Are foreclosures on the rise in Arizona?

The article, Foreclosures on rise in Arizona, Valley, from the Phoenix Business Journal, reports that home foreclosures are on the rise in Arizona as the housing market continues to cool down and as interest rates rise. Foreclosures.com, a No. Cal.- based real estate investment advisory firm, reported that more than 8,000 properties went into foreclosure in Arizona during the first six months of the year. Maricopa County accounted for the bulk of the foreclosure activity with 5,215 foreclosure notices during the first six months of this year."Too many people have been using their homes as ATM machines to manage consumer debt. Now that interest rates are coming back up to normal levels, the refinance window is closed to these people and they are being squeezed by rising home payments," said Alexis McGee, Foreclosures.com president. McGee also said homes prices will not crash like they did in the early 1990's. "Back then, overbuilding by developers led to excess inventory and what we call competitive liquidation of unsold new homes. This time, the inventory just isn't there," she said. For more, go to www.foreclosures.com.

Homeowners settling and Homebuilders regroup

The first article, Valley homeowners may have to settle into homes, from the Arizona Republic, reports that the 50 percent rise in home prices last year had people buying and selling houses like dot-com stocks, thinking strictly about profits. This year, with the market slowdown, houses are lingering on the market longer and many are selling for less than their asking prices, a return to the days where people bought homes as a place to live. "Buyers have to look at a house now as something that they're going to move into and live for a while instead of something that they will hold for a few months and sell for a $100,000 profit," said Neil Brooks, an agent with Century 21 Arizona-Foothills. "People now have to look at their house as a home, not as an ATM." The fast-money speculators who helped drive up the home prices have taken their money and run. That leaves the pool of Valley buyers dominated by rank and file consumers and long-term investors who will hold the property for its rental income. Buyers are being cautious and holding out for the best deal with all of the inventory on the market.

Valley homeowners may have to settle into homes
http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0717piggybank0717.html



The second article, Builders regroup in Valley, from the Arizona Republic, reports that a year after they set records for revenue and income and their stocks lit up Wall Street, homebuilders are scrambling to recover from a downturn that has sent their share prices plunging and forced them to reassess their strategies to increase sales. Some builders are slashing prices on existing inventory. Builders are circling back to their subdivisions, running demographic profiles and realizing that their customer can no longer afford the houses that were within financial reach before last year's boom, said local housing analyst RL Brown. The median sales price of a new home in the Valley sits at $297,000 in May, up more than $76,000, or 35 percent, from the same month last year.

Builders regroup in Valley
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=112E8ECAF9CDF940&p_docnum=2&p_theme=gannett&s_site=azcentral&p_product=ARPB

Mesa ranks third in nation

The article, Three East Valley cities named top places to live, from the East Valley Tribune, reports that Money magazine announced that Mesa ranked third on its list of "Best Big Cities" in the U.S., following number 1 Colorado Springs, CO and number 2 Austin, TX. It was one of several East Valley cities to make the cut in the financial magazine's 2006 list of the top 100 cities in which to live. The magazine ranked Gilbert as the 16th best city of any size, and Scottsdale came in seventh. Although Mesa ranked higher among cities with a population of 300,000 or more, it came in 93rd when all city sizes were considered. Every year, the magazine selects the best places to live based on a number of criteria, including ease of living, crime rates, education, leisure and culture, weather, health and transportation. Mesa was boosted by its relative affordability, Scottsdale by its golf courses and recreational opportunities, and Gilbert by its exceptional job growth. Great article to send to your out-of-state clients looking to buy here.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=69834

June weather was hot....but sales were cold....it's a buyer's market!

The first article, June resale home sales fall to near 2000 levels , from the Phoenix Business Journal , reports that June resales fell to a six-year low with 5,460 recorded sales, according to the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU. June's activity is down from the 6,870 sales recorded n May. So far this year, there have been 36,290 resales, while year to date resale totals last year were at 58,030. However, Arizona Real Estate Center Director Jay Butler noted that the current level of activity is very comparable to year-to-date recorded sales in 2003, which wasn't too bad of a year. The article gives a city-by-city breakdown of the June 2006 resales and prices, compared with June 2005.
June resale home sales fall to near 2000 levels
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/07/10/daily29.html?t=printable


The second article, June was a cold month for resales , from the Arizona Republic , also reports on the June resale numbers from the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU. It quotes Jay Butler as saying "It was a lot weaker than I thought it would be. I see a lot of for-sale signs staying up. I'm seeing homes that are on their third agent. Homes are getting initial drive-by activity from buyers, then nothing." For the year, sales are down 38 percent from 2005's record levels, and down 25 percent from 2004 sales levels. The median sales price in June rose to $267,000. John Foltz, president of Realty Executives, thinks sales prices will fall 10 to 12 percent this year but said that prices rose 40 percent last year. "This is a very healthy adjustment", he said.
June was a cold month for resales
http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0713resale0713.html



The Arizona Republic also has articles from all of the SE Valley community sections specifically discussing the resale numbers in each city, which we have included in the following links:

Ahwatukee home resales plummet
http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/0713ar-evresales0713Z14.html
Home resales plummeting in Chandler
Dive 'a surprise' but prices up from June '05
http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/0713cr-resales0713Z6.html

Gilbert home resale prices up slightly
http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/0713gr-resales0713Z12.html

Mesa median home price increases
But sales numbers decline in traditionally strong June
http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/community/mesa/articles/0713mr-resales0713Z11.html

Scottsdale Home resales slide 13 percent
Scottsdale prices inch up as market cools
http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/0713sr-homesales0713Z8.html

Phoenix still continues to grow, plus cottage concept to be built in Ahwatukee

The first article, Cottages planned for Ahwatukee, from the Arizona Republic, reports that Montevina Estate Homes plans to build 15 "cottages" on a 2-acre infill parcel at 3510 E. Lakewood Parkway West in Ahwatukee. The Cottages at Lakewood will be classified as condominiums. "We call it a cluster project. You see this all the time in Orange County," said Jason Kush of Montevina Estate Homes. The homes will be 1,900 to 2,200 square feet, with prices from the mid $400,000's Kush said it took about a year to get plans approved by Phoenix because of the unusual concept.

http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/0710evcottages0710.html

The second article, It's official, Maricopa County Keeps on Growing, from the Maricopa Association of Governments, reports on the latest Census population numbers and shows that Maricopa County added more than 600,000 residents over the last five years! That's over 20% growth in just five years. The article gives a link that shows the population for each city and town in Maricopa County. The fastest growing cities were El Mirage, Queen Creek, Buckeye, Goodyear, Surprise and Youngtown. Shows that people are still moving to the Phoenix metro area in great numbers.

http://www.mag.maricopa.gov/detail.cms?item=6189