According to Catherine Reagor in The Republic on Apr. 26, 2012 …
“Home prices are surging in metro Phoenix, climbing 8 percent in March alone and 20 percent in the past 12 months…The trend is projected to continue throughout the year, although at a slower pace… Prices have begun to rise at a fast pace and bargains are no longer plentiful.” Orr goes on to say ‘Most homes that are priced well are attracting multiple offers within a couple of days, and many are exceeding the asking price.’…A growing number of national real-estate analysts say metro Phoenix is leading the U.S.' housing market's recovery.”

 

Now to update you with current statistics…According to the Cromford Associates, LLC, as of May 1, 2012 from Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (Maricopa County):

 

There were 20,781 Active Residential Listings- Same time last year we had 34,594

Of these Active Residential listings:

1,304 were Lender Owned- (6%) - same time last year:  5,520 (16%)

7,703 were Pre-Foreclosure/Short Sales (37%)- same time last year: 13,259 (38%)

10,460 were Normal Listings (50%) – same time last year 14,430 (42%)

There were 11,996 transactions pending- same time last year 13,326

There is just over 2 months supply of residential inventory currently on the market, whereas last year at this time we had over 3 ½ months of residential inventory listed. Inventory of homes for sale in many price ranges remains EXTREMELY LOW!! 

Please know that as a licensed REALTOR I have access to the most up to date information available- and can help you determine what your home might sell for in today’s market- I can also provide you with data specific to your area or for your particular situation. Just let me know if you have questions and remember….

Real Estate is my FULL TIME career. I can help you navigate through all of this information to find answers that make sense for you- to make your best real estate investment decisions.

 

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions on the information I send, or if I can help you or someone you know, with your real estate investment goals.

 

Best regards

Joe Bourland, REALTOR

........Next are a couple of excerpts from recent articles you may find interesting…

From the Arizona Republic on April 26th, 2012

 “Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory at ASU, doesn't expect home prices to continue to climb as fast as they did in March over the next few months. But he projects metro Phoenix's housing appreciation for 2012 to reach 25 percent by September.

Orr credits the turnaround to steep drops in foreclosures and in the number of homes for sale, coupled with an increase in sales.

Fewer foreclosures means fewer inexpensive homes for buyers. The number of homes taken back by lenders in metro Phoenix is down 60 percent from March 2011.

Housing inventory has dropped steadily during the past year because of a record number of investors snapping up properties out of foreclosure.”

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And from Michael Orr in The Cromford Report- May 1 2012

 “In Maricopa County, the number of residential properties that reverted to the beneficiary through a recorded trustee deed in April 2012 was 751. This was the lowest number since July 2007… The number of residential properties purchased by third parties at the trustee sale was 961. This was the lowest number since December 2010 (which was during the Bank of America moratorium)… Although third parties now dominate the trustee sales, taking 56% of the residential properties auctioned, the trustee sale is clearly in decline as a significant source of residential real estate. However foreclosure notices (notices of trustee sale) remained at a fairly constant level over the last 3 months. This indicates that short sales will survive as a major supply channel of residential real estate for a considerably longer time than foreclosure auctions. Because short sales generally take longer to complete than foreclosures, the number of homes in the foreclosure process has stabilized and even increased over the last month.”