By Mike Bodeen · 15 June 2015
Not Good News for Entry Level Buyers
With one exception, all 17 of the largest cities in the Phoenix Metropolitan area are currently experiencing a “balanced” or “Seller’s” market. This is according to the Cromford Market Index (CMI). This is not good news for buyers because it means that unless they are looking in the higher price ranges (over $400K) they’re finding it’s a hyper competitive market – as in multiple offers and quick sales.
Not surprisingly, the hottest market is the Valley’s West side. Specifically, Avondale, Glendale and Surprise are #’s 1, 2, and 3. And their index numbers are off the charts.
To add credence to that report is Jonathan’s efforts over the past few days working with first time home buyers in the $100K to $150K range on the west side. As I write, the buyers are writing an offer…
“Yes indeed it is a hot market on the west side! My clients and friends the Wallaces’ sent me 5 homes they had seen online, all relatively new on the market. When I checked into them, only one of them was really available.
We ended up writing an offer on a home the day after it came on the market. This particular model seems to be on the market for only about 5 or 6 days before it’s gone. So when that model, which was their favorite, popped up on the MLS, we went all in right away with barely a sliver of hesitation.
Just 5 months ago my advice to the Wallaces’ would have been to come in 5 or 10k under asking price. But now with this market, if they really wanted to it, we needed to go full price, especially since we needed to ask for closing cost. There is a high probability that before the weekend is over there will be 2 or 3 other offers on the property, and we can’t afford to get cute!
To underscore this, my wife and I just bought a home in the low 200s in North Phoenix in the 85050 zip, which although not quite as hot as the west valley market, is still very competitive. We put full price offers on three different homes before we finally had one accepted! Prices have already started moving upward, and the trend is continuing!”
– Jonathan Bodeen
Bodeen Team Relocates (well sort of ) to HomeSmart World Headquarters in North Scottsdale
It’s official, just not physical. Jon and I have transferred our licenses to HomeSmart’s new corporate World Headquarters in North Scottsdale, just off the 101 near Frank Lloyd Wright and Princess Drive. The physical part happens later this summer as the agent portion of HomeSmart’s 66,000 SqFt facility is currently a work in progress. Jon and I for a short time will still meet clients at our Desert Ridge office, or wherever they are in the valley.
One of HomeSmart’s great advantages is our ability to meet clients in any of our 11 offices valley-wide and to use those offices (conference room, internet, computers, etc) just as if it’s our primary location.
Speaking of progress, that’s one of the reasons why we’re making this move. As one of the fastest growing and most cutting edge real estate companies in the nation the accruing benefits to us and our clients will be huge. But more on all that in a future blog post.
Market data referenced in this article comes from The Cromford Report.