Arizona Real Estate Notebook

Frustrated sellers have dominated the metro Phoenix, Arizona residential real estate market so far this year by placing a large number of new listings on the market.

After falling steeply since last summer to only 8,565 new listings in December, the number of new listings rebounded to high levels in January (15,857) and February (13,539) causing the inventory of homes for sale to increase sharply and setting a new record of 45,645 homes this month.

Home sales have not been low in January and February. The increase in inventory is caused, rather, by the large number of new listings. That is, many “frustrated sellers” have decided to put their homes on the market during the beginning of the high season for Arizona home sales.

By last December, it seemed to me the rapid reduction in new listings reflected the ending of the boom time investor homes hitting the market. I expected a significant reduction in the inventory of homes for sale by summer.

Now, it appears likely that the inventory of homes for sale in metro Phoenix, Arizona will instead increase and possibly increase very significantly.

Sellers

• Get real with your pricing.
• If you aren’t motivated to sell, quit wasting everybody’s time, take your home off the market and start enjoying life.
• Get used to the idea that you probably won’t get “your price” and you may not even get the price your neighbor got for his dump last month.

Buyers

• If you aren’t picky, you can find a bargain. You have to find the right seller, not the right house.
• If you aren’t motivated to buy a home unless its a HUGE bargain, quit wasting everybody’s time, you’ll never find a bargain big enough.

CLICK HERE - Analysis for March 2007

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