The Desert State Agent - Arizona Real Estate Information

MLS information you may not have known about

2011-01-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post some information I recently found out about regarding MLS. After doing some searches for my clients, I came across a listing that stated the home did not come with certain appliances as well as having a $0 pet deposit. Unkowingly, my client had called the listing agent for this rental property and was told the home DID have these appliances as well as a $200 pet deposit. Further investigation into why this listing agent did not fill out the MLS form correctly lead to the answer of "MLS is advertising only and not a contract in any way".

I find it sad that we REALTORS have to pay so much money for these services when in fact there seems to be zero policing of the listings as far as truthfullness goes. It seems clear to me now that many agents are putting false information into thier MLS listings so that your searchs pull their listing up and then you later find out the depostits and/or price is incorrect, but there is nothing you can do about it since it's considered "advertising".

I hope change is in the near future for MLS and that some sort of fine or penatly will be standard for agents/brokers who continually put false information into MLS.

Indymac and others get sweetheart deal - Is this why foreclosures takeso long or never even happen!?

2010-08-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

Buckeye Arizona has great homes for rent!

2010-05-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

High Profile Realty - Chris Hanson not paying agents and others...Channel 5 report on Monday night

2009-11-08T08:41:00.002-07:00

Should be very interesting to watch.

It will be on the 10pm news on channel 5 here in Arizona.

Investigates Chris Hanson of High Profile Realty and his business practices...many people claim he has not paid them for services rendered.

Arizona is ready to spend more than $121 million in federal housing funds

2009-06-22T06:17:00.001-07:00

Arizona is ready to spend more than $121 million in federal housing funds to help people buy homes in neighborhoods blighted by foreclosures.

The money arrived in April under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program put in place last year, before the 2009 economic-stimulus package. The goal is to help people of modest means buy foreclosure homes, fix them up and stop the overall slide in home values.

Two months into the program, no one in Arizona has closed on a home yet. Several have qualified, however, and hundreds more have applied.

The program took shape last fall when Arizona cities submitted applications explaining how and where they would use stabilization money. Phoenix received the largest share: $39.5 million. Other cities with money to offer include Mesa ($9.7 million), Glendale ($6.2 million), Avondale ($2.5 million) and Chandler ($2.4 million).

Most of Arizona's federal money is being spent in communities in the Valley, which has witnessed a record 65,000 home foreclosures in the past 18 months. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is expected to help people purchase thousands of foreclosure homes in the Phoenix area. People living in and taking care of those homes are expected to help revitalize the Valley's neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosures.

Potential buyers must plan to live in a home they purchase. Investors and second-home buyers cannot participate.

Beyond that restriction, terms and the process to qualify and buy a home vary from city to city. Some cities can offer $20,000 or more to a buyer for a down payment, closing costs and repairs. To obtain money, applicants must work with a housing counselor and complete a course in budgeting and homeownership. In some cases, the participating city determines which properties are available under the program; in others, buyers shop on their own.

Arizona housing advocates say some lenders have been reluctant to sell foreclosure homes for less money than they could potentially get from investors. But hopes are still high among home buyers and cities that the money will be used to help revitalize neighborhoods. Under the terms of the program, the money must be spent by early 2011.

"The money is here. Let's spend it. We are already three months into an 18-month deadline," said John Smith, president of Housing Our Communities, a Valley non-profit that is working with Avondale and Mesa on their Neighborhood Stabilization programs. "If we make some mistakes along the way, we'll fix them."

A look at the Neighborhood Stabilization Program

2009-06-22T06:14:00.001-07:00

A look at the program

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act approved last August.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development was given $4 billion to award to areas with the highest foreclosure rates. City and state governments applied with plans for spending the money. HUD awarded funds to the Arizona Housing Department, Maricopa and Pima counties and Avondale, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix, Surprise and Tucson.

Most of Arizona's Neighborhood Stabilization funds are aimed at buyers who earn close to their respective city's median income. In most cases, buyers must earn $30,000 to $80,000 a year to qualify. The more people there are in a household, the higher the qualifying income level rises.

Phoenix's plan focused on a couple of dozen of the city's 79 ZIP codes, areas with the highest rates of foreclosure. Mesa was awarded $9.1 million and focused on ZIP code 85024. Chandler is buying 17 vacant foreclosure homes scattered across the city with plans to resell them to buyers.

Participating cities and the state Housing Department have assembled teams and designed a process to distribute the money. Under federal guidelines, buyers must pass a class on budgeting and the obligations of homeownership.

With those elements now in place, it's time to spend.

Fred Karnas, former director of the Arizona Housing Department who oversaw the state's plans for Neighborhood Stabilization funding, said, "It's a complicated program that has never been done."

"But HUD wants the money spent quickly to help people now, so we are on a fast-track schedule," added Karnas, who in February became a senior adviser to HUD in Washington.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T02:15:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all Father's reading this!

Enjoy the Sunday :)

Estrella Mountain Ranch home for rent - Rent in beautiful Arizona

2009-06-03T19:41:00.002-07:00

The leatest on the AZ housing front

2009-05-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

There's good news and bad news for the Valley's housing market.

The good news is it's getting a little easier to sell your house because there are a lot fewer foreclosures to compete against.

"You may find quite a bit of interest, but the real problem is getting them qualified for the lending," said Dr. Jay Butler, director or realty studies at ASU.

He said the bottom may be in sight, but the market could stay there for a while. "It's going to be difficult to recover and it's really going to vary tremendously from area to area."

Butler said programs to help people keep their homes are helping lower the number of foreclosures on the market, but he's concerned that the Phoenix housing market is not yet reflecting the current job market.

"Without jobs you don't have income and without income you don't buy homes," Butler said.

Foreclosures made up about 51 percent of home resales in March. In April, that number dropped to 27 percent, yet the total number of resales climbed.

"Unfortunately we're sort of entering this period of the classic foreclosure which is where people lost jobs or income and now simply really cannot afford the home they're in," said Butler.

Arizona is one of only six states where home sales didn't drop the first quarter of this year.

"Well, I think we've probably got the bottom in sight largely because in some areas you'd really find it hard to go any lower," said Butler.

Realty Trac's Darren Blomquist said, while the news is encouraging, he doubts the crisis is over.

"Believe it or not, there's still a lot of homeowners out there in Arizona and other markets who are very susceptible to foreclosures, still," he said.

He agreed with Butler that the jobs market -- the high unemployment rate -- will force more foreclosures.

"From the previous year, Arizona's still trending upward in terms of foreclosure activity," he said.

"There's very high numbers of properties that are just starting the foreclosure process. So we'd expect that down the road in a few months those same properties will end up in the final stage of foreclosure, which we call reo, so that will continue to keep the numbers high for most of the rest of this year."

Warnings about loan modification scams

2009-05-08T19:47:00.002-07:00

There should not be a fee to get information from either your lender or a HUD-Approved housing counselor.

Governor Jan Brewer is warning homeowners about unlicensed mortgage loan modification companies.

They promise to keep homeowners behind on payments from losing their homes to foreclosure, but end up scamming consumers.

Gov. Brewer urges consumers to beware of any person or organization that asks for a fee in exchange for housing counseling services or loan modification. There should not be a fee to get information from either your lender or a HUD-Approved housing counselor.

Free assistance is available by calling 1-877-448-1211. More information can be found on the web sites for the Arizona Department of Housing, the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions

Avondale, Arizona 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with a den for rent! - $300 off 1st months rent promo!

2009-05-02T23:14:00.001-07:00

Contact Tanya Olafson at 623-826-8264, licensed REALTOR with Century 21. 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with a den in Avondale, Arizona. New to the market with rent only $995 per month with a promotional offer of $300 off 1st months rent! (limited time only) Move in ready open and inviting 3 bedroom, 2 bath home with a den. This is a 1642 sq. ft. home. Refrigerator, washer and dryer are included. Close to I10 freeway as well as shopping centers. Cross streets are McDowell and Rancho Santa Fe. Please call Tanya Olafson at 623-826-8264 to schedule a private showing or for more information. Have a great day!

Kailash Bhatt, a Real Estate agent accused of foreclosure theft

2009-05-01T16:51:00.002-07:00

A valley real estate agent was busted for allegedly scamming the system.

Kailash Bhatt is accused of trying to sell several fixtures from an Anthem home that was in foreclosure.

The Deed of Trust showed the fixtures weren't supposed to be removed. Bhatt was arrested after accepting part of the money for the fixtures.

He also works for the state Department of Environmental Quality and teaches for the University of Phoenix.

Online scam that is aimed at possible renters

2009-05-01T12:40:00.004-07:00

If you're looking for a house to rent or maybe you're thinking of renting out your own home, there's a new scam you need to know about.

The victims are people who are trying to rent a home and there are a lot of you out there. But whatever you do, don't let this happen to you.

Frank has rental property, so when he needs a tenant he usually advertises on popular Web sites, which has always been successful for him.

"So far, so good," he said. "I've been pretty lucky. I haven't had any kind of nightmares. I've had a lot of good people."

His latest ad describes his house, features photos and indicates how much rent is, which is $1,200.

But things turned a little weird one day when he says a woman showed up out of the blue to look at his home and he was there.

"We came into the house and she said, 'Wow, I can't believe you're renting this for only $800,'". "I said, 'What? I'm not renting this for $800.'"

It turns out that a conman took Franks ad complete with all the photos, duplicated it and re-posted it in a cheaper section saying rent was only $800.

Now when prospective renters e-mail the scammer, he replies saying, "God bless you for your interest in my house. I am renting it to a responsible and neat person who has the fear of God and will take care of my home."

He goes on to say, "Drive by the house and if you like it, we'll get together on a price."

When people see what a nice house they're getting for $800, they get excited and immediately e-mail the conman, who is in the United Kingdom, and wire him money.

It's the perfect scam. He says he knows of one guy who even gave the conman his credit card and other personal information just so he could get the house.

He says he feels horrible. He just wants to rent his home.

He doesn't want his house to be used as bait to rip people off.

"The lesson learned is basically what you've been telling everyone for years and that is don't give your information to someone you don't know and know what you're getting into,".

Brown had to hire a real estate agent to help rent out his home and to keep people from getting ripped off any further.

In the meantime, just remember, always meet face to face with the person you'll be renting from.

Dealing with someone out of the country or out of state is probably a red flag you're getting scammed.
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Alway work with a known company and call the agent directly to find out information regarding the home your looking to rent or buy. Find out about all the fee's and charges, refundable or not, and know how to submit their contract/applicatioon as most companies have their own way of doing this.

It is my opinion to always work with a licensed REALTOR® and this way avoid these type of scams.

Arizona man warns other homebuyers about short sales

2009-05-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

When it comes to stimulating the economy, are banks being stingy with their federal bailout money?

This is a hot button for a lot of viewers out there and that hot button has to do with short sales, which give a homeowner permission to sell a home for less than what that homeowner owes.

But, look what happened to Valley man when he tried to buy a short sale home.

When it comes to homes on the market, Jason Fritch says he's looked at a lot. In fact, 25 to be exact.

"There's always something wrong with it," Fritch said. "Either it has no appliances or the plumbing is ripped out."

But when Fritch's real estate agent showed him a home in central Phoenix, he said it was perfect.

"It was completely covered with trees and it had a big backyard for my three dogs and it had been kept up pretty well," Fritch said.

The good news is the home was a short sale and it was on the market for $160,000.

According to paperwork, Fritch offered the full asking price then waited for a response.

"I got a call from my Realtor saying, 'You got it! They accepted it. So go ahead and write your check out for escrow,'" Fritch said.

Fritch wrote a check for his down payment.

However, he claims when his appraisal came back showing the house was worth a lot more than what he was paying, the deal suddenly fell through and subsequently the house he was going to buy went back on the market for $210,000.

"Well, everyone wants these houses but to get them, it's difficult," said Dean Wegner, a real estate agent and mortgage broker.

Wegner said what happened to Fritch is common because he says banks try to mitigate their losses as much as possible.

As a result, people like Fritch get tangled up in the process and the glut of homes that are on the market remain on the market until the bank gets the best deal.

"If they can get a couple extra thousand dollars times thousands of homes, that helps their bottom line," Wegner said. "It's math."

As for Fritch, he's so disgusted he has stopped looking at homes and has a warning if you're thinking of buying a short sale or even a foreclosed home.

"They are willing to wait, they are greedy, they will wait for the market to come back around to hold on to these homes," Fritch said. I talked to the mortgage company who owns the mortgage and they say they are not to blame in any way for a couple of reasons.

One, they never approved the home to be sold for $160,000 to begin with because they always knew the home was worth more.

And, two, they claim they never accepted a bid of $160,000 and any confusion must be between Fritch and the Realtors in this case.

Regardless, just know that getting involved in a short sale or foreclosed home is always going to be more complicated than a regular real estate transaction.

Buckeye, Arizona home for rent

2009-05-01T12:01:00.001-07:00

I found this short video showing a nice home for rent in Buckeye, Arizona:

The rental market is booming in Arizona

2009-03-22T21:12:00.003-07:00

The rental market is booming here in the phoenix area of Arizona. There are so many great deals to be found, that for most who find it difficult to qualify for a home loan, renting a home is the next best thing!

I know of at least 8 families that have found rental homes that exceeded their expectations of what most think of as a "rental". The deals are out there, you just have to have the right Realtor.

I would have to advise you to work with one Realtor in particular by the name of Tanya Olafson with Century 21 located in the Goodyear area. Not only is she polite and attentive to your needs, but she has the knowledge and puts forth the effort it takes to help anyone from a seasoned home buyer to a first time renter. My advice would be to look her up and see how she can help you.

In these tough times it's a MUST to have someone in your corner helping you reach your dreams.

Home For Sale in Peoria, Arizona

2008-10-22T17:38:00.001-07:00

Douglas Ross Zuber, Former Scottsdale Real Estate Exec Charged with $10M Theft

2008-10-21T10:12:00.002-07:00

Douglas Ross Zuber, a former executive at a Scottsdale real estate development company has been charged with embezzling more than $10 million from the firm.

The Arizona Attorney General's Office says 40-year-old Douglas Ross Zuber of Phoenix funneled company cash into bank accounts he controlled. He then created fictitious vendors, opened bank accounts in their name and submitted invoices for payment to his employer.

Zuber was executive vice president at Harvard Investments, Inc. from 1999 through 2006. The company discovered and investigated the fraud and then turned the case over to the attorney general.

Zuber was indicted on one count of money laundering, one count of theft and one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices. A telephone listing for Zuber was disconnected.

Contract worker for Fannie Mae accused of selling appliances from foreclosures

2008-10-21T09:59:00.002-07:00

Police say Jamie Pantastico sold appliances from foreclosed homes on Craiglist while he was a contract worker for Fannie Mae.

Chandler Police are looking for potential victims that may have been connected to a fraud scheme where appliances were re-sold from foreclosed homes.

Jamie Pantastico, 39, was employed by Fannie Mae as a contractor to clean foreclosed homes to prepare them for re-sale. He would enter the homes by having access to their lockboxes and take photographs of the appliances - then place ads on Craigslist.

Pantastico met potential buyers at the homes posing as the homeowner. After the appliances were sold and removed from the house, he would return the keys in the lockbox.

He was arrested in Queen Creek by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Chandler Police on September 25.

Victims are encouraged to call the Chandler Police Department at 480.782.4130.

Phoenix home prices falling big time

2008-09-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

Phoenix is faring worse than most cities according to the Standard & Poor's 20 City Housing Index.

NEW YORK (AP) _ A closely watched index shows Valley home prices tumbling by the sharpest annual rate ever in July.

The newly released Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index showed a record drop of 16.3 percent in July from the year-ago period - the largest drop since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 17.5 percent, its biggest decline in its 21-year history.

Home values in all 20 cities fell year-over-year, with Phoenix faring worse than most cities. Prices Valleywide plummeted more than 29 percent in July from one year ago.

The only metro area doing worse than Phoenix is Las Vegas, where prices are plunging at nearly 30 percent.

However, the pace of declines has slowed over the last three months, but there is still no sign of a bottom, one of the index creators said.

Arizona gets federal cash on foreclosure impact

2008-09-27T08:20:00.002-07:00

Arizona is getting federal money to help communities cope with the effects of foreclosures.

The Governor's Office says the Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide $38 million to the Arizona Department of Housing.

According to the Governor's Office, the neighborhood grant money can be used by local governments and non-profits to buy foreclosed homes, rehabilitate them and make it available to home buyers.

That helps communities by reducing the number of vacant homes, a step that helps combat crime.

I'm not so sure how this will be conducted. This story leaves me with a lot of questions to tell the truth.

FBI investigating companies at heart of meltdown

2008-09-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned.

Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group Inc. Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. also is under investigation.

The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said.

The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing and are in the very early stages.

Officials said the new inquiries bring to 26 the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the past year.

Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.

Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also was looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.

Over the past year as the housing market cratered, the FBI has opened a wide-ranging probe of companies across the financial services industry, from mortgage lenders to investment banks that bundle home loans into securities sold to investors. Mueller has previously said the FBI's hunt for culprits in the nation's subprime mortgage crisis focused on accounting fraud, insider trading, and failure to disclose the value of mortgage-related securities and other investments.

The investigations revealed Tuesday come as lawmakers began considering whether to approve emergency legislation that would give the government broad power to buy up devalued assets from troubled financial firms.

The bailout proposed by the Bush administration is aimed at helping unlock credit and stabilize badly shaken markets in the United States and around the globe.

In the past two weeks, the government has taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the country's two biggest mortgage companies, with a bailout plan that could require the Treasury Department to put up as much as $100 billion for each of them over time if needed to keep them afloat as mortgage losses mount.

Last week, the Federal Reserve provided an emergency $85 billion loan to AIG, which teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers was forced to file for bankruptcy after attempts to engineer a private rescue fell apart. All the companies were laid low from bad bets on complex mortgage-related securities.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made the joint decision last week that the only way to stop the carnage was to deal with the root cause of all the troubles, billions of dollars of bad mortgage debt sitting on the books of major financial companies. This debt has triggered the worst credit crisis in decades, causing credit markets to essentially freeze up despite the fact that the Fed joined with major central banks around the world to pump billions of dollars of reserves into the financial system.

Additionally, the FBI is investigating failed bank IndyMac Bancorp Inc. for possible fraud. Countrywide Financial Corp., formerly the nation's largest mortgage lender and now owned by Bank of America Corp., is also under scrutiny.

Could the Fannie and Freddie collapse help borrowers?

2008-09-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

The government's takeover of mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should provide an opportunity to modify more home loans for troubled borrowers, a top government official said Wednesday.

The takeover, announced earlier this month, will allow regulators to ``take a look at the loans and see what can be modified,'' said Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., in testimony before a House committee.

With 1.5 million foreclosures last year and 1.2 million already in the first six months of this year, the foreclosure crisis is accelerating, she said.

``There are still a lot of mortgages out there that need to be restructured and families that can still be helped,'' Bair told the House Financial Services Committee.

Under her stewardship, the FDIC has rolled out a plan to help refinance delinquent homeowners into 30-year mortgages with interest rates currently capped at 5.9 percent. The FDIC introduced the program about a month ago after it seized IndyMac Bank.

Some lawmakers want to see if the program can be replicated among loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought loans from IndyMac, Washington Mutual and many other banks as part of their official role in supporting the housing market. But the government-sponsored companies ran into trouble when those loans started defaulting at an alarming pace, scaring off investors and putting upward pressure on interest rates.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and James Lockhart, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency ``actively looking'' at expanding loan modifications among the more than $5 trillion in loans that Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee, Bair said.

Her efforts have the backing of the committee's chairman, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.

``We will be urging others to follow your model,'' Frank told Bair. ``I think you are setting a very good example here.''

More than 1,200 homeowners with mortgages from failed IndyMac Bank are participating in the agency's effort to refinance the loans and stem the tide of foreclosures _ a number is expected to rise dramatically.

So far, the FDIC has mailed out more than 7,400 offers to modify loans, and participating borrowers have saved an average of $430 on their monthly payments. The agency estimates that about 40,000 of IndyMac's 60,000 delinquent mortgages are eligible for the program.

The agency has been operating the Pasadena, Calif.-based bank, now called IndyMac Federal Bank, under a conservatorship since July 11.

And there are concerns on the FDIC might get saddled with an even bigger problem: Washington Mutual Inc., the nation's largest savings and loan.

To avoid that, the government has been reaching out to large banks in an effort to organize a buyout of the beleaguered lender, according to a person briefed on the talks between regulators and banks.

Shares of Washington Mutual have plummeted in recent weeks amid continued concerns about mounting losses in the bank's lending portfolios. The lender lost $3.33 billion, or $6.58 a share, in the second quarter and set aside more than $8 billion to cover souring loans.

Earlier this summer President Bush signed a bill that aims to prevent foreclosures by allowing an estimated 400,000 homeowners to swap their mortgages for more affordable loans, but only if their lender agrees to take a loss on the initial loan. That program starts Oct. 1, but some lawmakers are questioning whether that program will do enough to stem the foreclosure crisis.

``Voluntary may just not be good enough'' said Rep. Jackie Spier, D.-Calif.

Executives from Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America and Wells Fargo, all told lawmakers they are boosting their staff and making preparations to put the new program in place. Bank of America and Wells Fargo officials said they are postponing foreclosure sales for customers who may qualify for the government-backed refinancing effort.

Mortgage interest rates dip to lowest levels thus far

2008-09-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

The credit crunch has made it tough for people to get home loans, but those who do manage to qualify could be getting lower interest rates.

Valley mortgage broker Dean Wegner said home buyers with good credit could be looking at the lowest rates this year -- 5.75 to 6 percent.

Interest rates have dropped by one-quarter to one-half of a percent in the past two weeks, a drop that usually takes six months, Wegner said.

The rate drops were due mainly to the government takeover of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Wegner believes rates will go even lower, although he said everything depends on the federal government right now.

``It's very hard to say, but assuming that you have good credit, you could be in the mid 5s to the low 6s," he said, referring to interest rates somewhere around 5.5 to 6 percent.

``I think if you ask anybody in the real estate or mortgage or homebuilding industry, we all are real pleased with the way things are going right now," Wegner said. ``Basically, what it means is you can get a lot more house for a lot less money."

Lower interest rates mean ``more people are going to engage in real estate, and the buyer pool will increase and hopefully buy more of the inventory that's up there," Wegner said. ``Then we can see a rebound in home prices and home prices go back up where they should be."

Foreclosed homes in Phoenix nearly half of all sales last month according to ASU

2008-09-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

That's a two percent increase from July and more than double the 20 percent of sales recorded in August 2007.

Sales of foreclosed homes in the metro Phoenix area made up nearly half of all existing homes sold in the area last month, a new study shows.

Of the 7,505 resale home transactions recorded in Maricopa County in August, 44 percent were bought out of foreclosures, according to the Realty Studies department at Arizona State University. That's a two percent increase from July and more than double the 20 percent of sales recorded in August 2007.

There's no end in sight for the housing market slump, according to the director of Realty Studies at ASU's Polytechnic campus in east Mesa.

``Most potential buyers still confront a weak economy, slumping levels of confidence and tighter underwriting guidelines,'' Jay Butler said. ``Thus, the local housing market still contains considerable uncertainty over when any potential strengthening can be expected.''

The federal government takeover of the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) has driving mortgage prices down, bad economic news is keeping buyer sentiment low, Butler said.

The median price of a home bought out of foreclosure in August was $161,875, compared with a non-foreclosure price of $193,550. A year ago the median prices were $220,010 and $258,000 respectively.

Prices varied widely by location. In North Scottsdale, the median price in August for a foreclosed property was $545,000, while the traditional market was $525,000. In South Scottsdale the splits were $219,855 and $242,000, respectively. In Maryvale, traditional transactions were $98,000 and foreclosures were $123,580.

The steep drop in prices is beginning to bring out investors expecting to see prices rebound in the next few years, Butler said.

Interest is especially high in the lower-priced ranges because more capital is available for those homes, he said.