downtown phoenix real estate news
Information About HAFA and Short Sales in Phoenix
July 10, 2010 by The Urban Team · Leave a Comment
Short sales are big news in the real estate industry these days. With a large number of people owning more on their home/condo than its worth, folks are pondering a short sale as one of their options. This is evident in the downtown region with about 1/4th of all active listings being short sales.
The US Government, for better or worse, has adopted a program called HAFA (Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative) to help streamline the short sale process. Some of our readers have emailed asking: What is the HAFA program? We are here today to answer that question.
In case you don’t know. the Urban Connection team launched a site dedicated to information about short sales last Fall. We have well over 100 pages of short sale articles, short sale news, an FAQ section and much more. We just added a page describing the HAFA program and its guidelines. Below is a link to that piece so you can be an expert on the HAFA program and impress your friends and coworkers with your in depth knowledge on the subject.
What is the HAFA Program for short sales in AZ?
If you know someone who needs more information about short sales, please know we are there for them. Short sales are not for everyone and there are legal and tax issues that need to be explored before moving forward with this option. We would be delighted to help navigate the short sale waters.
Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Connection Team
602-234-5777
Gene@UrbanTeamAZ.com
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downtown phoenix real estate news
Tax Relief for Many Phoenix Historic Homeowners
June 24, 2010 by The Urban Team · Leave a Comment
Have you heard the good news? Ten Phoenix historic districts have been added to the National Registry of Historic Places. With their addition, homeowners can apply for a reduction in property taxes. YEAH… we like lower taxes especially when it can be as much as 45% less.
The new additions to the National Registry are… a drum roll please:
If you move really fast, you may be in time to get the tax break for the coming year. By fast I mean June 30th. You’ll need to fill out an application, supply photos and swear a blood oath that you’ll maintain or improve the property according to standards outlined under the State Historic Historic Property Tax Program (SPT). Below is an excerpt from their site and a link to the page. BTW… the blood oath thing may be an exaggeration… more like a cross my heart and hope to die ritual in government triplicate.
Owner Requirements
The SPT program reduces property taxes as much as 45%. (The exact figure is dependent on special assessments which are specific to your area. Questions regarding the amount of the reduction should be directed to the county assessor’s office.) As a condition of the reduced tax rate, the owner enters into a 15-year agreement with the state, consenting to maintain their property and to preserve the integrity of its historic features, materials, appearance, workmanship, and environment. If an owner plans to do any work on the property that will impact its public appearance, the SHPO must be contacted for review and comment or approval prior to project implementation. All such projects are reviewed for appropriateness according to a set of national guidelines called the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation (
112 KB PDF).
Property owners are required to submit a notarized form (furnished by the SHPO) every three years verifying that the property has been maintained according to program guidelines. This report also requires submittal of two photographs demonstrating the current condition of the property. Furthermore, the owner is required to notify the SHPO when the property ownership or property use changes. Here is a link to the SPT web site.
The SPT site has the application requirements, a way to download the application (PDF) and lots more info. So huury and save big on your next years taxes by getting your application in before June 30th.
Finally, we simply want to congratulate the homeowners, preservationists and all those who worked so hard, jumped way too many hoops, and persevered to make this happen. You’ve won this battle and we thank you!
Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Connection Team
602-234-5777
connecting people to the perfect space
downtown phoenix real estate news
Real Estate and Home Values 85014
May 18, 2010 by The Urban Team · Leave a Comment
Today, May 18 2010, we’ll be taking a look at the real estate and home/condo market in Phoenix zip code 85014. The map to the right shows you the boundaries to this narrow region of mid-town and central Phoenix, AZ. As you can see, Camelback sits midway and 7th Street and the 51 bound it on the sides.
Zip code 85014 offers a diverse selection of real estate opportunities from condos, townhomes, single family homes, multi-family housing and some historics. It is this eclectic blend that gives the area its personality and diversity.
The 85014 zip code is one of the most popular in Phoenix. Relative to the general region, home prices are generally lower. At the same time, there are a lot of benefits with great access to downtown Phoenix, Sky Harbor airport, proximity to the Biltmore area and it is fairly close to Metro Light Rail and the ASU downtown Phoenix campus for ASU. The job market is strong with ASU, many law firms, numerous hospitals, hotels and other businesses.
Recent real estate data shows some strength in the single family home market. As of this post, only 72 homes are for sale and home inventory is in the 3-4 month range. The graph to the left comes from Mike Orr of the Cromford Report and shows pretty good sales from traditional homeowners and a growing inventory of short sales. As you can see, buying a short sale or bank owned home offers some strong price advantages. With short sales getting a bit easier, it may be wise to explore these opportunities. (If you would like more information about short sales please visit our short sale information site.)
The condo market is a completely different story. As we’ve discussed in the past, financing for condos is a nightmare. Lenders are afraid of condos these days due to financial problems with homeowners associations. Thus, most lenders are staying as far away from condos as possible and its easier to find a fiscally responsible politician than obtaining an FHA loan.
The loan issues surround condos has made values pretty soft. A few projects like Brick Commons and One Lexington qualify for financing but the majority do not. If you are a cash buyer there are some great deals out there. I’d advise caution though and make sure to have a CPA take a look at the HOA’s financials and don’t expect much, if any, appreciation until the mortgage issues are resolved and a larger buyer pool becomes available.
If you would like to take a look at what’s for sale in 85014, we’ve included a nifty home search tool below. If you click on any home it will open a window with lots of information and an opportunity to modify the search for your particular needs. If you have a question, need more information or what to take a look at a place, we’d be happy to help.
Best to you,
Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Connection Team
602-234-5777
SEARCH FOR HOMES % CONDOS IN 85014
downtown phoenix real estate news
Vote For The Melrose Garden Project Now!
May 6, 2010 by The Urban Team · Leave a Comment
The 7th Avenue Merchants Association needs your help to make a community garden possible in the Melrose District. Please read on and vote now so we can garner the grant that will make this happen.
The Seventh Avenue Merchants Association has applied for a $250,000 grant from Pepsi Refresh. The grant money, with additional help from Clear Channel Communications will create a community garden on what is described as a weed infested lot at the corner of 7th Ave. and Montecito. The design for the garden has already been achieved by combining community input and student talent from the ASU School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture; A fine collaboration of local talent and minds.
The key to success lies with you and others who can vote on the Pepsi grant website. If we get enough votes, we win and so do our community. There is heavy competition for the grant money, so don’t hesitate. Take action now and use the following link to vote for the Melrose Community Garden. Even if you don’t live here, we ask you to help make Phoenix a better city by voting.
VOTE NOW FOR THE MELROSE COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECT
or use the following link:
http://www.refresheverything.com/M7project
To learn more about this exciting project, take a look at the video below. Thanks for your support and we look forward to seeing this become a reality. Voting ends on May 31st, 2010, so please don’t delay.
We will keep you updated on the vote and together we can make something very special happen in the way of a community garden in the Melrose District. Pass this info on to your friends too, we need everyone’s votes.
Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777
downtown phoenix real estate news
Phoenix Real Estate Market Report April 2010
April 30, 2010 by The Urban Team · 1 Comment
We are beginning a new feature on the Urban Connection Realty site. Each month we will be providing a report on the happenings in the Phoenix real estate market. The report is provided by Mike Orr of Cromford Report fame in conjunction with Fidelity National Title.
For those who do not know Mike Orr, let us say he is the guru of market stats for the Greater Phoenix real estate market. He tirelessly compiles, reviews, digests and produces the finest information about what’s happening with real estate in the Phoenix area. We, the Urban Connection Team, have been working with Mike for several years now and find his information invaluable for keeping us on top of the market and our clients safe.
The report includes 3 pages of information. Each page is an image file and if you click on an image it will open in a new window at full size for easy viewing. We hope you enjoy our monthly Phoenix real estate market update.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Mike studies and evaluates the single family home market and his analysis currently does not include condo data. Thus, the figures for 85003 & 85004 do not necessary reflect the entire real estate market for the downtown area where condos have such a strong influence. We asked him to provide condo analysis and he assures us it will be included in the future.
The data used to create this report is obtained from public records and extracted under license from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc (ARMLS).
Although certain corrections and checks have been applied to this data, Cromford Associates LLC, Fidelity National Title Insurance Company and ARMLS expresslydisclaim and make no representations or warranties of any kind, whether express, implied or statutory, as to the accuracy of the data used or the merchantability
or fitness for any particular purpose.This report is copyrighted in 2010 by Cromford Associates LLC and used with permission on UrbanConnectionRealty.com
downtown phoenix real estate news
Historic Preservation Needs Your Voice
April 20, 2010 by The Urban Team · 1 Comment
The April 19, 2010 Historic Preservation Commission meeting was held yesterday and what a meeting it was. On the agenda was talk of consolidating the HP office with Development Services. Not a popular idea among many and there were a number of people who voiced such concerns.
David Krietor, Deputy City Manager, and others from the City came to the meeting and listened thoughtfully as person after person voiced both their concern and disdain for the proposed merger.
Among the many speakers were Paul Barnes, GG George, Jim McPherson, Robert Melikian, Steve Dreiseszun and others. They had a common message: Do not undermine the great work HP has done by putting them under the thumb of Development Services.
There were several great statements made including:
Preserve our future by preserving our past.
History is what sells our city.
An autonomous, independent Historic Preservation Office is essential to the future of historic preservation.
Historic Preservation builds community and sustainability.
HP is the key to the past, present and future of downtown Phoenix.
The Historic Preservation office is in jeopardy with budget cuts and consolidation. It is my belief they need our voice and backing while the City investigates options. The fear and possibility is HP will be hamstringed and made impotent if combined with Development Services. Such an outcome is conceivable.
HP provides an important check and balance in the planning and use of current and future historic buildings and neighborhoods. HP provides an important barrier to development that would destroy our city’s history and once gone, it can not be brought back.
If Historic Preservation’s independence is compromised we could see developers slip in projects that neither conform or preserve our history. As we’ve all learned, it is rare to find a developer who puts history ahead of profit.
I encourage all of you who love and value our historic districts, neighborhoods, homes and building to make your voice heard. Please contact the Deputy City Manager, David Krietor, and let him know how much you value the good work of our Historic Preservation office and that you want nothing done that would weaken their role in the planning and development of our City. In fact, if you value what they do, ask the City to give them more power and influence as they re-structure some of the city departments and organizations.
David Keietor can be reached as follows:
David Keietor
Deputy City Manager
602-262-7957
david.krietor@phoenix.gov
Don’t forget to CC the Mayor and Council members while you are at it.
Thank you in advance for your interest in preserving our history and taking the time act.
Gene Urban
The Urban Connection Team
602-234-5777
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downtown phoenix real estate news
Phoenix real estate prices close to the bottom
February 1, 2010 by Lyle Plocher · Leave a Comment
For the first time in a few years, we are starting to see encouraging articles appear in the local media about our real estate market. This past week, I actually see three separate articles in a two day span with good news.
The first article was titled “Pending home sales, prices on the rise” . This article appeared in the Phoenix Business Journal. The article quotes local real estate market analyst Michael Orr. Orr, author of the Cromford Report, said that the January rise in pending home sales is a critical recovery indicator for Arizona’s real estate market. Orr said the latest report shows pending sales in the Metro Phoenix area hit a record 9,883 in the first week of January 2010 – a 79 percent increase over the 5,350 from a year ago.
The second article, also in the Phoenix Business Journal, stated that Phoenix home values were up 1.1% from October of 2009 to November of 2009.
The third article, written by J. Craig Anderson at azcentral.com, quoted Arizona State University professor Karl Guntermann who publishes the monthly ASU Repeat Sales Index housing report. Guntermann said, for the first time since the foreclosure crisis began, the price of a Phoenix area foreclosed home was roughly the same as it was a year ago. Guntermann said that in December, based on early numbers, the annual decline in price was down to 2%. That does not hold true for the non-foreclosure market which is still declining at an annual rate of 20% according to Guntermann.
Signs are beginning to point to the possibility that we could start seeing a slight and slow recovery in local real estate values in 2010.
downtown phoenix real estate news
Bidding wars are back
July 20, 2009 by Lyle Plocher · Leave a Comment
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
