March 5, 2014

Phoenix is #3 fastest growing city in America

Via Forbes. 3. Phoenix, Ariz. MSA: Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.Median Pay: $64,200 2013 Population Growth Rate: 1.67% Unemployment Rate: 6.4% Population growth has traditionally been the #1 driver of economic growth in metro Phoenix. Population growth and economic growth in metro Phoenix both took huge hits during The Great Recession… but now we’re back on track. (Thanks to Fred Newman at Ultimate Information Systems for tipping me off to this article.)

March 4, 2014

Phoenix home prices have “Returned to the Mean”

The video discusses inflation-adjusted Phoenix median home prices. Inflation-Adjusted Home Prices The metro Phoenix AZ median home price, inflation-adjusted, has returned to the mean. Just check out this graph. Remember when all the real estate bubble bloggers said home prices would “return to the mean”? They were right! And now the prices have! It took more than 10 years but the real median home price in metro Phoenix has returned to the mean that existed before the real estate boom and bust.

March 3, 2014

Arizona Jumbo Loans

Jumbo loans are coming back, including to Arizona. Here are the requirements for Arizona jumbo loans from one Arizona loan officer. 90% Loan-to-value (only 10% down payment!) Credit scores allowed down to 680 middle FICO Bankruptcy seasoning of 2-4 years depending on circumstances Loan amounts up to $3 million One one appraisal required for loan amounts up to $2 million No first time homebuyer restrictions Up to 9% seller concessions Although, some loans have become harder to get because of the new QM rules and lower FHA loan limits, the number of jumbo loans has actually increased.

March 2, 2014

Phoenix’s Top 10 home sales of January

Via Phoenix Business Journal, “Phoenix’s Top 10 home sales of January.” Unlike the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Business Journal, when I talk about homes sold I never give the names of the buyers and sellers. Even though the information is public, it always seemed a little creepy to me to give the buyers and sellers names. I occasionally do posts on homes sold but stopped giving the exact address and now I only give the neighborhood. That feels better to me. That’s all the information a buyer or seller really needs to learn about the homes and the prices in an area.

March 1, 2014

Are Phoenix rents headed up?

Roberto Ribas thinks so. (Landlords and investors, check out my exchange with Roberto in the comments of his post.) And this chart from The Economist’s interactive guide to America’s housing market would tend to support that forecast.

March 1, 2014

The Economist’s Interactive Guide to America’s Housing Market

It’s definitely worth checking out The Economist’s interactive guide to America’s housing market.

February 28, 2014

Cheap ways to freshen up a house before selling

How to prepare a home to sell. These are all ideas well worth considering when getting your home ready to sell. Call me if you have any questions about how to get your home ready to sell.

February 27, 2014

Foreclosures are so over in Phoenix

Fletcher Wilcox of Grand Canyon Title came out with his latest The Wilcox Report. Phoenix single family foreclosure starts were the lowest in over a decade in January 2014. Similarly, ASU estimated that new foreclosure notices in metro Phoenix were 19% BELOW normal in December. The Wilcox Report Sales Down But… January 2014 existing sales were down 17% from January 2013 but there were actually more sales over $150,000 than in January 2013. Inventory Up There are over 6,000 more single family property listings on the market today than a year ago. Demand Growing The number of potential homebuyers increases daily in Greater Phoenix because of job growth, population growth…

February 26, 2014

Phoenix home sales lowest in 5 years!

See the interactive graphs HERE. I reported on the January home sales earlier but I don’t think I paid enough attention to the fact that the homes sales in metro Phoenix in January 2014 were the lowest since February 2008. See the blue line in the graph below. January is almost always the slowest month of the year for closings but just think about that, home sales in January 2014 were lower than in January 2009, January 2010, January 2011, January 2012 and January 2013. Phoenix home price forecast Some real estate numbers geeks are worried that Phoenix home prices could dip a bit. I don’t think that will happen…