Courtesy of Barb Savoy-Pacella, ABR, CHMS
It’s hard to believe that I have been in this crazy business for over a decade. I recall in the early days of launching my new career, I would seek out those who had been in the business for over a decade and ask them to join me for lunch (somehow Realtors are very easily bribed with food). In exchange, I would get to spend an hour picking their brain. At least three of them said to me “be careful, the Phoenix real estate market can turn on a dime,” which I found at the time to be an odd statement, and one that stuck with me.
Fast forward to the summer of 2007… It was a day like any other. Our business was humming along, and I was in the office managing our transactions that were in escrow, when suddenly, it seemed I couldn’t get any loan officers to return a call or respond to an e-mail. Countrywide was melting down, and taking many local lenders, including those as large as Great Southwest Mortgage, to the small “mom and pop” brokerages along with them. We literally found ourselves with transactions in escrow, ready to close and no way to fund the buyer’s loan. Loan officers hopped in their cars with the loan documents that were already printed and met clients on the side of the road to sign the documents so that the funds already at the title company could be released. The immediate swell of inventory and the ensuing mortgage crisis were, epic and not soon to be forgotten. The market certainly had turned on a dime.
Based on the warning provided, and the experiences of the 2007 market, you would think that little could surprise me, and certainly I have been aware that the median price for homes in Phoenix hit its low point of $107,000 on February 24, 2011, and that prices have been climbing since then. Why then did I find the following data tidbit so fascinating? The median home price today is $185,000 (not a surprise), which is a 73% increase from 29 months ago.
Equity sales in the following 17 zip codes have fared the best in terms of price per square foot at the peak or the market versus today:
|
Rank |
Area |
Zip Code |
% Down from Peak |
|
1 |
Downtown Phoenix |
85003 |
15% |
|
2 |
South Chandler |
85286 |
16% |
|
3 |
Central Phoenix |
85014 |
19% |
|
4 |
North Tempe |
85282 |
24% |
|
5 |
Surprise |
85387 |
27% |
|
6 |
Avondale |
85392 |
27% |
|
7 |
South Tempe |
85284 |
27% |
|
8 |
South Scottsdale |
85257 |
27% |
|
9 |
I-17 Corridor |
85021 |
28% |
|
10 |
Arcadia |
85018 |
29% |
|
11 |
Ahwatukee |
85044 |
30% |
|
12 |
North Gilbert |
85233 |
30% |
|
13 |
South Chandler |
85249 |
30% |
|
14 |
Mesa |
85203 |
30% |
|
15 |
South Tempe |
85283 |
31% |
|
16 |
Downtown Chandler |
85225 |
32% |
|
17 |
Scottsdale/Kierland |
85254 |
32% |
Current Conditions in the Phoenix Market:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->There are 13,047 single family detached homes actively on the market, which is an increase of 460 listings from two weeks ago.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->There are 16,523 total listing actively on the market, which includes condos, patio homes, and townhomes and is an increase of 502 listings compared to two weeks ago.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->There are 8,810 listings pending sale, which is a decrease of 248 pending sales from two weeks ago.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->There are 3,677 additional homes that have offers pending, but are short sales awaiting lender approval.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->3,768 homes have closed escrow in the past two week, which is exactly on pace with the same two week period last year.
TO VIEW HOMES FOR SALE, AND FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.PACELLAGROUP.COM
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