Arizona Real Estate Market update from Jeff Cameron of Keller Williams!

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Another Wonderful Home in McDowell Mountain Ranch Just Listed By The Cameron Team!

A truly wonderful 3064 SQ FT Estate with all the right touches in McDowell Mountain Ranch. Diablo Travertine and wood style flooring throughout first level with carpet in the family room. Drywall niches in family room are perfect for big screen tv and art objects. Plantation shutters in downstairs rooms. Kitchen has ample cabinetry, black appliances and Sierra Series black corian counters. Upstairs has cherry finished wood floors with a balcony revealing fabulous view of the golf course, city lights, and mountains. Home has a den/loft that is perfect for a playroom or an office. The back yard is an entertainers dream with PebbleTech play pool, cozy built-in Kiva fireplace, and outdoor kitchen with built-in BBQ. Also, garage has built-in Cabinets.

Real Estate Update!!

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METRO PHOENIX HOME INVENTORIES CONTINUE THEIR FALL

Yes, the good news keeps coming. Inventory of single family homes here in Metro Phoenix continue to decline and a surprising rate. When we crossed from March to April I expected a good decline in inventory, but was wondering to the extent. You see Realtors typically set their listings to expire at the end of the month with retail sellers(retail in non-bank owned or short sale). They do this to squeeze a few extra days in their listing agreement. An agent lists April 10th on a 6 month contract, and they typically will have it expire October 31st, thus getting 6.5 month agreement. Banks, on the other hand, they give 3 to 4 months from list date exactly. So, that made me wonder how great the fall off in inventory would actually be crossing from March to April. My tracking is cut off at the end of the day on Mondays, March ended on the 30th. Inventory fell by 1,156. I thought, well we caught the expiring properties this week. The next week inventory fell by 1,714. I thought, WOW, the majority came in on the 31st. But then the next week, last week, inventory fell by 1,156 as of now 7 am on Monday. My tracking cuts off at the end of today, so that is not the full extent. This is fantastic for our market. Demand is out stripping Supply by great lengths!!!!
Inventory Jan 1, 2009 43,000
Inventory Feb 1, 2009 42,056
Inventory March 1, 2009 39,900
Inventory April 1, 2009 37,250
Inventory Today, April 13, 2009 34,883
Based on closings over the past 4 weeks, we now have 5.2 months supply of single family homes for sale in Metro Phoenix. This is the point were we transition to a seller's market. Let's see what happens!

IS THE END OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS NEAR??

Wells Fargo is rocking Wall Street today, see article below. Are these the first signs of the recovery? No, the first signs were the recovery in the housing market. We began to bottom out when sales hit their low levels of only 700 per week in mid 2007. That was followed by price declines throughout 2008. In the beginning of 2009, sales regained their normal rate at about 1,500 per week. But as the market started to shift positively sales have soared! For the last 8 weeks, enough to make more than a trend, home sales have jumped to averages of over 2,000 sales per week. Over the past 2 weeks we have experienced 2,400 per week. At the same time, inventory levels have crashed, well relatively speaking. Inventories of single family homes are down 10% over the past 3 weeks and are down 17.6% YTD. These are the signs of a recovery in housing.
So, how did Wells Fargo turn around and make a profit???? I believe one of the biggest reasons is that they are paying, I don't even know, 1.5% on savings for a blended cost. Then lending that money at 5%. That is a huge spread! It seemed logical that if the Fed kept rates artificially low, it was only a matter of time where banks would start to profit from that. Also, since they have written down most of the "toxic" assets to zero, now when they sell them there is a profit there too.
Let's keep it rolling, this shift we experienced over the past 4 years was very difficult on me and I am ready to be a happy survivor!

Every major U.S. bank is rallying like mad on the heels of Wells Fmade a profit in the first quarter. WFC shares have spiked up 23 percent to $18.50 in early trading.

The financial firm said it expects to report record net income of approximately $3 billion for first quarter 2009, or approximately 55 cents per common share after preferred dividends, including $372 million in dividends paid to U.S. taxpayers on the U.S. Treasury's Capital Purchase argo (WFC) reporting that it Program investment.

The word "record" must floor investors based on the perception that American banks still face substantial write-offs from toxic assets, consumer loans, and commercial real estate.

Wells Fargo predicted that it would post total revenue of $20 billion, up an estimated 16 percent, driven by the core businesses it owned before buying Wachovia. Results at Wachovia were better than expected.

If one or two other large money center banks post strong results, there will be a temptation to think that the worst of the financial crisis is over.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.

Don't forget, see foreclosure homes before most agents even know they are there: www.ArizonaBankDeals.com

Another GREAT BANK-OWNED Home Listed By The Cameron Team

This 3 bed 2 bath home is clean and well maintained. Home has Living and Family Room. Kitchen is bright and open with gas stove, island, pantry, and breakfast area. Carpet in all the right places, wood blind, ceiling fans with lights. Private Backyard with covered patio, and cabinets in garage. Your buyer will LOVE this home.

Monthy Real Estate Update!

Click the Arrow below and see my monthly real estate update. Some of the facts and data are below in graphs and dialog.

Let me know if you have any questions.

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Click on any graph to make it bigger.

Home closings soared in March. At the graph was created 6,755 single family home closings were recorded in March. That number has been adjusted up to 6,851 as of April 3rd. This represents the 3rd best March ever for single family home closings. At the rate homes are selling we should close over 8,000 in April. When comparing to May of 2006, a time when the market was in good condition, we now have about the same amount of homes on the market as we did in May of 2006, but we are selling twice as many homes. Over 2,400 single family homes sold last week, compared to about 1,200 in May of 2006.

Again, click on the graph to make it larger and easier to read.

Below is a graph of weekly home closings in the metro Phoenix area. You will see the partial line which is 2009. The home sales in 2009 are substantially higher than any other year, other than 2004 and 2005. Demand has returned to the market.

Click on the graph to make it larger and easier to read.

Below is a graph of the inventory levels of single family homes over the past 3 years. You can see, supply is contracting. The fact that demand is increasing while supply is decreasing, these are the ingredients for a market recovery. Remember 70% of the homes selling today are in need of some level of rehab. This should start to bring more demand to other goods and services for home improvement, appliances and landscaping.

Remember to see new listings of foreclosed homes before most Brokers have a chance to see them, visit: www.ArizonaBankDeals.com

Jeff Cameron