Arizona Real Estate Notebook

The outlook for a continued strong U.S. economy improved with higher than expected U.S. job growth in June.

The department of labour said on Friday that payrolls swelled by 132,000 in June and that 75,000 more jobs were created in the previous two months than initially thought. The unemployment rate held steady close to a six-year low at 4.5 per cent.

If the U.S. economy remains strong for a few more years, we should have time to peacefully digest the large real estate price increases of 2004-2005.

The number of homes sold in metro Phoenix peaked in June 2005 so we are already 2 years into the “soft landing.” Another 2, 3 or 4 years of a strong economy would go a long way toward preventing any hard landing.