The number of active listings in the Phoenix real estate market remained relatively constant for yet another month. The drop in the number of listings was only 587 listings from March 1st to April 1st. The big news expects to be the total number of homes sold for March 2010. It looks as though home sales may approach the 9,000 mark, making March the biggest residential sales month since last July.

Read the chart this way:
"Residential listings in The Phoenix area totaled 34,461 to begin April 2010, a drop of 587 from March. 14,087 of those listings are foreclosure listings (bank owned or REO properties and short sales). Foreclosures make up 40.9% of the total listings.

Talk of "shadow inventory" still looms on blogs and in the news.

The second chart shows the breakdown between the normal listings and the foreclosure listings. Read the chart this way:
"20,374 listings are "normal listings that have been on the market for an average of 172 days. 14,087 listings are foreclosure listings that have been on the market an average of 102 days."

Short sales have dragged that number higher as bank owned homes slip off the market much sooner than short sales in Metro Phoenix. Real estate with short sales continues to be an adventure.

Short Sale Roulette

Phoenix Real Estate sales were up 14% in February 2010.

February only had 28 days, but that was enough time to beat January's total home sales in Metro Phoenix. Real estate residential sales increased from 5,812 in January to 6,613 home sales in February 2010. Need we ask why? The answer continues to be last minute shopping for the tax credit fueled by low interest rates. Expect more of the same during the next few months.

Read the chart in this manner: 6,613 homes sold in February in Metro Phoenix . Real estate defined as "normal" sales (not bank owned property or short sales) accounted for 2,463 sales, or 37.2% of the total. 4,150 sales were foreclosure related which comprised 62.8% of the total.

Here's another interesting statistic. Year over year sales, commonly known as YOY (a common industry comparison standard), have been up for 21 consecutive months (not completely shown by the chart ). YOY essentially compares the sales in February 2010 to the sales in February 2009, the sales in January 2010 to the sales in January 2009, and so on. In other words, Phoenix real estate sales have consistently been improved from the previous year.

It's also interesting to note that foreclosures (bank owned or REO property and shorts sales) officially accounted for over 1/2 all sales in the Phoenix real estate market beginning in October 2008. They have surged as high as 75.9% but have yet to drop below the 50% mark. My chart goes back to June 2007 for anyone who wants a longer term perspective.

My next post will evaluate the number of foreclosure sales and their makeup in terms of how many were lender owned properties and how many were short sales.

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Phoenix Real Estate Market remains dominated by Phoenix foreclosures.

The number of active listings in and around metropolitan Phoenix remained virtually unchanged from February to March of 2010. As depicted in the chart, property listings hit a several year low in September 2009.  They have been slowly on the rise since that time.  The chart also indicates the dramatic difference since 2008 when listings were over 50,000, thereby accounting for the swing in the market from a complete buyer's market to a market that has occasionally been referred to as a seller's market in Phoenix.  Real estate listings in some locations around the Valley have sparked a seller's market because of extreme competition for low priced Metro Phoenix foreclosures. It's no real surprise because real estate prices in the Phoenix housing market are at their lowest levels in 10-years AND interest rates are still low.

The chart also shows that 41.2% of all listings in the Phoenix area are foreclosures. I am defining foreclosures as bank owned homes and short sales.

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There currently 9,200 homes for sale in the city of  Phoenix. Real estate deals are around every corner in the Metro area. Many REO properties need some work and we expect that. Some Phoenix real estate deals  need lots of work and cause potential buyers to go hmmmm .... And then there's the occasional house that really stinks! Literally.

I took a buyer, who flew in from New Zealand, out to look at REO properties on Wednesday and saw some really good deals for Phoenix homes for sale. The banks don't like to waste time anymore and most are starting to price properties really aggressively ... enough so that many REO homes are still getting up to 15-20 visits in the first week. I took a buyer, who flew in from New Zealand, out to look at REO properties on Wednesday and saw some really good deals for Phoenix real estate. The banks are getting wise to the game, and most are starting to price really aggressively ... enough so that many REO homes are getting up to 20 visits in the first 1-2 weeks.

Well, we are 5 homes into our search when we open the door to a really nice looking home in Phoenix. Real estate memories fill my mind, but this was one of those moments that would have been interesting to record -- then watch our reaction on video. I knew something was wrong as soon as I swung open the door. 5 steps into the house and my eyes were beginning to sting. Holy pet urine Batman! This was not the work of a random "tinkler." These pets had the run of the place. I never thought I would need to stop by Big 5 Sports and buy 2 gas masks before showing any Phoenix homes for sale.

My client was shocked at the smell. It was almost so thick it could be cut with a knife. But after traveling half way around the world to look at Phoenix real estate she could not be stopped. She proceeded to do a quick walk-through of the downstairs and headed upstairs. I started to assess her weight and wondered if I would need to carry her out of the house. It has been awhile since I worked out regularly at the gym. My mind started remembering the correct lifting techniques to avoid back injury.

She disappeared up the stairs and I tried to regain my senses. It occurred to me that she might think this yank was a pansy, so I darted up the stairs. That was a mistake because I started to breath harder. My memory was jolted into remembering that warm air rises. If it was possible, the smell was even worse upstairs. Of all the Phoenix real estate I could have been in ... then I lost my train of thought.

Where am I?

Then I remembered. My client came out of the master bedroom and headed for the stairs (thank you God). She didn't appear faint (thank you God). We headed outside and locked up the house. My client actually liked the floor plan and features and commented that removing the carpet would help a lot. She wondered what my thoughts were on the subject.

I actually had thoughts on the subject because, first of all, my sight and mind was returning. I told her I had bought a house with a similar problem at the trustee's sale, which of course was "sight unseen" (and smell un-smelled). I described the process of scrubbing and sealing concrete. I described the process of sanding and sealing 2x4's that were along the concrete floor. Thankfully she was losing interest in the house and I wouldn't need to return (thank you God)! On to better smelling Phoenix real estate!

Today I received an email from the listing agent wondering what I thought about the house. It was then I decided to write this post. My return email will contain a link to it. That should be satisfactory feedback, don't you think?

Phoenix Real Estate Market- Record Setting December, 2009?

Yes, it's true. We had 7,670 residential sales in the Phoenix real estate market last month, though it wasn't quite the all-time high. December 2004 was the only month in this last decade that had higher sales, and that was by less than 200 homes. Is that an amazing feat for the Phoenix real estate market? Definitely, considering that December is historically one of the lower sales months in the entire year as people turn towards holiday shopping and parties. It's also an impressive feat considering all of that doom and gloom reporting on the national economy.

Take a look at these numbers from the Arizona Regional MLS.

MONTH - SALES
2009 - 7,670
2008 - 5,630
2007 - 3,347
2006 - 5,311
2005 - 6,527
2004 - 7,829
2003 - 6,311
2002 - 5,954
2001 - 4,531
2000 - 3,907

Additionally, 2009 recorded the third highest residential sales in the last decade. 2004 and 2005 (boom years) were the only two years with higher residential sales in the Phoenix real estate market.

33,014 more homes were sold in 2009 than in 2008, or a 55.7% increase!

YEAR - SALES
2009 - 92,292
2008 - 59,278
2007 - 54,231
2006 - 74,106
2005 - 104,133
2004 - 98,294
2002 - 68,411
2001 - 62,523
2000 - 55,400

There are currently 33,278 homes for sale in Metro Phoenix. Real estate sales are off to a pretty good start in January 2010 after a great December 2009.

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