By Mike Bodeen · 30 April 2018
Phoenix is rising, but it’s effect is a mixed bag.
Temperatures have hit the high 90’s recently and we’ve seen gas prices leap high just in the past month. Mortgage rates have risen as well, though thankfully they’re still in the mid 4% range. For how long who knows? With gas prices rising as they are, higher inflation will inevitably follow, which will again cause mortgage rates to rise, at least that’s what they used to do following inflation news. I’m not sure who really knows anything, anymore.
Building is rising, literally. I’ve been in Tempe a few times lately and noticed the high number of cranes (metal, not feathered) in the air. Same with Phoenix. Scottsdale also. It’s amazing. Much of the housing seems to be apartments/condos to assist renters in the rental shortage. Unfortunately for renters however, many of these new builds will be focusing on higher end rents.
This segues to the continued rise in rental rates. Phoenix area rental rates rose 5.3% this past year. Phoenix has but a 1.1 month supply of home units available for rent on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The average rental price per sq ft increased from 85.8 cents to 90.3 cents.
HomeSmart Soars!
Our company, HomeSmart, has been on the rise as well. We were ranked the Number 5 leading residential real estate brokerage firm in the nation for 2017 as determined by Real Trends 500.
Real Trends 500 measured the 500 largest Brokers ranked nationally by closed transaction sides for 2017. HomeSmart had 33,601 transactions nationally, up from 24,381 in 2016, a 38% rise year over year. HomeSmart was also ranked Number 8 nationally in closed transaction sales volume in 2017. Sixteen total HomeSmart franchises were featured in this report.
Mike and Jonathan finished 2017 in the top 1% of all local HomeSmart agents by transaction sides, and in the top 5% of all real estate agents in the Phoenix Metro area. It was a very good year!