Arizona Real Estate Informer

Housing market may be near the bottom

Has the local real estate market hit bottom?

That's what everyone wants to know. The Valley housing market is "near the bottom," according to a Grubb & Ellis BRE Commercial report updated this past week.

"However, stabilization may be deferred somewhat by the global recession - a context that will affect most economic activity," the report said. More...

Metrostudy: Home starts, existing sales leap in 2Q

New research on the local housing market by Metrostudy shows major rebounds in both new home starts and existing home sales.

According to the national housing market research firm based in Houston, Phoenix-area builders started 1,654 homes in the second quarter — 58 percent more than in the first quarter.  More...

Phoenix Home Resales Surge 71% from 2008

Existing home and condo sales in the Phoenix area soared in June to the highest level seen in that month in four years, according to housing data provider MDA DataQuick.

A total 10,731 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the combined Maricopa-Pinal counties metropolitan area in June, up 12.2% from May and up 40.4% from a year ago.  More...

Appraisals Hurt Builders

July 28, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — Low appraised home values due to foreclosure sales are hurting the housing market, especially the new home builders, according to the National Association of Home Builders, which says builders are reporting about 26% of sales fall through due to appraisals coming in below the contracted sales price.  More...

Phoenix Home Sales Rise to 4-Year Record for June

PHOENIX (DQNews.com) -- Sales of existing houses and condos in the Phoenix area rose in June to the highest level for that month in four years, with the non-foreclosure market continuing to account for a greater portion of sales. The modest shift away from lower-cost lender repossessions enabled the overall median sale price to edge higher than the prior month for the second month in a row, a real estate information service reported. More...

Arizona Senator calls for repeal of his foreclosure bill

Arizona Sen. Steve Pierce, R, is calling for a repeal of the controversial foreclosure legislation that he sponsored - SB 1271.

The legislation makes many homeowners in foreclosure liable to lenders for the difference between their mortgage and what a lender can recoup from selling the home. In the Valley, home prices are down 45 percent so many homeowners could be liable for $100,000 or more. SB 1271 allows lenders to after  borrowers other properties, retirement accounts and earnings if they default on a mortgage and haven't lived in the home for six straight months.  More...

Arizona Realtors Look to Reinstate Anti-Deficiency Language

Arizona Senate Bill 1271, which allows lenders to seek deficiency judgments on foreclosures started after Sept. 30, should be amended during the state legislature's special session, argues the Arizona Association of Realtors (AAR).

In a letter to Gov. Jan Brewer and state legislators dated July 22, AAR CEO Tom Farley wrote that S.B.1271 will throw owner-lender rights "way out of balance."

The legislation essentially does away with the state’s anti-deficiency statute, which has been in effect for almost 40 years. S.B.1271 extends borrower extensions to certain borrowers – namely, those who have used a single one- or two-family dwelling for at least six consecutive months – but Farley says the ultimate result of the current bill language will be “a dramatic increase in foreclosures, litigation [and] falling real estate prices.”  More...

New-home sales surge twice as strong in the West

A major surge in new home sales across the nation was twice as strong in the West, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Monday.

Sales of new homes in 13 western states, including Arizona, jumped 22.6 percent in June from the previous month, twice the national increase of 11 percent.

In the West, it was the highest level of new-home sales since last July.

And while sales levels are still down from a year ago, the decline is less severe in the West, said the Commerce Department's Census Bureau in its monthly report on new residential sales.

Home sales in the western states dropped 9.6 percent in June from the same month of 2008, versus a nationwide decline of 21.3 percent.

An estimated 103,000 new homes were sold in the West in June, up from 84,000 in May, 77,000 in April and 74,000 in March.

The last time home sales in the West exceeded the June total was in July 2008, when 123,000 homes were sold, the Census Bureau reported.

The figures are seasonally adjusted.

- Phoenix Business Journal

AZ Governor Considering Property Tax Increase & Real Estate Sales Tax

The governor said last week she was open to talking to Democratic lawmakers about allowing a $250 million state property tax item to come back, as well as a Democratic plan to expand the state sales tax to now-untaxed services to bring in more revenue.  More...

Editors Note:  Either measure will only further hurt our economy, and slow the recovery of the housing market.  We must not allow the governor to impose these new taxes!

Maricopa CO Property Owners Being Incorrectly Charged by County

Mistakes in Maricopa County Assessor's records are generating thousands of erroneous tax bills for property owners in Chandler and Gilbert, officials say.

Many property owners have unwittingly paid more taxes or less than what they really owe for years.

Chandler Management Services Director Dennis Strachota recently reported 248 errors to the county. On this list were 138 plots mistakenly coded as being in unincorporated areas not subject to municipal taxes and 118 wrongly charged for higher Phoenix or Tempe taxes. More...