask the neighbors before buying

Craig — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:14:05 +0000

An easy post for Super Bowl Sunday. 10 questions you should ask your potential neighbors before buying a home in Phoenix:

1. How is the neighborhood association; strict, crazy or what?

2. Are there any assessments coming in the future?

3. How is the construction on the homes in the neighborhood?

4. Is there any crime in the neighborhood?

5. Is the neighborhood social?

6. How are the amenities?

7. Why are the neighbors (house you are looking at) moving?

8. Have they had any trouble with their house that you know of?

9. Is there anything that would prevent you from buying your own home again?

10. And anything else you want to know.

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Another Twist on Statistics…

Craig — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:49:14 +0000

Sometimes I laugh at the statistics we come up with in the Real Estate Industry, usually the funny part is when we try to figure out what the numbers mean. Today, I’m going to contribute to this. ARMLS added a new statistic last April (2011) that I really like:

I like this because it gives me a basic feel for how active a week as agents have. Today, it dawned on me that the number or the trend means absolutely nothing without another key piece of information. That key piece of information is number of active listings out there. As of the moment I wrote this post, that number is 17,046. Last week there were 36,104 lockbox opens. Let’s ponder where I’m going to go with this. On average (average, you know what they means right, some are higher and some are lower), each listing was open just over twice this week. The reason I bring this to your attention is because at 17,046 active listings within ARMLS, this is pretty low for us. It’s a seller’s market right now. Add to that a report from ARMLS that last year 47% of the purchases where cash (YES, cash purchases). And that last year we had the second highest volume of sales by count.

So there are two points, first, if you are thinking of selling, nows a good time to sell. Second, if you are shopping for a home, I’m pretty confident that prices are going to be going up quickly.

And my ARMLS staff readers, would you add Average Active listing to the Weekly Lockbox Activity Report? I think it would add another dimension to the data.

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