AGENT MLS HOME FINDER

Phoenix real estate continues to struggle, facing a mixed bag of positive and negative market indicators. According to an article by ABC 15 News  entitled “Expert: Housing market strength depends on location, price” by Christina Boomer, “Stanley Fosha is a realtor with the JD Sameulson Group and he has been finding a lot of deals lately. There is a Phoenix home now going for $487,000; that’s down from an original asking price of $2 million, according to Fosha…When it comes to downtown, Fosha thinks the deflated prices are the best thing that could have happened to the area.” Further, according to an October 16, 2009 article from Housing Wire, “Urban areas were hit hardest and spurred the increases. In Arizona, the statewide increase was fueled by a massive 81.3% increase in Phoenix foreclosures.”

According to an October 21, 2009 article, also in ABC 15, Phoenix homes for sale face decreased home prices in recent months and in projections. The piece, written by Tim Vetscher, said that “Valley homeowners, brace yourselves for more bad news. A new report indicates home prices will continue to shrink nationwide, with an especially sharp decline here in Phoenix…According to Fiserv, a financial information and analysis firm, home prices in Phoenix are expected to lose another 23.4 percent by June of next year…One bright spot in the report is that Fiserv expects the losses to be less than 5 percent the following year compared to other markets where the declines will continue to be steep into 2011. Fiserv estimates home values have already collapsed by 54 percent here in the Valley.”

A November 11, 2009 article in the Arizona Republic noted that real estate in Phoenix faces a somewhat slow recovery, if things are indeed looking up. According to the piece, composed by Catherine Reagor, “‘Things are beginning to look up in Arizona, as they are for the nation. Still, the Phoenix housing market is nowhere near a return in health.’ The Tuesday pronouncement came from Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to a group of the Valley’s leading real estate and banking executives.”