House Prices - OFHEO Report

[sheena]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

I know somebody who used to live there. He said it's extremely difficult finding work unless you're a Mormon. I've nothing against them per se. I wouldn't like any city heavily dominated by any religion.

Since it's doing well I pulled it up to find work and I didn't see a thing.

[Gretchen B]

Originally Posted by Jammie

BTW, I see Wyoming was a state with appreciation (second to Utah). So where are people buying in Wyoming???//Unquote

Although Wyo. still has a lot of wide open spaces and has pretty harsh winters, there are several reasons why the market is booming there. First of all, many parts of Wyo. and Mont. don't even have enough housing for the people who are relocating there for employment. Their unemployment rates are around 2%, which of course means there is NO unemployment there. Their housing prices have not taken the tremendous jump as they did in many states. Wyo. has a lot of friendly, welcoming people. They have very low crime rates. They have no state income tax. The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park are in Wyo. and Mont. Just beautiful wide open spaces for the people who are tired of living in congested areas.

As far as the exact areas of the boom, you may want to DM Elkhunter or ask on the Wyo. forum. I'll bet they'll be happy to answer your question.

Yeah, I was just curious, as Wyoming is close to my "old stompin' ground" in western Nebraska. Western Nebraska, too, has a really low unemployment rate, but it's not because of plentiful jobs, it's just because people are willing to take low-paying jobs in order to stay "in the wide open spaces". I have family in Montana, and I know the whole Yellowstone/Bozeman/Big Sky area is really, really pricey. I was wondering if it was the Jackson Hole area that was driving home price appreciation in Wyoming, or if maybe Cheyenne was having a boom? Or maybe the areas of oil production? Just curious - I hadn't been hearing that Wyoming was a "hot" area for jobs/new home construction. So I was kind of surprised when I noticed Wyoming coming in 2nd on this report

[scottdavis]

Gretchen--- Dont know where your getting your info. Prescott has tanked with prices sliding back to 2004 prices. Depreciation about 25%+ in the last 24 months and over 3000+ listings on the mls and about 2000+ waiting for spring. Call any realtor in Prescott and they will tell you the same.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Gretchen B

BTW, I see Wyoming was a state with appreciation (second to Utah). So where are people buying in Wyoming???

Cheyenne is maybe 80 miles from the Denver area-----there are people who actually make that commute!

[Gretchen B]

Scott - here's how things stack up in Prescott (per our realtor MLS statistics). We're back to about 2005 prices.

• Median Home Price Prescott P/V C/V
• 2007 Median Price $320k $225k $207k
• (Jan-Nov 2007)
  
• 2006 Median Price $350k $240k $210k
  
• 2005 Median Price $325k $225k $185k
  
• 2004 Median Price $250k $154k $163

(I hope you can read my chart. The columns are for Prescott, Prescott Valley, and Chino Valley, respectively.)

Looking back 10 years to 1997, this is the first year median home prices in Prescott have declined - down 8.6% from our peak year in 2006. Prescott Valley is down 6.2%, and Chino Valley is down 1.4%.

I guess it depends on your definition of "tanked". We definitely have a lot of inventory - as of November 30, 2007 - 2,873 listings, down from a high of 3,429 in July, 2007. I agree that we'll see additional listings come on the market in the spring, which is typical (I'm not sure about another 2,000, though - that would be close to double our current inventory).

I guess it also depends on what markets you're comparing Prescott to. The Phoenix area has definitely seen a much greater decline in prices than we have here in Prescott.

PS - I'd post the link to the sales charts but it's got my company's name on it and I think the moderator would zap it. If you want to check it out - send me a DM and I'll provide the link.

PSS - AZ Bear - Maybe . . . depending on where in Denver and the traffic on I-25. I thought possibly it had to do with oil in Wyoming - just wasn't a state that normally leaps to mind when you think of growth.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

Cheyenne is maybe 80 miles from the Denver area-----there are people who actually make that commute!

I guess it show what lengths, literally and figuratively people will go to for cheap housing. There is hope for Queen Creek after all.

[MotleyCrew]

We lived far from Los Angeles to be able to get into our first home. My husband drove either 90 miles in the high traffic area to 115 taking the back roads. He did that for 3 years until he snapped. Our neighbor was making the same drive and started to see messages in his front lawn. Time to quit.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by MotleyCrew

We lived far from Los Angeles to be able to get into our first home. My husband drove either 90 miles in the high traffic area to 115 taking the back roads. He did that for 3 years until he snapped. Our neighbor was making the same drive and started to see messages in his front lawn. Time to quit.

Having lived in SoCal; I understand what you mean.

In all fairness; once you are much more that 50 miles inland from the coast, there is little difference in summer weather between there and Low Desert Arizona. Palm Springs comes to mind.