Phoenix Real Estate Blog: My 317st Blog – Taking a Look Back - 07/30/09 02:51 PM
 
Today will be my 371st blog.  Wow.  As I was reading in the New York Times about the roller-coaster ride that has been our housing market over the last several years, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool to celebrate my 371st blog with a look back at what I’ve been talking about since I began MyPhoenixMLSBlog.com in October 2007 – about 3 months after the Phoenix real estate market peaked and prices began declining?”


Source: New York Times
It’s painfully clear from the blog headlines over the past year and a half that no one saw coming what … (0 comments)

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: The ABCs of “Strategic” Mortgage Defaults - 07/28/09 02:42 PM
 
Last Friday I posted on the fact that 26% of all mortgage defaults are “strategic” -- where the homeowner can afford the mortgage but chooses to walk away, most often because of negative equity (when the homeowner owes more on the mortgage than the home is worth).
I ended with the question “What can you do about it?”  To answer that question, and to get the inside scoop on the strategic default trend, I talked with a local real estate attorney.  Here’s what I learned:
Credit score implications
Most mortgage lenders won’t lend to people who have had a foreclosure … (0 comments)

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: 26% of Mortgage Defaults Are “Strategic” - 07/27/09 04:04 PM
 
It feels like I posted just yesterday on the topic of walking away from a mortgage, but I checked and it was in fact 2 weeks ago -- how time flies!  Nevertheless, I’m not a fan of belaboring points, but this one just keeps rearing its head -- in the blogosphere and in the mainstream news.  And since most Phoenicians are, in one way or another, affected by foreclosures, I thought it appropriate to address the issue again.
This time, I have a name for what I’ve been referring to as “walking away” -- it’s apparently called a “strategic default” … (17 comments)

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Reading the Tea Leaves, Now May be the Time to Buy - 07/22/09 02:18 PM
 
The Associated Press reported today that the gap between the monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home and the median monthly rent has shrunk from a $777 difference three years ago to $221 today (in other words, today, monthly rent payments are, on average, $221 less than monthly mortgage payments).
That phenomenon, which is owed primarily to rising home affordability (not rising rents), combined with the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax incentive, the usual mortgage interest tax deductions, and relatively low prices make Phoenix-area homes look mighty enticing to would-be buyers.
As more and more first-time buyers enter the market, though, … (0 comments)

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Near the Bottom of the Housing Market in Phoenix? - 07/17/09 03:04 PM
 
I don’t really like to do two posts in a row about market statistics -- because it just feels too wonky.  But a recent news article about a possible light at the end of the tunnel forces me to do two statistics blogs in a row.  The day before yesterday, I wrote about what home sales volumes and prices did in June compared to May.  Sales volumes and prices were up month-over-month -- good news, of course.
More good news came in the Arizona Republic this morning as ASU real estate Professor Karl Guntermann said that we may be at … (0 comments)

Phoenix Real Estate Blog: Edith Macefield Wouldn’t Walk Away - 07/10/09 10:36 PM
I've blogged before about whether walking away from your mortgage is okay. It's clearly an incredibly subjective question -- what is one person's smart move is another's moral outrage. The smart move/moral outrage debate has been raging in the blogosphere so it's been on my mind lately. It's the first thing I thought about when I came across this old New York Times article, from last December:
A Holdout Against Developers Leaves a Legacy

Photo: New York Times
The article tells the story of this little old lady, Edith Macefield, who was 86 when she died last June. When developers … (0 comments)

 
New_picture_web_page Rainmaker_large

Bob Stahl

Phoenix, AZ

More about me…

Keller Williams Arizona Realty

Address: Scottsdale, AZ, 85258

Office Phone: (480) 767-3000

Cell Phone: (602) 318-1114

Email Me

Knowledge is power. In that spirit, the MyPhoenixMLS Phoenix Real Estate Blog covers everything that's Phoenix-area real estate, with the goal of helping buyers and sellers navigate the market.


Listings

Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog

Find AZ real estate agents and Phoenix real estate on ActiveRain.