"Valley Home Sales Surge 70%" (Phoenix: for sale, real estate, foreclosures)

[fcorrales80]

The Phoenix area has been one of the "most resurgent" markets in the nation for real estate transactions in recent months. While the entire Western U.S. realized a sales increase of over 30%, and the entire nation of about 47% the Phoenix area leads in gains with a 70% increase over last year.

Many reasons for this:

Once again, and like previous recessions in the Valley proceeding this one, Phoenix is home to affordable housing and increase in employment while most states (over 36) have continued to see unemployment grow or remain unchanged. BUT unlike previous periods of recessions, the housing being sold now are those already in inventory and much fewer new builds; hopefully this trend continues and building "booms" carefully managed.

The average home value dropped in Phoenix and the rest of the nation between November 2008 and this November, making houses even more affordable. Some areas in Phoenix have witnessed increases in values while those areas with high foreclosures and short-sales have seen the largest drop in price.

Valley home sales surge 70%

[Steve-o]

When I was out there in October, every other home was for sale it seemed, I couldnt believe the sheer numbers. But now that homes out there are literally 1/2 the price they were 5 years ago, I would surely expect them to sell, especially in a recession when people can now afford Dollar General prices.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

When I was out there in October, every other home was for sale it seemed, I couldnt believe the sheer numbers. But now that homes out there are literally 1/2 the price they were 5 years ago, I would surely expect them to sell, especially in a recession when people can now afford Dollar General prices.

You should have been here in January if you think a lot were for sale in October. I don't know if they sold, they gave up or we're waiting for the next wave, but I see hardly any signs in comparison to a year ago.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

When I was out there in October, every other home was for sale it seemed, I couldnt believe the sheer numbers. But now that homes out there are literally 1/2 the price they were 5 years ago, I would surely expect them to sell, especially in a recession when people can now afford Dollar General prices.

Not so, unlike Nevada, which 1 in 30 houses were for sale or foreclosure, Arizona was nowhere near that fire pit. Prices are however much, much lower now and suffered huge "corrections." Generally, this concerns 2005 price peaks, however, when home values in one year alone skyrocketed by over 34% in some cases! Investor speculation, trading up, sub-prime loans, etc lead to the huge historic run-ups in home values for those peak prices.

[cmist]

It only stands to reason that when a place is hit harder than anywhere else, its also going to recover more than anywhere else. Its good news in one sense that the prices have gotten so low that people really can afford them on their Walmart salaries, and thats what it takes to sell homes here. Sounds great.

So now we are granted this title of "fastest recovering" city... but seriously, if we didn't dip so low in the first place there would be no room at all to take the trophy home for fastest rebound.

There are homes down the street from me in a nice newer popular area close to 101 loop, that were selling for $280k, that are now listed on the market for $87k. Things are WAAY down in price, so Steve-O is right about Dollar General prices. I said this before myself.

If everyone dropped their price to $10 and all of Phoenix sold in one day, we would make the history books for the city with most home sales in one day in the entire world... but if you remove the price from the picture and just write a story about "Phoenix outsold every city on the planet with the highest number of homes sold to date", you can spread all kinds of unfounded cheer.

These articles are getting old. Why try to make everyone buy into such fluff?

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by cmist

It only stands to reason that when a place is hit harder than anywhere else, its also going to recover more than anywhere else. Its good news in one sense that the prices have gotten so low that people really can afford them on their Walmart salaries, and thats what it takes to sell homes here. Sounds great.

That's a pretty prejudicial statement. I suspect most home buyers in this surge are younger professionals, singles, and those starting their careers; RN's, Managerial, etc and can't afford $300,000 or $500,000 homes on a modest salary or young career starts. That is nothing bad at all. Many younger members in my family are buying now instead of renting and saving money!

So now we are granted this title of "fastest recovering" city... but seriously, if we didn't dip so low in the first place there would be no room at all to take the trophy home for fastest rebound.

These are based on percentages, weighted averages, and net gains and not on perceived or peak differences. That makes the comparisons much more level on a national scale.

There are homes down the street from me in a nice newer popular area close to 101 loop, that were selling for $280k, that are now listed on the market for $87k. Things are WAAY down in price, so Steve-O is right about Dollar General prices. I said this before myself.

Very true that they are available, in comparison, in my parent's neighborhood that is considered and "inner suburb" only "minutes" from downtown, a home in their neighborhood selling for $630,000 in 2005 just sold for $520,000. A home in Roosevelt sold a few months ago for $899,000 and was originally $1 million, a home in Melrose sold for $220,000 and was appraised for $247,000 in 2005...so there are pockets of hit and miss inflation and peak run-ups in prices...

If everyone dropped their price to $10 and all of Phoenix sold in one day, we would make the history books for the city with most home sales in one day in the entire world... but if you remove the price from the picture and just write a story about "Phoenix outsold every city on the planet with the highest number of homes sold to date", you can spread all kinds of unfounded cheer.

It sure would, but that economic scale doesn't exist. The fact that houses are selling and inventory shrinking will only make future markets tighter and if it continues prices will rise and demand continues and supply is limited; this is news for some cheer and as repeated before, if it continues will be good news for every homeowner as our values will increase.

These articles are getting old. Why try to make everyone buy into such fluff?

These articles are not getting old, they are representative of the market and what is occurring. They HAPPEN to be good news and good market indicators. It is only "getting old" or "fluff" and angers those who do not like Phoenix and hope for the city to continue downward. That there are indications otherwise, it seems some unhappy Phoenix bashers are "tired" of the continued good news and can only hope something terrible happens; what a nasty outlook and awful attitude.

[azjack]

"If everyone dropped their price to $10 and all of Phoenix sold in one day, we would make the history books for the city with most home sales in one day in the entire world... but if you remove the price from the picture and just write a story about "Phoenix outsold every city on the planet with the highest number of homes sold to date", you can spread all kinds of unfounded cheer."

Yes, but the National Association of Realtors would frown on that. They spent their lobbying money to get as many tax credit gimmicks as possible so that the intrinsic value of residential real estate does not have to be fully revealed. Your tax credit on a $10 Phoenix house would only be $1. That would hardly justify their spending. And the agent's commission would be pocket change. How is Lawrence Yun going to vacation on Martha's Vineyard with his organization's members having an annual income similar to that of a "give a penny, take a penny tray?"

Lawrence Yun Watch

[cmist]

Originally Posted by azjack

Yes, but the National Association of Realtors would frown on that. They spent their lobbying money to get as many tax credit gimmicks as possible so that the intrinsic value of residential real estate does not have to be fully revealed. Your tax credit on a $10 Phoenix house would only be $1. That would hardly justify their spending. And the agent's commission would be pocket change. How is Lawrence Yun going to vacation on Martha's Vineyard with his organization's members having an annual income similar to that of a "give a penny, take a penny tray?"

Lawrence Yun Watch

True, BUT if everyone in Phoenix just got together and did that regardless of NAR, you could very easily spin an article about a "booming" day of sales...

I am still bitter about the whole event and don't feel pride in taking home the trophy for the "fastest recovery". We wouldn't have been able or even needed to make such a steep recovery if it weren't preceded by a sharper fall than everywhere else. I would take more pride in being able to say that our city withstood the whole crisis better than anywhere else. Sharp falls and sharp rises just points to volatility.

Leaving out the critical details is a must in order to feel happy about this news. Some people just want to feel good at any cost, even its by way of burying their head in the desert sands they live in.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by cmist

True, BUT if everyone in Phoenix just got together and did that regardless of NAR, you could very easily spin an article about a "booming" day of sales...

I am still bitter about the whole event and don't feel pride in taking home the trophy for the "fastest recovery". We wouldn't have been able or even needed to make such a steep recovery if it weren't preceded by a sharper fall than everywhere else. I would take more pride in being able to say that our city withstood the whole crisis better than anywhere else. Sharp falls and sharp rises just points to volatility.

Leaving out the critical details is a must in order to feel happy about this news. Some people just want to feel good at any cost, even its by way of burying their head in the desert sands they live in.

which was preceded by a steeper rise than everywhere else. You always leave that out.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

which was preceded by a steeper rise than everywhere else. You always leave that out.

Right, and NO one is burying their heads in the sand but when fact seems to dim the light on naysayers, even if it is just a bit and good news, they always claim people are now burying their head in the sand and just "trying" to feel good about "some" good news.