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Jeff Cameron and The Cameron Team

Great Bank-Owned Home in Grayhawk Just Listed By The Cameron Team!

Perfect family home in N Scottsdale w/large walk-in bdrm closets, huge storage closets, & large loft area for kids, office, or exercise. Upgrades includes: 16' tile, built-in refrigerator, quite dishwasher, recessed lighting & great lighting fixtures, 9 Ft ceilings, & custom 2 1/2' wood blinds. Home is even Pre-wired for surround sound! Wonderfully landscaped front & back yard with Malibu lights. Neighborhood has sidewalks, a greenbelt, & kids play area. Close to shopping, entertainment, & schools! All offers are subject to IndyMac Banks Senior management approval and any offers or counter offers by Indymac bank are not binding unless the entire agreement is ratified by all parties. Any cash offers, must include proof of funds &buyer agrees to pay $75 doc fee at closing. No SPDS or CLUE

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.

Weekly Video Update!

www.tokbox.com

The Cameron Team Just Listed A Great Home On Tatum & Bell!!

Beautiful home well cared for located on a hard to find cul de sac lot! Priced only $95K less then the same floor plan a few doors down. Realistic seller priced for today's market. Nice yard with several fruit trees, full length covered patio and easy to care for desert landscaping. Recently the owner has replaced the water heater, quiet garage door opener and faucets in both bathrooms/kitchen have been replaced.

Another Bank Owned Home Priced To Seel Brought To You By The Cameron Team!

Bank Owned and Priced to Sell! Located in Cresta Norte gated subdivision located in the Desert Mountain area! This Greatroom floor plan is a 2 x 2 split with 3 Baths. Large open kitchen offers Granite counters and built in Stainless steel fridge. Large yard with pebble tech pool, rock water fall, large covered patio and mountain views. Master offers snail shower and large walk in closet with organizer. The lot is elevated and offers city views from the front and mountain views to the rear.

REDUCED IN PRICE!! Fantastic Patio Home In The Heart Of Everything!

Fantastic patio home in the heart of everything...just minutes from the 51 and downtown, PV mall, Desert Ridge and Kierland! Perfect location in the middle of the community, out the back gate and the community pool feels like a private pool. Split floor plan 2 bedroom and 2 bath. Recently replaced the appliances and all new A/C system 2/08 $3,600. In 2001 both baths were remodeled and the master is handicap accessible. New dual pane doors and windows in 2005, over $8K invested. Cute patio with tile floor, fun for these beautiful days! Ceiling fans in both beds and great room.

Sheena Dr - Awesome Rental in McDowell Mountain Ranch for $ 2100!

Fantastic McDowell Mountain Sonoran Fairways Golf Course Subdivision. South back yard with grassy area. Kitchen and family room connected for just the right about space to cook and entertain without being isolated from family and friends. Gas fireplace in family room. Great eat-in kitchen with granite tops and tile floors. Central portion of the home has formal dining and living. Master bedroom is split to the west side of the house with an extraordinary master bath and walk-in closet lined with cedar. Community features two heated pools and spas, lighted tennis courts and lots of recreational trails.

For more information and pictures, click on:

http://www.thecameronteam.com/Phoenix_Scottsdale_Arizona_McDowell_Mountain_Ranch_Dc_Ranch_listings/49D0E3B7-AE35-3B4A-3CCE392A8F4DB9C7.shtml

PENDING HOME SALES JUMP

Pending home sales in June rise, hello it is August. I could have told you that, or I did back in June.

Pending Home Sales Show Surprising 5.3% Gain

U.S. home sales contracts signed in June unexpectedly rose, boosting an index of pending sales to the highest level since October, though it was well below the year-ago level, a real estate trade group said on Thursday.
The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in June, was up 5.3 percent to 89.0 from a downwardly revised 84.5 in May.
It was the highest reading for the index since October, when it was at 89.8.
Read the whole article here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/26072378

NEEDED FHA MODERNIZATION AND LIMIT INCREASES

Below is a letter from National Association of Realtors thanking me for emailing the Senate regarding modernization of FHA and increasing loan limits. I suggest you all contact congress. This is what congress can do to help us. Create more demand for housing by creating more liquidity in the mortgage market.

Just my opinion...Jeff


Dear Jeff,
I want to personally thank you each of you for taking action on these latest Calls for Action in support of FHA Modernization. More than 90,000 REALTORS contacted the Senate urging passage of the Housing bill. On July 11th, the Senate voted 63 to 5 to approve the legislation. As a result of your efforts, HR 3221 creates affordable housing opportunities by setting loan limits up to $625,500 for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA, and will stimulate housing demand with a temporary $8,000 home ownership tax credit. The bill also includes broad reform for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA, and creates a new FHA program to help homeowners at-risk for foreclosure.
This bill is critical to restoring confidence in the mortgage and housing markets and the nation’s entire economy. But it isn’t complete yet. Now, the bill goes to a conference committee before Congress can send it to the President. Negotiations begin over the next few days and weeks, and both House and Senate leaders hope to get the bill on the President’s desk before the August recess.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without members mobilizing in support of this crucial legislation. Our strong involvement included face to face meetings between members and their Senators and Representatives in their home states as well as in Washington, DC. NAR generated more than 250,000 e-mail messages and phone calls urging Congress to take action on the vitally important Housing bill.
By working “All Together” we have shown that when REALTORS stand united the American dream of homeownership is open to all. Thank you for your successful efforts!
Dick GaylordPresident NAR

BANK FORECLOSURE SOLD BY THE CAMERON TEAM

We have been working with Indymac bank to sell some of their Foreclosure homes. Last week we had our first closing. The home was located in Knoell Scottsdale, a subdivision in Scottsdale that was built in 1985. It was an interesting experience. With the real estate market in Scottsdale shifting, buyers are acting strangely. Within a few weeks of listing the Foreclosure home for sale we had 2 offers. Both were bottom fishing. But one stepped up and paid $270K for the home. One week before closing, he cancelled and lost his $2500 earnest money. He cancelled fearing the Scottsdale real estate market was declining and this Foreclosure was not a good enough deal. He just did not get that this was an adjusted price. The home sat for 2 weeks. I was shocked, then we got 4 offers over a weekend. We had an offer at full price, $275K, but the bank took the lower offer that was cash. An investor was bidding with others for this Foreclosure home in Scottsdale. This to me shows that in Scottsdale for this product in the real estate market THIS IS A BOTTOM!

Just my opinion,

Jeff Cameron

METRO PHOENIX HOME INVENTORY LEVELS DROP AGAIN

Inventory of single family homes for sale in the Metro Phoenix area dropped by over 700 last night. Our inventory levels are at the lowest point in over a year. Today there are 42,800 single family homes listed for sale in the Arizona Multiple Listing Service. That is the lowest level I have recorded since April 16, 2007. Along with sales at a 2 year high and Pending home sales at a 2 year high, this is just another sign we are approaching a bottom. Where is the bottom? We will only know when we see it in the rear view mirror. However, we can use this statistics in order to know the market is turning. A market of this size does not turn quickly and will not turn over night.

I read this new article sounding off about a recovery, I hope you enjoy it.

Just my opinion,

Jeff Cameron

Over the horizon, a housing recovery: Harvard report finds immigration, other demographic trends will fuel housing demand over the next decade.
By Beth Braverman, CNNMoney.com contributing writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The current housing market is bleak: home prices and sales are plummeting, foreclosure proceedings are skyrocketing and mortgage rates are on the rise. When will things be better?
A new study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, "The State of the Nation's Housing 2008," finds the country poised to see an increase in housing demand over the next decade.
"The good news is that we still have a growing population," said Nicolas Retsinas, director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies and one of the study's authors. "As long as you have more households, more people are going to need places to live."
Social trends - people getting married later and divorced more often - are making single-person households the fastest growing household type, the study finds. In addition, a long-term net increase in potential home buyers will be driven by demographic factors: the aging of "echo boomers" into adulthood, an increased life expectancy for baby boomers and projected annual immigration of 1.2 million. http://realestate.aol.com/article/_a/over-the-horizon-a-housing-recovery/20080626120409990001?ncid=AOLCOMMre00DYNLprim0001&icid=200100397x1204780037x1200229763

Mortgage Rates

30 year fixed 6%
20 year fixed 5.875%
15 year fixed 5.5%
5 year ARM 5.25%

FHA 6.125%

Jumbo 30 year fixed 7.5%

Interest rates change many times a day and depend on many factors. Please call for a rate customized for your needs.

Staci McCarville
Indymac Bank
480-538-1402

METRO PHOENIX INVENTORY LEVELS - WHERE ARE THEY AND WHAT IS NORMAL

After doing my daily analysis of today's inventory levels and sales of single family homes, I pondered on what to expect. In today's market inventory levels have been declining, but ever so slightly. This is a good sign, but how good?

I went through and ran some more numbers. Over the past 6 years we have averaged 65,315 single family home sales per year. Now that is an average, but also the same level as 2003. I feel that is our next goal, get back to the same sales levels as in 2003. This probably won't happen this year, but is very possible for next year as our market continues to recover. Based on those sales numbers, what would be the expected inventory level? Home sales are very seasonal. So, I computed the weighted average for sales over the past 6 years. It told me what I knew, the strong months are February through July. That is when the sell, they close March through August. We see drops in the rest of the year with the holidays being the slowest months of the year. Dah!

I used the weighted average that I created and established an expected 6 month inventory level based on those numbers. We use 6 months of sales as a pivot point moving from a buyer's market to a seller's market. Less than 6 months is a seller's market and more than 6 months is a buyer's market.

Based on a year with sales of 65,000 single family homes, than this time of year the weighted 6 month level would be 37,790. We currently have 44,400 single family homes listed for sale. That would be 7.1 months supply, a buyer's market. But wait, we are not on track for 65,000 sales this year. However, trying to see where we are today with supply and demand this is encouraging. What I am trying to say here is that we are not far from getting back to the pivot point between a buyer's market and a seller's market. We are definitely not as bad is it was just a few months ago.

On the supply side, we need to see 6,000 homes come off the market. There are so many over priced homes on the market right now. If they would just get it, "they are the problem." Their value would not be dissipating so quickly if they were not listed for sale. They are not going to sell at a price greater than today's value, the banks won't allow it!

On the demand side, demand is rising nicely. Thanks to the new FHA limits and Fannie Mae bringing the 3% down back into the market. Right now we are on track to sell at a rate of 5,500 home in May. To be at a level of 65,000 sales per year, using our weighted average, we would expect sales of 6,300 this May. So, we are off by about 200 sales per week.

With today's actual demand and using the weighted average to find the 6 month supply, that supply number would be 33,000. Based on today's sales, we have 11,000 too many homes on the market.

Remember the market just started recovering. We have 7,700 home in the Pending category. Thus we expect closings to continue to increase. At what rate, time will only tell.

There you have it, read into the numbers what you see. I see a recovering market that is still a buyer's market. Thus values will continue to have downward pressure.

Thanks for your time! It can't be replaced.
Jeff Cameron

SCOTTSDALE LAGS VALLEY AS HOME SALES CLIMB

Yes, we are at 2 year highs when looking at the weekly sales here in the valley. Yet homes in Scottsdale are not moving. Most of that is about pricing. We see homes selling, and some at what I would consider over value prices, but we don't see the type of activity we would expect in Scottsdale. Why is there so much activity in the West valley? Two reasons: Prices and mortgage availability. Prices have come down dramatically and buyers are swooping in to pick up the good values. Plus with FHA raising their limits to $357,000 purchase price, that brings plenty of liquidity to that market.
FHA does not help most of Scottsdale. Two things are hurting the Scottsdale market: Prices and mortgages. Prices have come down, but not as low as they will go. I was out previewing for a client in McCormick Ranch last week. I looked at 12 competing properties ranging from $489,000 to $675,000. I capped it at $675,000, because there were plenty of other homes at higher prices that would have fit in this group. That was the point, this group of homes were very similar. Yeah, there were some variances and they were not all the same value. But none had a $200,000 variance in values. So, what I am saying is pricing does not represent value properly. The other issue is mortgages, this price range and higher price ranges put the mortgage in a JUMBO status. Interest rates on JUMBO are still very high and this is hurting demand. Maybe as prices come down we will see rates drop. The risk will be lessened as prices drop. Let's hope the banks respond with those lower rates.

FANNIE MAE TO REDUCE DOWNPAYMENT REQUIREMENTS

Right on, a step in the right direction. I have been shocked that Fannie Mae and other banks have made is so much harder to qualify for a loan right now. They should have made is harder in 2005 and 2006, as the bubble grew. Take away demand and you avoid the imbalance. But they didn't.
It now seems that they intentionally push property values lower by making it harder to qualify for mortgages over the past year. Now that property values have dropped, the risk is much lower for new borrowers and the banks. Yeah, property values have dropped from 20 to 60% in the metro Phoenix area since the peak. So, now that prices are lower they are reacting by reducing the down payment requirement. This is great news. We need to continue to add demand to the market and this move will add demand. It is all about the balance of supply and demand. That is what controls everything, I mean everything.
Demand has been growing here in the valley. The 4 week moving average of valley home sales hit 1,220 last week, the highest since May of 2006. However, we still have over 45,000 single family homes listed for sale. With over 2,500 foreclosures last month, we know their is and will continue to be an abundant supply of homes. Every little bit we can do to add to demand will help us move towards a supply and demand balance more quickly.
Thank You Fannie Mae! What's next! How about the JUMBO market, that is our biggest problem here in Scottsdale.

Here is the article from the AP about Fannie Mae:
Fannie Mae reduces downpayment requirements
May. 16, 2008 09:13 AMAssociated Press
WASHINGTON - Fannie Mae is doing away with higher minimum down-payment requirements for borrowers in parts of the country where home prices are dropping.
The government-sponsored mortgage finance company said Friday it will require minimum down payments of between 3 percent and 5 percent for all loans that it guarantees. That replaces a December policy that required a higher minimum if the loan was for a home in a zip code with declining real estate prices.
Washington-based Fannie says the move is part of its effort to help resuscitate the flagging mortgage market.
Fannie Mae and its smaller sibling, Freddie Mac, had been under intense pressure to relax lending policies that had been tightened in recent months as foreclosures and defaults skyrocketed.
Richard Gaylord, president of the National Association of Realtors, said in an April letter to Fannie Mae, that because the health of a housing market can differ widely - even in the same zip code - in a particular neighborhood can differ widely, neighborhoods with healthy housing markets are often stigmatized.
Gaylord applauded the decision on Friday. "These new policies will help stabilize the credit markets, which will help encourage buyers to come back into the housing market," he said in a statement.
A Freddie Mac spokesman said the McLean, Va.-based company earlier this month adjusted its policies to make 5 percent down payments available in declining markets. Rather than defining those markets by zip code, Freddie Mac allows appraisers to make that determination, he said.
The announcement comes as lawmakers near a bipartisan agreement on a housing bill that could bring stricter regulation for the two companies. Senators are considering tapping a fund drawn from Fannie and Freddie's profits to pay for a new foreclosure-prevention program.
Congress created Fannie and Freddie to pump money into the home-mortgage market by buying home loans from banks and other lenders and bundling them into securities for sale on Wall Street. Together they hold or guarantee about $5.1 trillion in home-mortgage debt.
Fannie Mae shares fell $80 cents, or 2.60 percent, to $29.45 in morning trading. Shares of Freddie Mac fell 70 cents, or 2.57 percent, to $26.57.

McDowell Mountain Ranch...SOLD SOLD SOLD

The Cameron Team has another home under contract! Our listing at 10560 E. Firewheel Dr. in McDowell Mountain Ranch is now pending! The buyers love this home and we are all looking forward to a successful close of escrow in the beginning of April. Congratulations to the Flach's for getting their home SOLD!!

JUST LISTED IN McDOWELL MOUNTAIN RANCH...SIENNA CANYON

We listed another home for sale in McDowell Mountain Ranch!

This gorgeous home is located on a cul-de-sac lot with only one direct neighbor. The address is: 10654 E. Palm Ridge Dr. Scottsdale, AZ 85255.


Wow, Wow, Wow! That's All You'll Say As You Drive Up. Premium Cul-De-Sac Lot With Views Of Sanctuary G. C. And Camelback Mtn. Paver Entry With Walkup Steps, Paver Front Patio And Stone Facade. Dramatic Entry With Inlaid Custom Design In The 24in Travertine Flooring. Custom Interior With Built-In Entertainment Center, Surround Sound In/Out Inc Master And Den, Stone Accent Fireplace And Island. Bosch Dishwasher, Completely Remodeled Master Bath With Travertine, New Cabinets And Custom Closet. Guest Bath With Refinished Cabs And Granite. Outside Oasis With Pebbletech Pool And Spa, Waterfall Slide, Custom Coated Deck, Dcs Bbq, Misting System, Play Area/Putting Green.


Some of you may be familiar with this beautiful home, that's because it is the home of the Cameron family. They have remodeled and upgraded this home to be absolutely awesome! There are so many upgrades to list, you would just have to see to believe.

IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW WOULD BE INTERSTED IN THIS HOME OR IS LOOKING TO PURCHASE (OR SELL) IN THE MCDOWELL MOUNTAIN RANCH COMMUNITY, TAKE A LOOK AT THIS HOME AND OUR OTHERS! CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION. WE WOULD LOVE TO HELP!
VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE ABOUT OUR LISTINGS! http://www.thecameronteam.com/

VALLEY HOME SALES HIT A NEW HIGH

For the week that ended March 3, 2008, home sales across the valley registered a level of 1,007. The highest level since June of 2007 and prior to "Sub Prime 2." Each week of this year Sales have increased. Demand is beginning to return to the market.

A GREAT RIDE ON SATURDAY!

Saturday was a beautiful day for a ride in the McDowell Mountains. John and I took off about 7:30 Saturday morning. The top of the mountains were in the clouds. It was AWESOME. I love riding. We started from home and road to 105th Street and McDowell Mountain Ranch Road to drop into the Quartz trail. From there we picked up the Paradise trail and road through to the Gateway loop. The Gateway Loop has an incredible downhill run that every thrill seekers loves. From there we picked up a new trail and ended up at The Village gym located in DC Ranch. Time was short and we took the road home. It was a great day for a RIDE!

Here I am on the Paradise trail. This is a little cat track on the side of the mountain before the big switchbacks. It's a fun ride. My quads are still feeling it today, Tuesday. You can see Camelback Mountain and the Butts in the back ground.

My buddy John Todaro, he is always joking around.



Close up from the earlier shot. After loosing 20 pounds for a fund raiser, I put on a winter pack. Now the weather is nice again, it's time to burn it off!