The first full month of 2009 is over and the marketing trends revealed are interesting and there is one surprise.  While it is no surprise that prices are down, what is surprising for home sales is that there were as many sales for January 2008 and January 2009, with 80 sales in each monthly period.  It seemed to me that January was much busier than last year.  And it was for those of us still left in the business of real estate!  Our local board of Realtors saw a drop in the number of agents of around 35% this January.  The remaining 65% did the same number of sales as last year!!!  Overall, home prices were still down 21.5% from this period in 2008, with foreclosures and short sales continuing to put pressure on home prices.

Land and lot sales continue to be very depressed.  The number of listings sold this January were down over 35% from year ago numbers and the average price was down over 23%.  This resulted in a drop in the volume (total dollars sold) of just under 51%.  Not good news to property owners or Realtors.

Commercial and multi family sales are so irregular here that making sense of the numbers is difficult, though suffice it to say both are suffering in this market as well.

Colorado River Bluegrass Festival

BULLHEAD AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND CITY PARK

February 13th, 14th & 15th, 2009 Presented by the Aquarius Resort and The Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce.

ADMISSION: ADULTS $15, 7-17 $5, 6 & UNDER FREE! Sunday Morning Service and Gospel Hour. Free shuttle to the Aquarius Casino and Resort. For more Information Call: (928) 768-5819 OR (928) 201-5819 or Email at: banjo@citlink.net Or you can visit the Colorado River Bluegrass Festival website.

Here in the rather provincial town of Bullhead City, Arizona our real estate market has taken a surprising turn.  Sales went up!  And not just a little either.  Our December residential sales were up 37% from December 2007.  So what does this mean?  Don't ask me!  But if you tell me what your market has done this past month, maybe we can see a bigger picture, or possibly Bullhead City just got lucky.

My Keller Williams office of 45 agents had 18 closing this December, nearly double our closings from last year.  Does this mean prices will be on the rise soon?  Does this mean interest rates will rise soon?  I predict interest rates will rise (not hard to see that coming).  But to what level and how quickly?  Will the rising rates keep prices down or will increased demand force prices up despite the rate increases?  Will Mothera defeat Godzilla?  These are the pressing questions we are facing.

What are your thoughts?

 RESIDENTIAL SALES

A very interesting and trying year has passed and I think most of us are glad it's over and are looking forward to 2009 and the promise of better things to come.  Our Keller Williams office had a great month with 18 closings, as you can see from the data above the trends for December residential sales were UP over 37% from December 2007.  This is a great sign and the second consecutive month for this trend.  Residential sales for the year were still down over 13% from 2007, however.

Residential sales volume highlighted the trend of lower prices as volume was down almost 28% from 2007 to 2008 with the average price dropping 14.91% from $206,614 in 2007 to $175,809 in 2008.

Despite the relativly brisk sales of foreclousre homes the time on market was longer in 2008 than 2007 for the market as a whole.

VACANT LAND SALES

Vacant land listings continued to take a beating in December down over 55% for the month compared to 2007 and down 49% for the year.  The average sales price YTD reflects the weak demand with the price of lots and land dropping over 56% from 2007's not so great averages.

In some areas where owners are slow to recognize the shift or unwilling to reduce prices to keep pace with the declining market sales were literally non-existent.  One neighborhood I am familiar with, the Highlands at Desert Foothills Estates,  saw no lot sales in all of 2008.  This once booming prestige community now suffers with a complete dearth of buyers willing to pay what sellers are asking.

Acreage parcel sales are near zero for the year as well and only parcels with price reductions of 50% or more were able to garner buyers.  Development land sales were also non-existant as builders and developers sit out this current market.

The Coats for Kids Pancake Charity Breakfast host by the Bullhead Morning Kiwanis Club and Keller Williams Realty/River Cities Specialists was a run-a-way success!!!  The Kiwanian's led the charge setting up the cooking station early in the cold and dark.  Realtors from KW helped set things up for the dining area and also helped with food prep.  Red Mountain Development generously provided the space for the dining area in an unoccupied portion of their new office building on Adobe Rd.  To make things fun for the youngster the Bullhead City Fire Dept. sent over a fire truck for kids to play on.  It seems everyone had a great time!!!  Thanks to all those who gave their time and energy to make this event a success and to those local business who donated food and other items.

Breakfast was served to over 100 guests in cool and blustery conditions and the event raised over $650 for the Coats for Kids Charity, enough for more than 40 new coats for needy area children.  Many of our fine citizens dropped off coats adding to the number of kids who received warmer clothing for this winter.

A warm round of applause is deserved by everyone who helped or attended this great pre-holiday event!!!!  Thanks Everyone!!!! 

Wow!!!  That's all I can say is WOW!  30 year fixed rate home loans have dropped more than a full point in the last 30 days.  From an average 6.5% just a few weeks ago mortgage rates are now under 5.5%!!  This is amazing.  To view a chart of the mortgage rate drop click here. 

Now is the time for first time home buyers to get that home you have been dreaming of!!  With foreclosure specials readily available buyers can get into a great home for less than half of what they would have cost just 3 years ago.

Want to learn more or check out if you can qualify for a loan just email us at cliffc@kw.com or sharon@buybullheadhomes.com

Check out our websites: www.bhccliff.com  or www.buybullheadhomes.com

NOVEMBER MARKET STATS

A GLIMMER OF HOPE?

 The November Market statistics were released today by our Board of Realtors today and there may be a glimmer of hope in the numbers.  I have highlighted some of the key numbers that I think deserve analysis.  Of some interest are the numbers of new listings.  These are down from last year, but I think that just reflects the fact the  market is down so much many people have decided to hold on to their homes rather than sell for less than what they want or need.

What I find to be significant are the number of listings sold and the volume (dollar value) of those sold homes.  Compared to November 2007 sales this year are UP 12.28%!!!!  Volume is also up despite the sharp decline in prices seen in the last fiscal year (-16.26%).  While I think much of the increase in sales is a result of those buyers taking advantage of the great deals found on foreclosed homes, our buyers are also buying regular resale homes. 

This may be encouraging news and could indicate we are nearing the bottom of the market.  Investors take note; if you are waiting for the bottom and wait too much longer you may find it has passed you by.  On the other hand the average sales price in November was still 1.44% lower than October.  Is this an anomaly?  Maybe, since the average price YTD this year is only 13.22% lower than last year.  For a while the average price decline was close to 18%.  What this tells me is that the rate of decline seems to be slowing.

With inventories down and new listing taken also lower the trend is for fewer homes to be available and with fewer homes there will be more pressure on prices hopefully slowing the rate of decline even further.

No positives for land sales

While there are some signs of hope for the residential real estate market, just the opposite seems true for land and lot sales.  Sales for November 2008 were down an astounding 76.47% compared to November 2007, with only four land sales for November 2008 as opposed to 17 in 2007. For the year sales are down over 50% compared to this time a year ago.   The fact that average sales prices have dropped 21.56% does not seem to have had the same effect on land sales as it has on residential sales.

7:00A.M. to 11:00A.M

The Bullhead City area Coats for Kids Pancake Breakfast being sponsored by the Morning Kiwanis Club and Keller Williams Realty is going strong!   The turnout for this event is expected to be huge and the weather looks like it will co-operate.  The breakfast will be held at the Keller Williams Realty Office located 2440 Adobe Rd at the corner or Adobe and the Bullhead Parkway.  The breakfast will include Pancakes (of course!), sausage, Orange Juice, coffee and more.  Cost of the Breakfast is only $5.00 and all proceeds go to the Coats for Kids Foundation with goal of buying 200 new coats. We have received and are accepting donations of cash or coats from local residents, Realtors, and Keller William Regional in Phoenix.

Everyone is welcome to come to the breakfast!  Please join us for this great cause.  For more information call Alysia, Laura or Christy at (928)704-2568.  See you there!!

I recently became the Team Leader for my Keller Williams Market Center.   This job does not allow me to sell or list real estate.  As a Keller Williams agent I had put together a marketing program for expired's to get listings and a website and pay-per-click add program to generate buyer leads.  There programs were pretty successful and I really hated to abandon them.  But what could I do?

Ah, ding!! Make my wife a Realtor and let her take over my real estate business!  That seemed like the perfect solution.  After a bit of arm twisting negotiations my wife agreed to come out of retirement and get her real estate license.  Off to school Sharon went!  She passed the final exam and then took and passed her licensing exams.  She got her license just over 3 weeks ago and promptly took up my marketing programs.  Since she had helped me with these and had seen me use my Keller Williams tools she knew just what to do and started contacting my old clients to let them know who she was and that she had a new career and was taking over my business.

Keep in mind when I started as an agent I went to work for a Mom and Pop real estate company that offered little training and who's main way of getting me business was sitting in the office for "up time", waiting for the phone to ring.  My "data base" were 3×5 cards and I did not really know why I even had those or what to do with them.  So, even in the good times market that I started my career in, business came in slowly at first and it took months for me to get my first closed deal.

What a difference knowledge and training make!  Even in this slow market we are in now, Sharon wrote her first contract less than 2 weeks after getting licensed.  While that offer did not come to a deal she knew her buyer was going to buy something!  Less than 3 weeks after getting her license she opened her first escrow!!! She now has her first listing and is getting her second contract signed today!  Even better she may write an offer for her third buyer tomorrow!!  Only 24 days after getting licensed!

Sharon is confident, comfortable and has the attitude that she will be a great Realtor.  I love it!  And I think she will be a great Realtor and be very successful!!  You go girl!!!

KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY
River Cities Cares
Community Events

Pancake Breakfast

When:  Saturday, December 6 from 7am to 11am
Where:  Keller Williams Realty - 2440 Adobe Road, Suite 106, Bullhead City, AZ
Pancake Breakfast - $5

Keller Williams Realty has partnered with the Coats for Kids Foundation to help kids in the Bullhead City Community.  Our goal is to provide new coats for 200 kids in the community. 

You can help in 2 ways:

•  Drop off a new coat at Keller Williams Realty, Home Depot or Mad Dog Fitness.
• Come join us at the Pancake Breakfast - $5 each
  

We are accepting new coats until the day of the event at Keller Williams Realty, Home Depot and Mad Dog Fitness.  The cost of a new coat through the Coats for Kids Foundation is $15 each.  All net proceeds will go towards the purchase of the jackets.

Join us along with the Bullhead City Morning Kiwanis Club.

For more information on the event and how you can contribute, contact Keller Williams Realty at (928) 704-2568.