March 18-19

Welcome Back, Weekend Warriors!

This is the Amy Jones Group's weekly newsletter, detailing local events, recent real estate news, and open houses.

This week, we're bringing you these fall fun-filled events happening around the Valley!

Things are definitely heating up out there as we’re well into our peak selling season in Arizona with at least a couple more months before the temperatures start to dampen buyer’s appetites for pounding the pavement in search of a house. 

With more than 6.5% appreciation year to date and nearly 30 zip codes with an average price point of $1M or greater, demand is holding steady in spite of rising interest rates and the sticker shock that most are experiencing after a competitive go at the less than 5000 active listings on the market. Listings under contract averaged $300 per square foot, double what it was just five years ago with 15% of that increase occurring since the holiday season of 2021. 

Buyers are not only challenged with finding a home but also navigating the confusing environment to secure it. List prices are simply marketing tools to gain the largest amount of eyeballs on sellers properties, the most foot traffic, and the greatest online exposure meaning that winning offers of $100-$200K over asking are becoming more and more common place. How can a buyer budget for this? Knowing what the recent sales are in a neighborhood and expecting to pay that plus appreciation will give you a better idea of sales price than the window sticker.   

Appraisal waivers and the ability to lease a seller back their property anywhere from one month until THEY can find a home has become one of the most important components of an offer so if you don’t have this flexibility, you are going to have to get creative. Homes that have been on the market for more than a week, properties that are coming soon or not yet listed, and ones without all of the updating you’ll eventually want to do in them are really great opportunities for strong, qualified buyers who just don’t have an endless amount of cash to bring to the closing table to get into the market. And sometimes, it’s the buyer’s story. Remember, this is still about people.   

Sellers have their own challenges and are moving for all kinds of reasons - and while I wouldn’t recommend selling your house because you are afraid of the market, if you need to move, now is a really good time to do it. Assuming you have to buy locally after you sell, homes are at least 10 percent cheaper than they’ll be by the end of the year, if not more, and less expensive to finance than they likely will ever be meaning your payment is MORE affordable today than if you try to wait this out. You’d have to have a pretty good case for selling and renting right now, especially with the number of programs allowing you to buy before you sell and the expected appreciation you’d lose out on.

Testing the waters has become more and more common with sellers and the need to prepare your home for the market continues to become more and more valuable as time and time again we’ve seen identical floor plans have opposite market experiences - the well prepped and marketed one receiving dozens of offers almost instantly while the unprepared one sits for a couple of weeks before getting one. Do they both sell, absolutely. Are the prices and terms different? Most definitely. Is this a price and terms market? 100 percent. Testing the market can be stressful but knowing that supply is still more than 75% below normal and demand is about 13% above normal makes it seem like a good time to try.

Meanwhile, the rental market continues to lose some steam with plateauing prices although try finding a short term rental in between moves and you’ll say just the opposite - price and availability of short term rentals are breaking records left and right with the Northeast Valley cities increasing their supply by 23% in the last year - yet another lucrative opportunity to invest in our real estate market. 

There are 100 different ways to make a move in Arizona real estate, leverage your equity to save, or invest and a 100 reasons why people will choose not to. This housing shortage is not going to be fixed overnight and while purchases are being dominated by inbound migration from higher priced states and our investor friends who have the money to compete, now is not the time to sit on the sidelines - and it won’t be for quite some time. We’re not playing small anymore, Arizona - the real estate market is on fire and it’s not even summer yet.

Give us a call with questions!

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