It is always an honor when the press turns to us for answers to real estate questions. Yesterday I got a call from Melissa Blasius with Channel 12 News to talk about the rumor of bidding wars happening in real estate.
Melissa and her cameraman showed up and we chatted about the current state of the Phoenix area real estate market. The truth is we are seeing lots of multiple offers come in on homes and condos including higher priced homes.
For over a year we’ve been seeing a lot of competition on the low price side, say under $125,000. Investors flocked to the Phoenix area looking for rental property deals and bought nearly 40% of all greater Phoenix homes sold in 2011. Now we are seeing interest in higher priced homes.
Why is the Phoenix area real estate market so competitive now?
Melissa asked me if I had any ideas of why we are seeing so much competition today. The answer is pretty simple and you already know if you read our monthly real estate market report. There is an extremely low number of homes and condos for sale in the Phoenix area. Let’s look at some of the numbers I shared with Ms. Blasius:
- Homes for Sale in Phoenix: About 2300.
- Scottsdale Homes for Sale: 1776
- Homes to be had in Glendale: 529
- 3 bedroom, 2 bath homes in Phoenix: about 1250. (In general 3 bed, 2 bath homes are the most sought after)
Those numbers may not mean too much if you don’t follow real estate market trends. In general, they are down about 70% from more normal numbers. I find that relating population numbers helps a bit. Phoenix has a population of about 1.5 million and only 2300 homes for sale. Scottsdale and Glendale have populations in the 220,000 range and not many houses to choose from, especially in Glendale. Based on what you see above, does it surprise you we are seeing multiple offers and bidding wars?
In case you want to see the news piece that aired on February 3, 2012 I’ve embedded a link below. Hope you enjoy.
Gene Urban
The Urban Team