Archive for the 'Real Estate News' Category
Rest in Peace Farrah and Michael
June 25th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
As a forty something person, these people were very much apart of my music and TV life growing up. Taken so young- God Bless both- and your legacy will live on.
Condolences to all their family and friends.
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Arizona’s Neighborhood Stabilization program vs Investors
June 14th, 2009 categories: For Buyers, Phoenix Foreclosures, Real Estate News
Who will get the house?
Arizona has $121 million to hand out to potential home owners, that qualify, to buy foreclosed homes in the Phoenix Real Estate Market.
"Two months into the program, no one in Arizona has closed on a home yet. Several have qualified, however, and hundreds more have applied"
One of the stipulations of this program is that HUD requires lenders who took homes back through foreclosure to give buyers a 15 percent discount on the price. This could be a problem when you have investors, paying cash, are will to pay market value of the already deeply discounted price.
Inventory continues to decline, multiple bids on foreclosures is the norm, with many being sold over list price.
Additionally, just this weekend, hundreds of people bought foreclosures at the REDC Auction- these homes will never be available to those that meet the qualifications of the Stabilzation Program.
The money is apart of the governments Recovery Program and must be spent by 2011. They may want to re-think asking the bank for an additional 15% price reduction.
The chart below shows the current trend in inventory of foreclosures in the great Phoenix Area.
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Phoenix Real Estate- May 2009 Market Statistics
June 3rd, 2009 categories: Market Statistics, Real Estate News, phoenix real estate
Sales are strong, pending sales are increasing and inventory continues to decline. The sales price seem to be leveling off. Are we at the bottom? Time will tell. Distressed sales (Foreclosures and short sales) continue to dominate sales. The last chart shows the percentage of homes that are distressed for each Phoenix area city.
Tables and charts from The Cromford Report using data from public records and data licensed from the Arizona Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS).
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Paranoid Short Sale Lenders-Phoenix Real Estate
May 28th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News, Short Sales, phoenix real estate
Long story short-I submit an offer on beautiful custom home in Gilbert. Full price offer, solid buyer. Fast forward 2 months, still waiting for an answer from the seller’s lender. “The lender thinks that the buyer and seller are in “cahoots” together to get a deal together.
Really- buyer lives across the country looking to relocate, loves the house, submits full price offer, does not know the seller, not even by name.
Now the seller’s lender wants, Name, Address, Date of Birth, and Social Security Number, and most likely will ask for the first born in coming weeks from the buyer. Seller’s lender-think again.
Hey lender-do you want to sell, if not foreclose and reap the benefits-what ever they are.
Time to move on!! Hey lender, I understand you love maintaining your foreclosed properties and by they way-you suck at homeownership. Maybe you should have qualified your buyers in 2005 and 2006. Did you give loans on stated income? Did you wink at the buyer and give them a loan. Maybe it is time to take responsibility of your past actions, instead of punishing the very qualified buyer that you now have
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Tax Credit Can Be Used for Down Payment
May 13th, 2009 categories: For Buyers, Real Estate News, phoenix real estate
Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, on Tuesday said that the Federal Housing Administration is going to permit its lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8,000 tax credit as a down payment.
He says FHA’s approved lenders will be permitted to “monetize” the tax credit through short-term bridge loans. This will allow eligible home buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table. Buyers would repay the loans after getting their tax refunds in 2010.
Look for forth coming information on this program at http://www.hud.gov
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Why Short Sales Fail- Phoenix Real Estate
May 9th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News, Short Sales
Here is an excellent article from the Huffington Posts that explains why the short sale process is painful, lengthy and has such a low success rate: Short Sales: Banks Blocking Way Out Of Foreclosure Crisis.
The article states that
“According to research firm Campbell Communications, only 23 percent of short sale transactions are actually completed. “Three out of four potential short sale transactions fail, principally because the mortgage servicer takes too long to respond to the offer,” said Tom Popik, author of a February survey of real estate agents. “When these same properties are later sold it further depresses real estate prices.”
With the inventory of bank owned homes decreasing in the Phoenix Real Estate market, more and more buyers may be forced to wait and wait for their next home, as they may have to purchase a short sale.
A new tactic that short sale listings are trying to keep buyers from walking away- is to require the buyer to deposit a portion the earnest money into escrow when the offer is made- making it non-refundable for 60-90 days, the time it may take the lender to respond to the short sale offer. A plan, in my opinion will not help the success of short sales, it will just add more red tape to an already convoluted process.
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Mid-April Maricopa County Market Update
April 18th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
Homes are selling and selling fast!!!
At the beginning of April, there were 42,382 active listings, today there are 39,623, a decrease of 2759.
Currently there are 5344 listings that are pending and so far in April 3467 homes have sold.
The inventory of bank owned homes or foreclosures in Maricopa County is also declining currently there are 7066 active listings that are bank owned, compared to 9060 at the beginning of April.
We may see a new wave of foreclosures, as there were over 10,000 foreclosure notices in Maricopa County in Mar. 2009
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Chandler Real Estate- Market Statistics Mar 2009
April 9th, 2009 categories: Real Estate News
Currently there are 1984 active listings in the Chandler AZ Real Estate Market. New listings in Chandler are up, and pending sales up and sold homes up significantly from Feb 2009.
New Listings: 612
Pending Sales: 367
Sold Homes: 306
The current absorption rate or supply of homes is 6.5 months down significantly from Jan 2009.
The average sales price decreased to $223,659 from $239,331 for the month of Feb.
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Chandler Real Estate- Chandler Foreclosures
Currently there are 303 Chandler homes for sale that are foreclosures.
If you would like a complete list of Chandler homes for sale or Chandler foreclosures you can call-480-216-4849 or email me
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Notices of trustee sale issued increases in March-Phoenix Real Estate
April 2nd, 2009 categories: Mortgage and Lending, Phoenix Foreclosures, Phoenix Luxury Homes, Real Estate News, phoenix real estate
10,635 notices of trustee sale or foreclosure notices were issued in March, representing a 25% increase from February.
“Reasons for the pre-foreclosure spike could include the lifting of a moratorium imposed by some banks in February while they were waiting to learn more about a new government loan-modification program, Ion Data analyst Zach Bowers said as reported at azcentral.com
This means the Phoenix real estate market may see another flood of bank owned homes or foreclosures come to the market in coming months. This is good news for home buyers and investors looking to find a bargain.
Buying activity has definitely increased in the last month- inventory is falling and sales increasing. Many of the homes in areas like Queen Creek and Maricopa are receiving multiple offers on foreclosures.
First time home buyers aren’t the only ones that can pick up a deal. There are over 20 luxury homes in areas like Paradise Valley and Scottsdale that are bank owned and there is news that banks like B of A are getting back into the jumbo loan market.
Image Credit: ResPres
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Phoenix Light Rail
January 19th, 2009 categories: Phoenix Attractions, Real Estate News
I had a chance to take a ride on the new Phoenix Light Rail on Saturday with my 16 year old son. He had been wanting to take a ride since it opened in late December.
I was very impressed and we had a great time. One of the reasons I tend to avoid events in the Phoenix downtown area is the traffic, parking headaches and such. With the new light rail- I know can park at one of the many park and ride areas, catch the train and head downtown.
We boarded the train in Mesa at the Sycamore Park and Ride and rode the train to 19th Ave and Camelback. I had some business to take care of in the area. We then got back on the train to head back to Mesa.
I noticed a lot of families, like me that were just “checking out” this new form of transportation, I meet a very nice young man riding the train that had just got off of work. He said this new form of public of transportation has really improved him commute to work.
As we traveled on the train I videoed some of the sites we saw-Tempe, Arizona State University, Chase Field, US Airways Center, Phoenix Convention Center.
I am really excited to see the future expansion plans for the light rail. As I live in South Gilbert- it took me 40 mins to drive to the Sycamore Station, so as of yet- not a really convenient public transportation option for me, but If I travel downtown to catch a Sun’s game or a concert- I will definitely use the light rail for my travels to downtown Phoenix.
Here is the video I took- it is about 10 mins long, and keep in mind this is novice film making at best and I hope you enjoy.
To learn more about the Phoenix Light Rail visit the Arizona Department of Transportation
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