Posts Tagged ‘tax credit’

“the market recovery that prevailed from March 2009 to November 2009 was followed by stability between December 2009 and May 2010. We no longer have stability or recovery. The market is in decline.” From the Cromford Report 8/17/2010

• Wow! Sure sounds a little depressing when reading the latest articles written by Mike Orr of the Cromford Report.  Click on photo above for the PDF of the entire article if you are interested in reading all of the details.  It’s basically a result of the Tax Credit giving us an artificial demand for housing- when that went away, so did demand and now prices have dropped. 
• We’ve seen an increase of homeowners as a result call to get started with the short sale process.  They’ve tried hanging on as long as they can but this second wave of decline has hit them to a place where the recovery seems doubtful if they remain in their current home/situation.
• LUCKILY INTEREST RATES ARE AT AN ALL TIME LOW and coupled with SUPER LOW PRICES COMPARABLE WITH THE MID 90’S IN MANY AREAS- The monthly payment and overall savings to just 6 months ago far exceeds what someone had received with the tax credit.
• We have a great home in Maricopa for example- $70,000- built in 04, 2300sqft, with a principal and interest payment based on an FHA loan of only $350 a month???  That’s just with $2500 down!!
• We saw some homes sell in March and April for much much higher because people were driving prices up just to get the tax credit and with a higher interest rate at that time too.  Same home would easily cost $8k more just a few months ago right off the top not to mention what the difference monthly would add up too in just a few years of ownership.
• SO MORAL TO THIS STORY- IF YOU “MISSED OUT” ON THE TAX CREDIT- BE GLAD AND BUY A HOME TODAY!  IT’S ACTUALLY A MUCH BETTER TIME TO BUY THAN IT WAS JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO!

Our Website allows you to search the MLS on your own just like we do- Click here to search homes in your area now! or call us at 480-243-4242 and we’ll be happy to send you a list of Foreclosed Homes or any type of home that you may be looking for.

Here’s a link to the June Market report I wrote based on last month’s reports coming from Mike Orr of the Cromford Report.  If you want to get a better idea of what is going on in our market place today; I recommend reading both.  I’ve been full time in Real Estate since 1993 and I can definitely say we are on the road to recovery but we still have a long way before we get there.

Why hire us? If you need help in either selling or buying a home or know someone that does, please click here to get started or call us at 480-243-4242. 

(Please click on photo above for a downloadable PDF of the article written by Mike Orr of the Cromford Report; bullet points listed below)

Last month; in Metro Phoenix’s Real Estate Market we saw the supply of REOs increased substantially, short sales were stable and normal listings declined in number:

• REO listings grew 11% from 5,087 to 5,626 (Greater Phoenix, all types)
• Short Sales / Pre-foreclosure listings grew 1% from 16183 to 16,347 (Greater Phoenix, all types)
• Normal listings fell 5% from 18,123 to 17,226 (Greater Phoenix, all types)

• Because sales pricing is higher than last year, we saw a more significant 8.6% jump in dollar volume which is good news for the optimists.
• It seems likely that almost anyone who wants a "starter home" in 2010 and could get approved for a home loan has already purchased one before the Tax Credit expired at the end of April.
• Overall we can say with confidence that the luxury market is now showing strong signs of improvement while the low end end of the market is weakening significantly. The weakness in lender-owned homes is particularly noticeable, with REO sales volume down 36% year on year. 
• These annual charts are very slow to react to changes but confirm the bottom of the market is now over a year behind us.  The most important measures of real home pricing – the average price, median price and average $ per sq. ft. of homes that actually sell have been moving in a general upward direction for Greater Phoenix since April/May 2009.
• New notices of trustee sale dropped another 8% from April, to the lowest monthly number (6,471) since July 2008. Trustee sales also dropped 8% to 4,090, the lowest total since November 2009. 
• Nevertheless market distress remains very high and will dominate the market for at least the next two years. Short sales are becoming more significant as each month goes by, while lender-owned properties become gradually less so.
• The market is still fragile and although it has stabilized over the last year, we must caution that in the last several days the Cromford Market Index has been falling fast due to weakening demand matched with a fairly strong and stable supply.
• The biggest question we have right now:  Are the changes we have seen in the last month merely due to the end of the tax credit or are the result of more significant changes in the demand for housing??

Stay tuned for next months update and we hope to be able to answer that question for you.  In the meantime; if you’d like to discuss your particular situation with one of our very talented and experienced Realtors, please call us at 480-243-4242.