Good morning and happy Friday!!
Well?? Do you have plans for the most unofficial American Holiday yet?? Super Bowl Sunday 2/4/2018? Although I don't intimately follow football, it's always amazed me how this day has had it's affect on our culture and it's world wide impact. Fascinating... at least to me. ;)
In other news! haha...
Now with the 2018 year underway all of the 2017 housing market stats have come in... [attached is the 2017 year end report in great detail.]
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Here's the short and dirty:
"By the end of June, STAT reported, “…the third highest sales volume in the 17 years we’ve been reporting sales numbers. The 49,181 sales reported in 2017 were less than only the 2005 total of 54,142 and the 2011 total of 53,896. We should not lose sight of the significance of the two years that surpassed this year’s total. First, 2005 went down in the history books as the year our housing bubble rapidly inflated. Second, 2011 was the year housing prices bottomed out after the housing market collapse and cash investors began seizing the opportunity. This leaves 2017 as the very best year for valley resale homes in our history not influenced by some freakish market outlier.” Traditional and first-time local buyers were driving our market."
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House prices/values are up 9.5%!? and inventory is still dropping.... and is lower than 2016. The 9.5% is a city wide generalized number... this is very unique to each zip code. One part of North Peoria is at 4-6% over last year whereas parts of Glendale has seen a 12% rise?!!... it's unique to where you are, however, all in all, we're on the up and up :)
One of the big things this causes is a lot of "Buyer drama"... it's the prepared Buyer who's getting the home, out winning other less prepared Buyers. Our job as agents is to help you get the "job", we are the agent cultivating the job interview. We are here to make sure your resume of home buying is top notch! Which means you've got to be thoroughly prequalified with a lender, a lender who's not from a big bank... just like going to a good college... listing agents and their sellers are not fans of the big banks... and while submitting offers with them as your go-to can be a vulnerability.. we've submitted great offers before and the seller countered only suggesting a change to the lender... so you have to have a solid foundation.
Inventory is low, prices are going up... just three years ago our inventory was near 29,000... it's drop a full 1/3rd!!
Sellers know this. When a home hits the market yesterday, a Seller is poised to wait for the best of the best offer. Not to say this is a bidding war like many fear, no... just bring a good offer, be prepared, and hope like hell your agent can make a connection so that the Seller falls in love with your Buyer's and wants you to give you the home... again, this all comes down to the buying strategy and preparedness. Homes are not selling $10k, 15k, 20k more than they are asking.. this is NOT happening. Same goes for homes are not selling for less than $15-20k of their list... in the $350K and under.. this case. that stuff only happens on HGTV... this is real life here >D
In this market a Seller needs to focus on contingency plans... provided the home shows well and is priced well and depending on where the home sits in price point... it's very possible it will sell fast. GREAT! for a Seller... but difficult and stressful to then turn into a Buyer themselves.. They need to know where they are going to go or stay while they get on the hunt. What many Sellers do not think about is that it's great your home has sold! BUT! If it's newly under contract some agents and Sellers do not want your offer... why?! because if your sale is not through the inspection period they see this as a big vulnerability in your offer... especially if you are competing with another offer that does not have this kind of "need to sell first contingency".
All this being said, buying or selling a home takes thought and strategy to be prepared for what to do, how and why.
One thing we really focus on is teaching and preparing our clients for this kind of market.. how better than doing so over pizza and beer?! :)
Unconventionally so... we buy pizza and beer/lemonade... whichever, food/beverage and we sit in the comfort of your home with zero pressure and zero expectation to buy or sell something. We believe in the relationship first and build a foundation that this is a safe place to ask questions and help you make the best decision for you and your family...Sometimes this means a Seller needs to wait for another year or two... totally fine! you were informed with intent.. or a Buyer, maybe they need to wait 9 months to get ready, clean up their finances, save more.. BUT! they are prepared when the time comes...
time and time again, when a Buyer or Seller has had the chance to do pizza and beer they make very informed decisions and the process goes so much smoother than ever anticipated. who knew pizza and beer could be so productive ;)
To sum it up...
The market right now is where we've all hoped it to be after the crash. With 2005 activity compounded by 1999 inventory levels, things are moving rapidly... This may appear as though we're approaching a boom again... rest assured though, the PHX market is still below the national average. It's a compound affect of the progressive growth our wonderful & desirable city offers and lower inventory.
This is a good thing! :)
Please check out the attached pdf with all the city data. I'm thankful for your patience reading this in-depth perspective and detail regarding our market. A new year brings a lot of detail and we hope you find this valuable.
To the important part! :)
You can almost here the pitter-padder, tick-tack sound of the lake water tapping the waters edge..
damn. :)
We hope you have an incredible Friday :) If you or someone you know could benefit from some pizza & beer, and all around good company with pressure free info and an open heart to help... Chas and I grateful to help.
Thank you again for your time ;)