Happy Phoenix Home Buyers meet Realistic Sellers

As a real estate Agent servicing North Phoenix and Scottsdale communities, my view of the current market is that it's a very good time to buy a home!  Home values have stabilized, interest rates are low and more homes are available to choose from.  Home owners can also benefit in this market and can now sell their homes at a profit, but they must be realistic of their home's real value to achieve a successful sale. 

This view of the Phoenix area market is supported by an article recently published on AZCentral.com by Dolores Tropiano.  Take a look at the following excerpt from her article and see if you agree.

-  AZCentral.com, March 7, 2014:

From 2010 to 2013, it was a seller’s market — mostly because investors and bargain hunters drove up prices trying to outbid each other for cheap foreclosed homes. Today, potential buyers don’t have as many bargains, but they have more choices as owners, finally able to sell for a profit, are listing their homes for sale. So Arizona’s real-estate market has shifted in favor of those buying a home. Open-house signs are once again sprouting up on street corners across the Valley on weekends and even weekdays, and buyers are finally in a better position to bargain for the best house to fit their needs.

Michael Orr, director for the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice for the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University recently commented on the current residential real estate market in the Phoenix region.  Following are his comments: This current buyer’s market is relatively new and not necessarily blanketing the entire Valley. “The demand fell and the supply increased,” said Orr, breaking the buyer’s market down to the most basic of economic theories. Orr said the buyer’s market started in February, 2014 but is particularly strong in places like Maricopa, San Tan Valley, Buckeye, Gold Canyon and other areas that are “far out there.” Scottsdale also has become a buyer’s market. Paradise Valley is more of a balanced market now, with neither buyer nor seller being at a particularly stronger advantage. According to the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, there are nearly 30,000 homes listed for sale in the Valley.

Based on data from Maricopa County’s and Pinal County’s recorder for deeds, Orr determined that home sales are down 21 percent from last year. “The 30,000 is not an excessive amount of listings, but the problem is not the high supply but low demand,” Orr said. “The demand is the second lowest that it’s been in 14 years.” “We don’t usually see that much of a drop,” he said of the 21 percent. “The only time we saw that was before when the market collapsed in 2007 and 2008. Although, unlike then, it is not an unhealthy market at all right now.” His advice for sellers? They need to understand the current market and not be too aggressive in pricing.