Interesting article today in the Arizona Republic:
Under-$200,000 market gives home sales a push
Affordability lures first-time buyers, investors
I personally haven’t seen the “bidding wars” on short sales mentioned in the article. Not to say it isn’t happening, but in my experience the short sales are sitting there until the bank takes them back (for the most part).
But there is no question that the under $200K inventory is growing. I’ll crunch some numbers this weekend and report back.
There was one small part of the article I found particularly interesting.
23 year old Bradley Crutchfield, an assistant technician at the Gila River Indian Casino and part time ASU student said he recently bought his first home — a $243,000 foreclosure in Chandler.
It was in the (price) range of what I was looking for, but it was my top end and I was only willing to pay that if I could be closer,” Crutchfield, 23, said. “I’ve been looking for about two years now when the market was really high, and I had the urge to buy. Then the market went down, and I seriously wanted to buy.” (my emphasis)
Mr. Crutchfield echos the sentiments we are hearing from a lot of people right now. Particularly younger and first time buyers.
Just a few days ago I answered “Maybe, maybe not” to the question, “Is now a good time to buy a Phoenix home?” And I stand by that answer. But as Crutchfield and others in the article demonstrate, for some, the answer is yes.
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[tags]Phoenix real estate market conditions, first time buyers[/tags]
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Jay,
It’s true. I have been involved in 2 bidding wars in the last 2-weeks and may get involved in another very soon. Rather than relate all the details, please accept my post:
http://www.foreclosureexpert.info/2008/02/whose-afraid-to.html
Having been a buyer and a seller of multiple homes due to transfers, I can vouch for one truth. After you have sold the property, information will reach you that someone else got a better price. After you have bought a property, news will reach you that someone else got a similar property at a lower price.
It may be some kind of Murphy’s law that operates in the real estate business. Perhaps you can draw up a set of such rules Jay!
Good news and what is to be expected at some point. My guess is this a too soon for a real significant improvement in the market. Even for lower priced stuff. But one of the things that will likely happen as the market starts to turn around is people that just want a place to live start buying. And then the numbers of those people start to put a large dent in inventory.
That is concerning. My father now owns a house in Fountain Hills and a Condo as well a house in Minnesota (For Sale) and a house in Wisconsin. He has the Condo Rented but I have my concerns of what will happen once that renter leaves.
I handle a lot of short sales in Tucson Arizona and a lot do go to bidding wars but it’s either that or no action at all. People know they have to wait for the bank to get back to them and they want an incentive to wait and buy (super low price) Anyway that’s what I’m seeing in Tucson, here the real estate market seems to be hitting close to bottom time will tell how fast we rebound.
With hard times ahead i’m sure we will see many good investment opportunities. Better sharpen your bidding skills!
*Matts last blog post..Glen Cove Rentals