Real Estate News

Here’s a chance for homebuyers to not be outbid by investors and get a house for $20. The Capitol Mall Association is raffling off two homes, one in south Phoenix and the other in west Phoenix.
Tickets are going for $20 apiece or six for $100, and the houses are renovated and ready to move into.
 
“These are great houses. Anybody who can get one for $20 will be very happy,” Capitol Mall Executive Director Shannon Dubasik said “But we are running out of time.”
 

Here’s a quick look at the latest statistics. April showed another month of positive gains for metro Phoenix’s housing market.
The region’s median monthly resale home price climbed to $138,325,from $131,000 in March, according to Tom Ruff’s analysis with AZbidder and Information Market.In October, the median was $115,000. Last month, there were 8,552 home sales across the Phoenix area, down from 9,581 in March but up from 7,293 in February.

The rebound of metro Phoenix’s new home market continues to build.
New home permits were up 61 percent in the region during March, accord to the latest Phoenix Housing Market Letter. The increase is more staggering than the actual numbers, but still it signals “evidence of a new housing rebound,” according the report’s publishers RL Brown and Greg Burger.
In March, there were 1,036 single-family permits issued. It was the first month in awhile where home- building permits topped 1,000.

Arizona job growth will add 47,100 jobs this year and another 55,800 in 2013 according to Aruna Murthy of the AZ Department of Administration Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

 The Arizona Housing Alliance, made up of  leaders in the housing industry, is considering legal action to stop a proposed $50 million sweep from the mortgage settlement fund to balance the state’s budget.   

Home prices are surging in metro Phoenix, climbing 8 percent in March alone and 20 percent in the past 12 months Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

Scams to try to cash in on the $25 billion settlement with the nation’s largest lenders have already begun, and the deal was finalized just last month.

The Arizona Attorney General is warning consumers to watch out for companies contacting them about the settlement. People who are eligible for part of the settlement will be contacted directly by one of the five major lenders involved — BofA, Citigroup, the former GMAC (now known as Ally Financial), JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Phoenix home values are forecasted to experience the largest national gains in 2012, according to a recent report by Zillow. Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

Phoenix group called VIZZDA, which stands for visual data, has created a website with information on commercial foreclosures in metro Phoenix. VIZZDA has data, photos, video, past ownership and the current foreclosure status of all metro Phoenix’s commercial properties and vacant land.

Users including banks, investors, brokers, contractors and vendors, can see what commercial properties are in foreclosure on any given block, a mile-radius or city and then compare them with comps, or recent sales, of similar properties.

Phoenix group called VIZZDA, which stands for visual data, has created a website with information on commercial foreclosures in metro Phoenix. VIZZDA has data, photos, video, past ownership and the current foreclosure status of all metro Phoenix’s commercial properties and vacant land.

Users including banks, investors, brokers, contractors and vendors, can see what commercial properties are in foreclosure on any given block, a mile-radius or city and then compare them with comps, or recent sales, of similar properties.

Phoenix housing has only an inventry of 30 days and new home builders that have on the sidelines are scrambling to get homes on the market Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

DMB Associates promoted Charley Freericks  to president earlier this week. Here are some opinions on the housing market, and DMB’s future from the the veteran of Arizona real estate.
1. How would you describe metro Phoenix’s current housing market? Economy?

 This year’s list has few new ones. North Scottsdale Silverleaf community is becoming more popular with mulit-million dollar buyers, but most of the region’s most expensive mansions are still In Paradise Valley.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/realestate/articles/2012/04/05/20120405Phoenix-scottsdale-most-expensive-homes-real-estate.html …

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Home sales shot up 22.3 percent in March as increasingly confident buyers rushed to snap up houses in the peak buying season. Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

Naysayers of metro Phoenix’s housing market recovery might be swayed by this: the median price of an existing home in the region climbed 7 percent during March.
Last month, the median price of a Phoenix-area used home reached $131,000, according the real estate firm AZBidder. That’s the highest the median for the area since June 2010.
A little more positive data. In April, 9,587 houses sold across the region. That’s the highest level since June 2009.

The National Fair Housing Alliance investigated nine metro areas, including metro Phoenix, to determine if foreclosure properties in Black and Latino neighborhoods were being maintained and marketed by lenders as well as foreclosures in predominately White neigborhoods. It’s report was released earlier this week.

Phoenix real estate is making headlines but for positive reasons. It now appears to be one of the strongest of the major metropolitan areas Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

Metro Phoenix’s high-end housing market received a boost earlier this week when a 35,000-square-foot mansion in Paradise Valley sold for $10.5 million in cash. It’s the region’s highest price home resale since the boom, though there have been some pricier homes built.
The house, situated on 5 acres, was once owned by Phillips Smith, former chairman of Taser International. He gave the home back to lender M&I Bank in 2011.The buyer, M56 Place LLC, has carefully covered the names of its principals, the people who will own the home.

Phoenix hard hit by the housing bubble a recent rebound in home sales — and in home prices — has spurred talk of a recovery there Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

The federal government’s expanded Home Affordable Refinancing Program that allows many homeowners to refinance no matter how underwater they are with their mortgage was officially launched last week.
But many frustrated buyers and loan officers are having trouble getting applications accepted by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A homeowner has to have a loan backed by one of the two to be eligible.
Homeowners also can’t have missed or been late on a payment during the past six months.

For anyone still in doubt about home prices increasing in the metro Phoenix area: Today  March 28, the price-per-square-foot of a home sale in the region had climbed 8.68 percent from the end of February, according to the Cromford Report.
Mike Orr, publisher of the online real estate report, said that beats the highest monthly price jump during the region’s housing boom: 7.47 percent during January 2005.
The biggest 30-day price change during the past decade happened during September 2007 but that was a drop of 9 percent.
  …

Hiring is expected to increase in several areas of the Arizona economy this year as the recovery picks up momentum and employers gain confidence. Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

Home sales are up across the valley. But many families looking for affordable places to live are getting squeezed out as more and more investors move in. Continue reading →

Phoenix Arizona Homes - Real Estate news &blogs in the SE valley Phoenix AZ

 After hours of testimony before the House Commerce Committee earlier this week, legislation to create an Arizona program to allow underwater homeowners to refinance to interest-only mortgages with lower rates stalled. 
This was Sen. Michelle Reagan’s second try with the program. The legislation, most recently known as Senate Bill 1221, would create an Arizona Housing Finance Authority to administer the program and bonds to set up the system. Homeowners could volunteer for the program, and investors could purchase their loans for 10 years.