March Madness Real Estate Report!

Its March Madness and believe me the real estate market is MAD. Welcome and thank you for viewing my The Monthly Real Estate update by me Jeff Cameron of Keller Williams.

What is happening. I will tell you it is crazy. I have never seen it busier! So let's get to the numbers.

1. SFH sales for last week crossed the 2,000 mark with 2,034 sales recorded in the MLS. Let me explain and give you perspective to these numbers. They are taken from ARMLS, the multiple listing service for the Metro Phoenix area. I take a reading every Monday and check the activity for the week.
Last weeks sales of 2,034 are the highest I have recorded. For example, this week last year was 1,007. We have doubled the sales from last year. In 2007 it was 1,186, remember this was right before the Sub Prime bank crash. In 2006 we recorded 1,356. I was not recording back in early 2005 or before. But these are exciting numbers.

2. February Home Closings. In February we closed on 4,817 single family homes. This is the 3rd highest level of closings for a February ever, with 2004 and 2005 above. And remember this is follow by January's adjusted 4,273 home closings; the second highest ever, second to January 2005.


3. Pending Home Sales. There are now over 10,000 homes Pending here in the Metro Phoenix area. These are homes that are under contract and most will close in the next 30 days. This is the highest I have recorded. For example, for all of last year there were only 3 weeks that I recorded Pending home sales in the 8,000's. Also, the absorption rate as measured by Pending home sales has dipped below 4 months at 3.9 months of inventory based on Pending homes. Great number.


4. Inventory level. As of this morning, there were 39,802 single family homes showing for sale in the ARMLS system. This is the lowest since February of 2007, prior to Sub Prime I when the banks started disclosing their troubles and eliminated the Sub Prime mortgages, thus making lending less available. Remember, after Sub Prime I, sales of single family homes plunged over 35%.


These numbers are fantastic. This whole problem is about supply and demand. High supply of homes, low supply of buyers and loans. We are seeing the shift in home supply, going down. We are seeing the shift in buyer demand, increasing. We are seeing the increases in availability of mortgages. All of this points to a bottom in the real estate market here in metro Phoenix. The bottom will occur at different times in each sub market here in the valley.

So, there you have the monthly market update. Remember I will record the numbers weekly on my blog at thecameronteam.com and then email each monthly report. If you have any questions, please call me for a personal review of your market.

Thank you all again for your referrals, Please keep sending them. Also, I know some of your are hurting in this market or have friends that hurting. We have set up a website to get YOUR questions answered about Loan Modifications, Short Sales and we can even get an attorney to answer legal questions for our clients for FREE. This is all available through the web site www.NoForeclosureAZ.com This site is private and confidential. Please use it or pass it on to someone that may be in need of answers for today's issues.

For those in a position to take advantage of this market, first time home buyers, Investors, or even those move up buyers, we have great connections with banks for Foreclosure homes. You can see the bank deals before most agents and brokers at www.ArizonaBankDeals.com

Thanks for your time and have a wonderful day.