Phoenix Real Estate Blog

There was an article last week in SmartMoney Magazine about how the housing bust has transformed the real estate market into a first time homebuyer's paradise. "In this market, first-time buyers are getting VIP treatment. Indeed, they're the star players in a nascent market revival." Real estate ...

As you know, I usually get my monthly market statistics from ASU, but the Real Estate Studies director Jay Butler said they’re having some problems with their programs and the numbers will be a while. So this month I turned to Trulia, which offers detailed city-level market statistics. A couple o...

  As I was driving to meet a client yesterday, I was listening to NPR and the story was about the economy.  The central question, as it always is, was whether or not we’ve hit bottom.  I won’t go into the details, I mention it only to recall what the interviewee said, “At the end of the day, you ...

  Trulia reported today that as of August 1, 26% of Phoenix home sellers had made at least a 1% reduction in their original asking price.  The average reduction is 13% for a total of $84,109,665. “The reality is, today’s sellers need to price aggressively to avoid reductions. Consumers are lookin...

  You think your real estate agent is working for you.  But is he? Maybe.  Then again, maybe not. While it seems intuitive that your real estate agent would act in your best interests -- and only your best interests -- when helping you buy a home, that’s not necessarily so.  In fact, if you haven...

A huge percentage of the existing home sales in the Phoenix area these days are foreclosures. Some need heavy-duty repair work, others are practically move-in ready. Some are in blighted inner-city neighborhoods. Others are in master-planned communities with swimming pools, tennis courts and golf...

  I blogged the week before last about strategic defaults -- when a homeowner decides to default on a mortgage (typically through a short sale or by letting the bank foreclose) even though he can still pay the mortgage.  Typically, a homeowner does a strategic default because of negative equity -...

  They’re a growing problem, especially in those Valley neighborhoods most heavily affected by foreclosures.  They’re unkempt yards and houses, and they can wreak havoc on the values of homes in the neighborhood.   If you’re a buyer, of course you’re going to consider the condition of homes near ...

  Two words: heat advisory.  Okay, three: yuck.  But despite the searing heat, there are a whole bunch of fun activities this month in the Phoenix area.  Check them out (and thanks, as always, to About.com for the listings): 4th Friday ArtWalk What: Photography, jewelry, crafts, paintings, sculpt...