Many reports have come out that indicate the Phoenix housing market is very much on its way to recovery. The official stats for 2011 have been released by ARMLS and it really was an incredible year for the Phoenix and Scottsdale Real Estate market.

2011 came in second for total number of property sales, just behind 2005 which is classified as the height of the real estate bubble. There were 101,436 sales in 2011 and 104,725 in 2005. As you can see these numbers are very close. Buyers are coming to the Phoenix area to buy properties. It is getting fairly competitive.

The total number of new listings in 2011 was 121,041. Mid 2002 to 2004 are classified as the last normal markets in the Phoenix area. In 2002 there were 125,738 new listings on the market. We are currently below the normal market which is a very good thing considering that there is still some correction needed from the high 173,363 new listings in 2006.

Overall things are looking up in the Phoenix housing market. Now is definitely a great time to buy before the prices start to slide into a sellers market. In many of the high demand areas we are already seeing slight price increases so don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to buy at very low prices.

If you have any questions about Phoenix or Scottsdale homes for sale feel free to call me at (800) 300-0263. I would be happy to help you find the home you want at the best price possible.

Carmen Brodeur BA, LLB
Arizona Realtor / Former Alberta Lawyer
(800) 300-0263
Carmen@ThePhoenixExperts.com
www.ThePhoenixExperts.com

Phoenix Real Estate is a great option when considering where to purchase your next vacation home or condo. We have great weather nine months out of the year, an endless number of restaurants, shopping centers and golf courses. Here are a few tips that will help you when searching for a home in the Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona area.

I would recommend starting off by speaking with your spouse or family members about the specific criteria that is important to you when purchasing your vacation home. From there you can visit our website to see what Phoenix Homes are available and if your specific criteria fits into your ideal price range.

Once you have narrowed down the area of the city, your price range, the home or condo amenities that are important to you, etc. then I can set you up on a custom property search that will allow access to the most accurate and up to date properties that are on the market.

When you are ready to look at some properties in person, I will schedule showings at your favorites. You should expect to see up to about seven homes per day. I do not recommend seeing more than seven in a single day just because they start to become a blur and details of each home are more difficult for you to sort through. You will have a much clearer image of each home if you limit the number viewed each day.

If you find particular properties that you especially like it is always a good idea to take pictures so that you will have them for later. Also, jot down notes about which homes you do and do not like. We always provide a print out of each home you are viewing for the day just for this reason. It is our way of helping you stay as organized as possible while selecting an ideal home for your lifestyle.

Once you have carefully considered each home and have reached a point where you are ready to present an offer to the seller, make sure you are ready with the documentation necessary to submit the offer. In Arizona, you are required to provide proof of funds or a Pre-Qualification form from a lender.

I strive to be the most professional Realtor you will ever encounter. Please feel free to call me at (800) 600-6110 about Phoenix and Scottsdale Homes for Sale.

Carmen Brodeur BA, LLB
Arizona Realtor / Former Alberta Lawyer

Realty Executives
www.ThePhoenixExperts.com
1-800-600-6110

The latest Real Estate statistics on the Maricopa County median home sales price has been released by The Arizona Regional MLS. These statistics will give you a general idea of the entire Phoenix and Scottsdale markets. According to ARMLS the home prices hit bottom in March 2009 when the median home price decreased from $265,000 to $125,000. That is a very dramatic drop for the real estate market.

According to numbers at the end of 2009 the market has stabilized and home prices are going up at a steady rate in Maricopa County. There has been a lateral trend of stabilized prices or slight price increases over the past 8 months. It is clear that we have seen the worst of the real estate market crash and home prices are going to continue to steadily increase, especially in the finer North Scottsdale communities of Maricopa County. During the crash many Phoenix area communities saw a drop in home prices of 50% or more.

If you are interested in viewing more detailed sales updates for the Phoenix or Scottsdale Arizona areas visit my website at www.ThePhoenixExperts.com. I am always happy to answer your questions, feel free to call me at (800) 300-0263 or email me at Carmen@ScottsdaleExperts.com.

Carmen Brodeur BA, LLB
Arizona Realtor / Former Alberta Lawyer
www.ThePhoenixExperts.com
1-800-300-0263

Click here to view Scottsdale Foreclosures or REOs

The old adage “You Get What You Pay For” is very true in real estate. I fully understand it is very difficult to search for a Phoenix home online from Canada. However, if you see houses online that are priced under $100,000 you need to ask yourself why they are priced that way. Generally homes under six figures are in the farthest edges of the city. Living on the edge of the city presents many challenges. The commute into the city is usually fierce. This is a major consideration whether you work here or not. Even if you are only coming as a snowbird to enjoy the weather, you will still have to leave your home to shop, get gas, for entertainment and to go restaurants. If there is a lack of basic grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants etc you will still have to fight the traffic to get to those places. Communities such as Maricopa and Queen Creek are exburbs, not suburbs. They are practically out in the desert on the way to Tucson. There are no decent freeways in that area. All the roads are congested 24-7 from what I hear. This affects not only whether you enjoy your home, but also future appreciation and investment potential. If locals don’t want to live there, you will have a difficult time selling your home in the future. Please feel free to call me to discuss the local areas and what community might suit you best. We are here to help. We want to help you find the perfect vacation, retirement or investment home.

Marc Brodeur, Realtor
www.ThePhoenixExperts.com
1-800-300-0263

According to statistics, December is the single best month to buy a home. December has the lowest number of properties going into escrow. Most people are preoccupied by the holidays and put aside house shopping until after the new year. That simply means there are less buyers in December. Sellers get desperate in December when the number of buyers in the market dry up. People who make offers on homes in December have less competition and sellers are much more receptive to any and all offers. If you are seriously considering purchasing a home in Phoenix or Scottsdale this winter, try to do it in December. You could save a lot of money. Feel free to contact me about Phoenix or Scottsdale real estate. Live the lifestyle you deserve!

The Phoenix real estate market is shifting rapidly! September 2008 had the highest number of homes sold in over 30 months according to Arizona Regional MLS! There is a significant upward trend of the number of homes sold. The number of homes pending (under contract, waiting to close) is currently the highest it has been in 3 years.

The latest statistics on Phoenix real estate show the market is heading towards a normal market from a buyers market. A normal market is 7 or less months of inventory. We are now below 9 months of inventory. This is only the second time since 2006 that we are below 9 months of inventory.

Phoenix should be back to a normal market by the second quarter of 2009 at the latest, if the current trend continues. The homeowner’s bail out bill signed by President Bush should further help to stabilize the housing market. Don’t wait too long to take advantage of the cheap home prices we still have in Phoenix!

Marc Brodeur, Realtor
www.ThePhoenixExperts.com
1-800-300-0263

Well the banks are getting some interesting medicine now. A lender that I meet with regularly told me she had 2 loans she was working on that hit some unexpected bumps. They were on purchases of bank owned properties that did not appraise for the value of the home. The “winners” of bidding wars excitedly dashed off to the bank after winning a bidding war……..only to find out they don’t appraise for what they bid. And now the bank can’t sell them for that price as they can’t get financing.

Wow. Is it a sign the market is in fact very close to the bottom? Here in Phoenix we have had the prices plummet to near depression era levels in parts of the city. The far west valley and the far east valley have been particularly hit hard.

During the depression prices dropped up to 65%. I am regularly seeing price drops of 40-50%, and occasionally 60%. Yet the economy is not in that bad of shape. Here in Arizona most of my buyers are coming from Canada and paying cash. Where else can you buy a 3300 square foot home for $210,000 that was built 2 years ago? What a bargain. How much farther will this go? It can’t go much farther down!

I can easily find the previous price paid for any home currently on the market and thus determine the price drop. If you are interested in a particular home and want to know how much of a price drop there has been just give me a call or email me. I will pull the records for that home and let you know. I am always happy to help.

Marc Brodeur, REALTOR

www.ThePhoenixExperts.com

1-800-300-0263

Occasionally I will run the numbers on zip codes in the Phoenix area to see how they look. As of tonight (Sunday, July 13th at 1130 PM AZ Mountain Standard Time) Surprise’s 85379 zip code and Buckeye’s 85326 zip code both had 649 foreclosures scheduled in the next 90 days. If those zip codes were fully built out (ie 10,000 addresses), and that is unlikely as they are half pasture, there are approximately 1 in 15 homes headed to foreclosure this quarter in those areas. The quarter that follows or precedes this does not include the same homes. When the foreclosures stop flowing it will be interesting to see how many homes foreclosed in those zip codes. I would guestimate it would be a few thousand over an 18 month span with probably another 1000 in short sales. Both of these zip codes had an explosion in building during the bubble and a great deal of so called investors (now called speculators). It is interesting how verbiage evolves isn’t it?

Continuing on, Goodyear’s 85338 currently has 466 foreclosure notices. They are the runner up in the west valley. Again a lot of construction in that zip code during the bubble.

In the far north valley, we have Anthem’s 85086 coming in at 431 current foreclosure notices.

One has to understand that not all will end up foreclosing. The odd one will actually cure in the 90 day period, but that is the exception in this market. Most foreclose and a smaller percentage also are sold via short sale before foreclosure. That is if the bank will actually get back to you before the foreclosure date! It amazes me how many of these pre-foreclosure/future trustee sales are not even active listings when one does this search. It is hard to sell a property as a short sale when they aren’t even listed! The owners most likely don’t see the short sale helping them much, especially if they were an “investor-read speculator” during the bubble. When you have 5 properties going to foreclosure, will a short sale or two actually help your credit rating vs 3 foreclosures? So they walk….

Litchfield Park’s 85340 came in at 296 foreclosures. Getting better as we get closer to the 101.

Scottsdale’s 85255 had 255 foreclosures. During the bubble 500 new homes were built in DC Ranch’s Desert Parks area. That is northeast of the 101. There are a lot of trustee sales scheduled in that area. 85254 had 204, mostly in condo conversion projects converted during the bubble. Not really a big surprise. Far north Scottsdale’s 85262 had 108 foreclosure notices, and 85259 (Hidden Hills area of Scottsdale) had 170.

Desert Ridge’s 85054 had only 22. Amazing. Almost 20 are in a condo conversion project. Converted during the bubble unsurprisingly. So the rest of the east side of Desert Ridge which didn’t have any single family homes built during the bubble have 4, that is correct, 4 foreclosures. I guess people just can’t walk away from good shopping! Hey Nordstrom’s is coming to City North, why would anyone sell their home there right? ; )

The west side of Desert Ridge (85050) where Aviano was built during the bubble has 121 foreclosure notices. Are we seeing a pattern here? Any zip code with a lot of building activity during the bubble has a lot of foreclosures now.

Paradise Valley has 44 currently scheduled. It will be interesting to see how many are scheduled in a few more quarters. Many luxury home builders speculated in 85253 and started building with out a buyer and now they sit. Only the crickets are active. Homes over 3 million are as common as bigfoot sightings right now in the Business Journal.

Biltmore’s 85016 has 225 foreclosure notices. Many are condo conversions or new condos in that zip code also. Arcadia’s 85018 has 157 foreclosure notices. Mid-town’s 85012 has 37 scheduled, and 85013 has 80 scheduled. Interestingly those last 2 zip codes actually appreciated in value in 2007.

If you have any foreclosure questions, feel free to shoot me an email @ Marc@ThePhoenixExperts.com or call me at 602 692 4288.

Marc Brodeur
Realtor
www.ThePhoenixExperts.com
Marc@ThePhoenixExperts.com
(602) 692-4288
1-800-300-0263

I am often asked whether the real estate market is “dead” in Phoenix. Prices have dropped so much lately, people are wondering who in their right minds are buying homes? I’ll tell you who – SMART PEOPLE. Now is is GREAT time to buy in Phoenix. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying for the stock market “Buy Low, Sell High” – well the same adage applies to real estate. Prices of homes in Phoenix have dropped dramatically. People who purchase now and sit on it for a few years are going to make some serious money in appreciation. All market indicators suggest we are close to the bottom of the market. People who take advantage of current market conditions by buying now will be smiling soon – and will be quite pleased with themselves.

Marc Brodeur
Realtor
www.ThePhoenixExperts.com
1-800-300-0263