May 2012 Housing Report Scottsdale

Scottsdale Residential Report- data for month of May

Homes priced from $400,000 to $1 million.
Wow! Sales continued strong in this price category as inventory continues to decline putting pressure on upward pricing. Sales increased from prior month almost 17%. This category has a modest 3 month supply of homes and is now a Seller’s market. I expect June and July to be a slower as summer season is here.

Some homes are receiving multiple offers as buyers compete for the best homes.

Homes priced from $1 million to $2 million.

Sales continued strong in this category, same level as prior month. Inventory is declining also. Now at 8 months supply it will be a sellers/buyers market in equilibrium at 6 months inventory.

Homes priced over $2 million

This category had an amazing 100% gain in sales over the prior month. This is a strong indicator of how much buyer interest in Scottsdale there has been in the last quarter.

Brief note: I still hear some people talk of "the banks releasing their inventory" as if there is some mysterious collection of homes that lenders refuse to list for sale in order to create an artificial shortage. This is an urban myth.
As of yesterday there were a total of 6,446 residential properties in Maricopa County whose current owner is a bank or lender of some sort. This is appx ½ of 1% of the homes that exist in the county.

If you are considering the sale or purchase of a Scottsdale or Paradise Valley home I would love to be of assistance. www.premierazhomes.com

Scottsdale Homes Report- March, 2012

Scottsdale Residential Report- data for month of March.

Homes priced from $400,000 to $1 million.

This price point is a very active market presently. Homes that are in the under $500,000 segment in particular are seeing strong buyer nterest. The top echelon of homes in this price point is not staying on the market for long periods. Sales were up almost 50% from the prior month.

This price point is seeing some appreciation. If sales continue like this it will be a sellers market – hard to believe!

Homes priced from $1 million to $2 million.

March had strong sales in this price range as well, roughly a 50% increase from the prior month.

Homes priced over $2 million

This segment saw a dramatic increase in sales of almost 300%  over the prior month.

Scottsdale homes on the uptick

Scottsdale Residential Report- for month of February

Rather than post the usual statistical data for the month of February I decided I would send the below excerpt from the Wall Street Journal. This article confirms what I have been saying in prior posts and thought it might be good to see this from an unbiased source.

IV. Rise In Phoenix Housing Shows Path For Other Cities, The Wall Street Journal, 03/13/12

PHOENIX -- As home prices continue to drop in most cities, a nascent real-estate rebound here holds lessons for the rest of the country.

This sprawling desert metropolis was one of the hardest hit housing markets during the bust. Phoenix home prices declined 55% from 2006 through the end of 2011, and Arizona's foreclosure rate jumped to No. 3 in the nation in 2009. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are underwater, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth.

Now real-estate economists across the country are studying an early but surprisingly broad Phoenix turnaround. The sharp drop in home prices has brought new buyers into the market. Unlike other markets where housing recoveries have been snuffed out by big overhangs of homes for sale and foreclosed properties, inventories are lean here.

"Phoenix has hit a bottom," says Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist who was one of the first to warn six years ago that prices in overbuilt metros were poised to fall.

The nation's hard-hit housing markets face a tough act: engineering a housing recovery without traditional trade-up buyers, many of whom are either unwilling or unable to sell because of huge price declines.

Phoenix has found a viable formula. Low prices are igniting demand from first-time buyers and investors who are converting the homes to rentals. The local economy is on the upswing with several big employers like Amazon.com Inc. and Intel Corp. hiring again, which is further increasing demand for housing. And the region is benefiting from a surge of buyers from Canada who are using their favorable exchange rate to scoop up bargains in the desert.

Scottsdale November Market Report

Scottsdale Residential Report- data for month of November.

Homes priced from $400,000 to $999,999  

246 homes added to the market in November increased inventory by appx 6.5% over the prior month. Not unusual as many homes that were taken off the market for the summer months are now being re-listed. Sales were down from prior month by 13%.

Homes priced from $1 million to $2 million saw inventory rise 6% however sales were almost the same as prior month (24 homes sold versus 26 prior month).

Homes priced over $2 million.

This category saw a slight 3 % increase in inventory from the prior month however new homes added to the market decreased from 44 homes prior month to 34 this month. Sales were up from 4 homes the prior month to 6 homes this month.