February 2006

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Here’s the latest Phoenix area listing and home sales stats:

Current active MLS listings: 31,071 (Jan 2005 = 3,402!!)
Current pending (in escrow) listings: 7,920
Current AWC (Active With Contingencies) listings: 1,214 (What does AWC mean?)
Listings expired in Jan 2006: 1,563

Transactions closed in December 2005: 6,525
Transactions closed in January 2006: 5,256

January 2006 Sales Prices:

? Median sales price: $255,000 (Dec 05 = $255,000)
? Average sales price: $337,300 (Dec 05 = $329,100)

January Average Days on Market (DOM):

? Single Family Homes: 49.1 days (Dec 05 = 42.8, Jan 05 = 5.5!!)
? Condos: 39.2 days (Dec 05 = 27.3)

If you’d like to see more detailed homes sales statistics, including sales by month for Jan 2004 - Jan 2006 and recent sales by zip code, please visit our main site’s Phoenix Homes Sales Statistics Page!

(Data extracted from ARMLS - Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service)

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Greetings avid readers! In the last two days, there have been a couple of you that have posted a question directly to this blog. Now I love it when people post comments and ask questions—that’s one of the best things about blogs.

But I had an incorrect setting in my blog parameters that allowed anyone to register and then post an individual blog entry. The problem with allowing this is that I lose all control over what the search engines see when they crawl the blog.

I am not the type of person that lives for search engnie rankings, but they are an important aspect of making this blog the best it can be for the readers. After all, the better the SE rankings, the more people find the blog and contribute to it. That makes for a better thing for everyone. So I do need to retain as much control as possible. There’s also the little issue of those idiot spammers out there. This blog already gets hit with dozens of spam comments a week. Fortunately, some guys a lot smarter than I’ll ever be wrote an anti-spam “plug in” for WordPress (the blog software I’m running this on) that automatically kills the vast majority of spam comments. But it won’t work on direct entries, as it assumes I either write them or approve them…

I’m currently pondering the best way to implement user generated questions that aren’t related to a blog entry. One way is to utilize the seperate Real Estate FAQ, which is designed to accept user generated questions. I’m working on the best way to integrate that here, but for now, the link is in the Real Estate Links section of this blog. (in the right column)

I’ve reset the software switch that let people post new blog entries. Any registered user can submit an entry, it just come to me for approval instead of being posted here immediately. Commenting ability remains unchanged and can be posted immediately by anyone (and comments are highly encouraged!)

Hopefully everyone understands! I really don’t like imposing “rules” and limiting what my readers can do. But hey, it’s all in the name of fine tuning this thing and making it the best it can be!

Regards,
Jay

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We get this question all the time. Here’s the bottom line…

Having a swimming pool built is not cheap. If you spend $20,000 on a pool, it will not add $20,000 to the value of your home. Sadly, it may add nothing to the value of your home. Don’t add a pool to your home if you expect to recoup the cost upon sale. It just doesn’t work that way. Add a pool to your home because you want a pool. A pool is an outstanding investment in terms of recreation, fun, enjoyment, enhancing the appearance of your back yard and it provides great exercise. (In Phoenix, having a pool may mean being able to survive the summers comfortably!) There are dozens of great reasons to have a pool, but adding value to your home isn’t one of them.

(I should note that what I say above pertains to the Phoenix area. The reason it’s this way here is because so many homes have pools. In some parts of the country, a pool is rare and does add a premium to a home.)

What a pool can do is help you sell the home when the time comes. MANY people home shopping in Phoenix want a pool. We’ve had clients look at homes they loved but didn’t buy because there wasn’t a pool. Having an existing pool appeals to many home buyers. But note that there are some who don’t want a pool and won’t look at your house because it has one.

This question is currently the most viewed question on our Real Estate FAQ site.

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Below is the second part in the “2006 Housing Scenario” series from Inman News. For Part 1, click here:

Worst-Case Scenario for Housing in 2006, Part 2

By Janis Mara
Inman News

Editor’s note: This is the second part of a two-part story looking at housing market conditions for 2006.

The scene opens on a devastated landscape, with the voices of a thousand wannabe homeowners crying out in pain. Congress has enacted limitations on mortgage-interest deductions; interest rates have hit 8 percent; creative loan products have been curtailed; investors have fled to the stock market and first-time buyers can’t afford a house.

At least, that’s the worst-case scenario for 2006, according to various possibilities suggested by experts and industry observers consulted by Inman News.

Though different folks painted the future with different strokes, one theme was consistent: interest rates will be the most important factor affecting the industry in 2006. And, though the sign of the beast is 666 in the Bible, the bad-luck number for mortgage interest rates is 8 percent, a number of experts said.

“If the (long-term) interest rate went over 8 percent it would impact the market,” said James Wright, president/principal broker of Century 21 All Islands in Honolulu.

“You tick the price up and make the monthly payment another $300, $400, and people who were marginal to begin with will be priced right out. The pool you’ll hurt the worst will be the first-time buyers,” Wright said.

A real estate analyst also evoked the 8 percent figure.

“At 6 and 7 percent we still see upward movement or, at worst, sideways-moving price projections,” said Michael Sklarz, chief valuation officer for Fidelity National Financial. “But at 8 percent, some markets have prices falling.”

Christopher Cagan, director of research and analytics at First American Real Estate Solutions, agreed with Sklarz. “Prices would start to decline. But I don’t expect that to happen.”

Indeed, not one member of the group expected interest rates to jump to 8 percent. Generally, the pundits expected rates to remain historically low in 2006, going no higher than 6 or 7 percent at most.
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