Happy Fall to everyone! What an incredible opportunity we have in our marketplace for buyers but rates are ticking up from their 50 year lows! We do still have incredible prices on everything from bank-owned homes to builder specs and regular resale homes! We also specialize in short sales and have our own short sale negotiator in-house plus a very successful short sale system, a local attorney who specializes in short sale law and title people who understand the process iinside and out! Search the entire Phoenix MLS from our website at: www.FlowersGetResults.com. We specialize in the southeast valley cities of Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Queen Creek, Gold Canyon and Apache Junction - please contact us for our "Best Buy" list that changes every week! Get FREE reports at www.BillandCindyFlowersTeam.com.
As we enjoy the fall weather in the Phoenix area, our local market continues to change. For the Gilbert area specifically, the inventory of homes for sale is down 30% over a year ago's inventory! Bank-owned homes are not so readily available and usually come with a bidding war as there are mulitple offers on most of them. With 55% of all homes closed being bank-owned, short sales (22%) and regular resales (23%) make up the remaining sales currently in our area. We continue to hear rumors of lots of bank-owned homes that will be hitting our market this fall and certainly our own bank-owned listings have increased in the past 2 months. Currently there is a huge demand for and a shortage of affordable housing in the southeast valley of the Phoenix metro area. Gilbert leads the other cities in the southeast valley in almost all categories of sales for the area. Now is the best time to make a great real estate purchase!
Homes under $350,000 are selling in record time and for very close to asking price and even above asking price with multiple offers if they are priced well. Priced well means that they are in alignment with the prices on the bank-owned homes as they are setting the new value in every community. For the price range under $350,000, there is about a 3 month supply of homes for sale in the southeast valley! It is widely accepted that a 3 to 6 month supply of homes for sale is considered a balanced market - neither a buyer nor seller's market. This information coupled with the fact that we are seeing multiple offers in this price range from investors and primary residence buyers alike, tells us that we have probably seen the bottom in this price range! Even though homes priced above $350,000 are starting to sell, that price range is still considered a strong buyer's market. In fact, for homes priced above $600,000, there is approximately a 2 year supply of inventory. So it is a great time to sell a home in the lower price range to take advantage of the balanced market and then buy a home in the upper price range to take advantage of that buyer's market!
Last month many new listings came on the market while many others canceled or expired. The supply of homes for sale has decreased drastically this year signalling that we are at or near the bottom of the real estate cycle. There are approximately 31,900 homes listed in the Arizona Regional MLS (down from 60,000 at it's peak) with over 6,800 homes in escrow now and approximately 7,000 closed during September (we were closing 10-11,000/month at the peak in 2005). That was approximately 1700 more than closed a year ago in the same month! We are excited about the great buys in our marketplace and believe that this is a good time to make a great real estate purchase!
The Gilbert market activity, as well as the entire southeast valley activity, has definitely increased in the past few months which will help to stabilize the inventory of homes for sale and should also stabilize prices. We believe prices are at or very near the bottom and cannot go much lower except for the upper price ranges. If a new surge of bank-owned homes hits our marketplace in the next few months, it could have an affect on prices, but there may also be enough demand to keep up with the additional inventory. We will watch closely to see what happens! There are some incredible deals available right now and interest rates are trending up, so now is the time to buy to take advantage of the low prices and low interest rates while they last!
Our team currently has many bank owned properties listed and there are experts on our team who specialize in finding all the great deals. We also have a list of bank owned properties that have not hit the market yet but will be available as soon as they are cleaned up. Please call us today to get the latest list of homes available now as well as those that are coming soon!
In 2004 and 2005, Gilbert experienced a 47% increase in home prices. For many years previously, the average appreciation was 4 to 7% per year in Gilbert. Prices have been settling back down over the past two or three years and are down approximately 43% valleywide in the past year alone! In fact, Phoenix leads the nation in price change over the past year. Now is a tremendous time to buy as there is an oversupply of builder specs as well as resale homes. In addition, there are thousands of bank-owned homes and those in foreclosure currently.
Many move-up buyers are taking advantage of this market as they have learned that even though they may be taking a small hit on the sale price of their home, they are gaining a much larger amount in equity on their higher priced purchase. So if they are selling a $300,000 home and must sell for 10% or $30,000 less, they are making that up on the purchase of a $500,000 property. Assuming the $500,000 home can be purchased for 30% less than before, that's a $150,000 savings on that purchase which helps to offset the lower price on the sale of the first home. This is exactly what is happening in our market this year!
Please call us for all your real estate needs and remember, Flowers Get Results! Phone us at 480-545-9300. Thank you so much - we appreciate your business and will give you our very best service!
ZIP Codes: 85234, 85295, 85296, 85297, 85233 Approximate Location Boundaries: Southeast valley of the Phoenix Metro area
Location Characteristics: Gilbert, Arizona has been the fastest growing city in America for the past several years. It now boasts a population of over 230,000. Until recently, Gilbert has been known as a bedroom community in the Phoenix metro area. However, recent construction of new hospitals, major shopping malls and car dealerships have placed Gilbert as one of the top destinations in the valley of the sun! In addition, the award-winning Gilbert School District is widely respected nationwide. With beautiful streetscapes and plentiful parks, Gilbert offers one of the most desireable lifestyles in the southwest!
About Bill & Cindy Flowers Team, CDPE:
About Cindy: ~ Licensed Arizona Realtor Since 1981 - Associate Broker Since 1984 ~ CRS - Certified Residential Specialist Designation - Held by Only 4% of the Realtors Nationally ~ CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert ~ B.S. in Marketing from Arizona State University in 1997 - Graduated with Honors ~ Multi-Million Dollar Award Winner with the Board of Realtors ~ Born in Laramie, Wyoming - Arizona Resident Since 1980 ~ Avid Denver Bronco Fan!
About Bill: ~ Licensed Arizona Realtor Since 1993 ~ ABR Designation (Accredited Buyer Representative) ~ Certified Relocation Specialist Since 1994 ~ 40 Years of Business Experience in Arizona & Texas - Formerly in the Cotton Business ~ Consistant Multi-Million Dollar Producer ~ Born in Sulphur Springs, Texas - Arizona Resident Since 1976 ~ Converted Denver Bronco Fan!
These reports reflect the views and opinions of their authors and are not necessarily the views and opinions of Realty Times.
