Living in The East Valley

Home Prices Rising in the Greater Phoenix Area

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:11:06 +0000

What a difference the last half year has made. The graph above shows what has happened to the median price of single family detached homes sold in the Phoenix area over the past two years. The median price has gone from a low of $115,500 in July of 2011 to a high of $147,000 in April, 2012. The graph below shows a major contributing factor to these sale price increases. The inventory of homes available for sale in the Phoenix area has been dramatically reduced over the past year. From a high of 36,722 single family homes for sale in October 2010 to the current low of 9,092 single family homes for sale in April 2012. The quantity of foreclosure and short sale homes for sale has dropped by about 75%. Traditional sellers have been waiting for prices to start coming up before putting their homes on the market. Prices have been increasing steadily and this should slowly cause more traditional sellers to put their homes up for sale.

If you would like a free summary report of data for your city or zip code in the Phoenix area, just send an email request to amy@realtysecrets.net.

Should You Buy a Home in 2012?

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:44:01 +0000

Below is a link to an article by CCN-Money about purchasing a home in 2012. It basically discusses the national real estate market but it also has a few words about Phoenix. Economists are expecting home prices to start rising by a small amount nationally this year. In Phoenix this has already started happening in a bigger way. Interest rates are still at historically low levels. This makes it a good time to buy a home if buying is right for you. Generally if you are only planning on living in an area for one to two years, it probably makes more sense to rent. However, if you plan to live in that area longer, have a stable job, and healthy finances, now may be a very good time to buy.

The ARMLS (Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service) STAT Report for May had this to say about sales prices locally – “Both April’s sales price metrics continued on the upward pricing trend line begun in November of last year. Median and average sales prices reacted to the upward pricing pressure exerted by lower inventories. In April, the median sales price climbed 6.2% to $138,000. The average sales price also rose by 4.8% to land at $189,000. With six months of upward sales price momentum, the Valley appears poised for pricing recovery, albeit moderate and slow.”

As Phoenix was one of this first markets in the country to start feeling the effects of the decline, it makes sense that it will be one of the first areas to start experiencing a recovery.

CCN/Money – Buying a home won’t get much cheaper

If you would like us to email you the ARMLS full ten page STAT report for May, just email your request to amy@realtysecrets.net.

Distinctive Home for Sale in Gold Canyon Arizona

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:20:28 +0000

Distinctive Three Bedroom Home in Gold Canyon for Sale

Elevation Chandler Can Finally Move Forward

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:18:52 +0000

Good news Chandler and East Valley residents! The partially constructed building south of the Chandler Fashion Center, known as Elevation Chandler, has finally had it ownership settled by the courts. That means that owners can start looking for a buyer. My guess is that once it is sold, the new owners will have to tear down the existing building and start over from scratch.

What would you like to see go in there? Apartments? Office Building? a Hotel? Hopefully, they won’t put any more store fronts – there are already a bunch of vacant ones back by the Costco.

For more information – read the article from the Chandler Republic

Property near mall finally has owner.

National Public Gardens Day – May 11

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:55:54 +0000

National Public Gardens Day is May 11, 2012. You can get free admission to the Desert Botanical Garden and the Spring Buttefly Exhibit with a coupon in the Better Homes & Gardens Magazine issue available May 1 or download coupon. The Garden is open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. The Butterfly Pavilion is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. The picture here is one we took at the Garden in March. There were lots of cactus in bloom, the butterfly exhibit was beautiful, and there were plenty of birds to see. I expect it should be just a nice on May 11 but probably a warmer day.

If you aren’t going to be in Phoenix on May 11, check to see if the coupon will be good for a public garden in your area.

Gorgeous Home for Sale in Chandler Arizona – Tons of Updates!

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:01:17 +0000

Enjoy Senior Living in Mesa Arizona!

admin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:00:06 +0000

Seen at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:58:55 +0000

There are a lot of birds visiting and living at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve. We enjoyed a walk through the preserve on March 30 and saw quite a variety of birds. Here is what we saw: Anna’s Hummingbird, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Greater Egret, Snowy Egret, American Coot, Canada Goose, Mallard, White-crowned Sparrow, Curve-billed Thrasher, Neotropic Cormorant, Black-necked Stilt, Verdin, Green Heron, Mourning Dove, Inca Dove, Northern Shoveler, Grebe Sp., Great Blue Heron, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Killdeer, Gambel’s Quill, Sandpiper Sp., Cinnamon Teal, American Avocet, Spipe. We also think we saw a Red Tailed Hawk but it was pretty far away and difficult to make a clear identification. We also saw lots of cottontail rabbits and a turtle.

Home Prices Going Up In Phoenix Area

admin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:51:29 +0000

As we have been reporting, the inventory of homes in a lot of the Phoenix metro area is about half what it was last year. The inventory of foreclosure homes for sale is about a quarter of what it was a year ago. This has caused competition among buyers and home prices are starting to increase. Below is a link to an article in the Arizona Republic about the current real estate market. If you have been waiting to buy a home until the market hit bottom, now is the time to buy because prices have started moving upward. Interest rates are still at historically low levels.

Phoenix-area home prices headed upward

Live on the Lake! Attractive five bedroom home for sale in Glendale Arizona

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:51:58 +0000