July 2009

Home starts, existing sales leap in 2nd Qtr 09

In an article at bizjournals.com, dated July 29th, Adam Kress reports that according to a research group called Metrostudy, both new home starts and existing home sales jumped way up in the 2nd Quarter of this year. 

Here is an excerpt from Adam’s article dealing with existing homes which has a little more relevance to those of us who live in urban Phoenix.

Metrostudy research, culled from Arizona Multiple Listing Service, puts existing single-family home listings at 28,904 in June, a 4.6-month supply.

“This supply level is usually indicative of a sellers’ market,” Sage said. “However, supply varies by neighborhood and by price segment. In the above-$500,000 price range there is an oversupply, since there is very little sales activity in this range.”

As of June, single-family MLS sales rose to an annual rate of 75,204 homes, a 62 percent increase from June 2008. The volume was driven by lender-owned properties, which comprised half of June sales.

Strong demand for distressed properties is driving up prices and limiting supply, which will probably temper the volume of sales in the second half of 2009, Sage said.

“With the decline in resale inventory and continued improvement in new-home inventory levels, the Phoenix housing market is showing the beginning signs of recovery,” Sage said. “Hurdles that still must be overcome include the weak job market, continued foreclosures and the effect of the expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit.”

 

50's Ranch near light rail in great Uptown location

Walk to the 7th Ave Light Rail Station from this large single story home on a spacious corner lot.  Featuring 3 bedrooms, 1.75 baths with separate entry for what could be home/office.  Situated on a lushly landscaped lot with privacy in both front and back yards.  Also, walking or bicycling distance to all of the new restaurants & other retail, opening near Central & Camelback including Postino’s, Lola’s, Haus Modern Living  and on and on.

 

 

Asking Price is $283,800.  You may qualify for 1% down FHA financing on this home (OAC).

For more information about this home or to arrange a personal viewing, contact Lyle Plocher

 at 602 373 3725 or lyle@urbanconnectionrealty.com

Listing is courtesy of JDS & Company, LLC

A growing appetite for downtown Phoenix dining

That’s the title of a very extensive article appearing at azcentral.com today detailing the momemtum that the downtown Phoenix dining scene is gaining.

By Howard Seftel and Megan Finnerty

Looking past the current economic downturn, optimistic restaurateurs believe downtown Phoenix is poised to compete in the next few years with Scottsdale as a dining destination.

The momentum has been jump-started by a group of independent chefs and entrepreneurs who believe in the area’s potential. They, in turn, have inspired a fresh wave of high-profile names with big plans to rush in and stake a downtown claim.

New arrivals say downtown Phoenix has reached a tipping point, energized in part by light rail and the Arizona State University campus.

read the entire azcentral.com article

Drip Coffee Lounge

The Drip definitely qualifies as one of Downtown Phoenix’s cool places.  Headquartered on 7th St in the Sheridan Square complex, in the Coronado Historic District, the Drip serves up a great menu of organic meals and brews for breakfast and lunch.  The interior is modern and minimalist and the atmosphere is friendly, with Gina Madrid delivering smiles and your order to your table.   The multi-talented Vine’ Saccento will probably be preparing your food in the kitchen, but he is known to circulate from table to table to check on you.

The Drip is located at 2325 N 7th St. www.dripcoffeelounge.com

Bidding wars are back

Although the azcentral.com article I am linking to in this post does not specifically focus on the Downtown Phoenix real estate market, the same things are happening in Central Phoenix.  Basically, bidding wars are back.  In the middle of the worst real estate correction since the Great Depression, property values have fallen so far that buyers, especially investors are flocking back in to the market to scoop up deals.  This is sometimes very hard for buyers to understand as they have heard about all of the good deals out there, foreclosures, auctioned homes, short sales, etc.  Then they start making offers on properties and end up coming up on the losing end of multiple offers on the property. The reality is until/unless we get a new barrage of bank owned homes and short sales due to higher unemployment, we have probably hit the bottom of the local real estate market and we probably did that in April of this year. 

Who knows what the future holds, but if you are thinking about buying right now, just don’t get your hopes up that you are going to be able to dictate much to Sellers. 

Read azcentral.com article for a little insight into the current real estate market

Live in Arizona's tallest residential building

Does high-rise living interest you, but you thought you couldn’t afford the mortgage plus HOA?  If you’re interested in renting in Downtown Phoenix, there are actually a limited number of condos for rent at 44 Monroe, our tallest residential tower.  Amenities include indoor/outdoor pool, spa cantilevering into the skyline, state of the art fitness center & conference room. Enjoy the community entertainment lounge, play pool, watch the game, enjoy wine & food in a relaxing intimate setting or step outdoors on the terrace and enjoy the views and fresh air.

With rents starting at just under $1400 a month for a 1 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath luxury condo, you would be able to walk to everything downtown.

For more information or to arrange a personal viewing of available units at 44 Monroe, contact Lyle Plocher at 602 373 3725 or lyle@urbanconnectionrealty.com

Huge 2 Story Bungalow in East Evergreen Historic District

This is an extraordinary opportunity for someone who wants to live and work in Downtown Phoenix, all under the same roof or for a full blown Professional Office ie. Attorney, Lobbyist, Architect or ?  You’re talking a renovated property here with hardwood floors, remodeled kitchen and bathrooms, 8 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  A few of the bedrooms would serve as great conference rooms.  Property is zoned R-5 and is within walking distance to Safeway, Starbucks & others to the North, Roosevelt Row to the South, Downtown Phoenix Public Library & Light Rail to the West.

 

Asking Price has been reduced to $500,000.

 

 

 

 

For more information about this property, contact Lyle Plocher at

 602 373 3725 or lyle@urbanconnectionrealty.com

Listing is courtesy of Joseph Shopper & Assoc.

ASU Research suggests Real Estate Prices may have hit bottom

Source: Phoenix Business Journal by Adam Kress – Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

New research from ASU shows Phoenix-area home prices are at or close to a market bottom.

The Arizona State University Repeat Sales Index reported a 37-percent year-over-year decline in both February and March. But the new April 2008 to April 2009 report shows a lesser 35-percent drop. Preliminary estimates for May and June show annual drops of 33 percent and 31 percent, respectively

The ASU-RSI measures changes in average Phoenix-area home prices from year to year.

“April is the first month with a slower annual rate of decline, and the progressively smaller declines over the next two months are pretty good evidence that the worst of the price drops are in the past,” said Karl Guntermann, Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estate at W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU. He helps calculate the index. “While the housing market is still quite volatile, it may turn out that the low point in terms of price occurred in May, almost three years after prices peaked in the Valley.”

The current slide in home prices is the longest in Phoenix-area history at 26 months.

Preliminary estimates put the median Phoenix-area home price for June at $119,000. That’s up from $115,000 in May and $117,000 in April.

However, Guntermann said the large number of foreclosed properties being sold at distressed price levels suggests the median price is not likely to go up significantly for a while.

CityScape reaches key milestone

RED Development, the Developer for the $900 Million multi-block Project in the heart of Downtown Phoenix, today announced that the office tower in the project has topped off, reaching it’s full height of 368 ft, 27 stories.  The Developer also released the names of six restaurants who have agreed to come into the CityScape project.

Read all about the new businesses committing to the project as well as those who have already committed in an azcentral.com article today by Jahna Berry

Tuck Shop

The name of this establishment is very unusual, actually when reading some of the Yelp reviews, I thought it was pretty funny that one person doing google searches for the place was looking for Truck Stop.  Anyway, in the heart of the Coronado Historic District at the circle intersection, 12th St & Oak, has arisen a new restaurant whose offerings, the owners have dubbed “neighborhood comfort food”.  The space was originally, a local branch of a Credit Union or Bank with vault still intact.  The building has been transformed by it’s owner DJ, also a Construction guy into a mid-century modern looking hangout.   Sounds like people are liking the citrus brined fried chicken with white cheddar waffles and the gin and tonic with homemade gin and a cucumber twist.                                      

                                                                                                 

Yelp Reviews of Tuck Shop

Tuck Shop website

Next Page »