Maricopa Arizona Housing Market Update – 31JAN
Here is the weekly summary of the activity in the housing market of Maricopa Arizona for the week ending 31 JAN.
ACTIVE: 738, down from 754. Inventory continues to slide amid strong buying activity and lack of any surge in new foreclosues and short sales. Same old story. Until the lenders begin to release their backlog of foreclosures AND until homeowners realize a renewed sense of urgency (this could begin with the upcoming FEB mortgage payment) the seasonal buying activity will continue to place downward pressure on this number. It was mid May 2010 since Maricopa Arizona last experienced a number this low.
ACTIVE SHORT SALES: 307, down from 323. I have not seen a number this low since I began tracking the market back in April of 2010. Some of this is due to the fact that many homeowners have not yet taken steps to address their distressed situation following the Holiday season. Another factor is that lenders have foreclosed on many of these homes and rather than offer them at auction at a reduced amount, they seem to be “taking them back” for a release at a yet to be determined date. In addiiton, agents and buyers have been drawn to this category due to lack of available invenoty in lender owned homes.
ACTIVE LENDER OWNED: 153, down from 164. As stated above, this number is trending downward as seasonal buying activity remains strong and new releases are not keeping up woth the demand.
AWC: 190, up from 181. Homes in this category increased for the third straight week. As expected, more contracts continue to be written on short sales due to lack of available lender owned options.
PENDING: 263, flat from 265. This is the second straight week of accelerated contracts on lender owned homes. Without a doublt, seasonal buying activity is picking up steam. The question will be if there is enough new inventory of these homes to keep pace with the demand. We are seeing numerous situations of mulitple offers and “highest and best”, a situation we have not experienced in quite some time.
CLOSED: 58, up from 23. This is about as high a number as I have seen since I began weekly tracking back in April 2010. Though some of this no doubt has to be with the “end of the month” syndrome, it is still a very solid number and it will be interesting to observe if this remains strong over the next few months. All indications from our amount of inquiries is that it will.
AUCTION: 17, flat from 19. No real change in the number of homes released at auction. Though I don’t have the actual numbers, I know that many homes are being “taken back” by the lenders to be released at a later date.
SUMMARY: The key phrase here is “Still Waiting”. Unless everyone’s (including mine) predictions are horribly wrong, a release of excess inventory by lenders has to begin soon. I expect to see an increase in the number of short sales available as distressed homeowners “recover” form the Holidays and begin anew to deal with their situation as FEB mortgage payment rolls around. The 30,60,90 day delinquent list remains high so something has to happen to these homes and there are no new modification options on the horizon.
Patti and I are fielding about a dozen new buyer inquiries a week and this number only appears to be increasing as the “snowbirds” continue to arrive in force. This number should peak in a bout a month as our temperatures begin to rise. We already have numerous buyers scheduled to arrive in the mid-FEB to mid-MAR time period.
BUT, will we have enough homes for them? Though I don’t have specific date on this, single level homes continue to be the property of choice. Golf course homes are almost non existant and single level pool homes are few and far between. I expect values to increase slightly as inventory continues it’s decline UNTIL the expected surge of foreclosures begins.
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