Welcome to Pook's E-News!

Pook Bellini 
REALTOR®, ABR, CNE, e-PRO, SFR

                       Attention to Detail
           Dedication to Exceptional Service

azpook@gmail.com
Mobile: 480-628-7377

Pook's E-News contains up-to-date articles and information about real estate and other topics of interest. It is sent out as an email to those on my mailing list and then posted to this site.  If you would like to receive Pook's E-News and are not currently on my email list, please contact me. Also, please know that your feedback is both welcome and deeply appreciated!  Feel free to leave comments or email me directly.

Please note that you can search for previous postings at the ARCHIVE at the bottom of the left sidebar.  

You can also scroll down below to see previous postings, however, since there is a limit to how many postings appear on a page, you will need to click on "older posts" (lower right corner of each page) to see older posts.  There are lots of posts hiding there... don't miss them! 

Buying is a Process - Steps to Purchasing a Home

Thinking about purchasing a new home?

I have put together a document called "Buying is a Process - Steps to Purchasing a Home" to help new buyers understand the buying process from beginning to end.  It covers the following items:

1. Deciding to Buy a Home
2. Getting Pre-Approved for a Loan
3. Getting Educated
4. House Hunting
5. Preparing an Offer
6. Submitting an Offer
7. Contract is Accepted and Escrow is Opened
8. Prior to Close of Escrow
9. Close of Escrow 

Please contact me for a copy of this informative document and for a copy of First American Title's invaluable guide, "Buying a Home in Arizona."   

How Housing Is Leading Us Out of the Great Recession

Courtesy of Keeping Current Matters/The KCM Blog
Posted: 30 April 2013

We are often asked if the housing market can truly rebound if the all-round economy remains sluggish. We answer by explaining the housing market is not dependent on the economy but rather the economy is reliant on the housing market. Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moodys.com, addressed this issue in a recent report.

 “Historically, housing has always led the U.S. out of recessions. It is the most interest rate-sensitive part of the economy, and as rates fall during recessions, housing rises first.”

How does real estate impact the economy?

Real estate impacts the economy in several ways. As Zandi explains:

“Housing’s resurrection is crucial to the creation of more jobs. Every new single-family home creates and sustains almost five jobs for about a year. These include not only construction jobs, but manufacturing positions for producing lumber, paint, nails, plumbing fixtures, carpets, wall board and so on. Truckers are hired to move this material around, and retailers add workers as new homeowners shop at home-improvement and hardware stores. Realtors, mortgage bankers, landscapers and cable installers all increase staff.”

Is the current market momentum sustainable?

If the economy is dependent on a recovering housing market, we need to know whether the current good news being reported in the real estate industry will continue as we move forward. Again, Mr. Zandi:

“The pace of construction has risen to 900,000 homes per year and is set to double to 1.8 million in the next few years. Even this will be only enough to meet demand; in an average year, 1.25 million households are formed, 350,000 houses are irreparably damaged or demolished, and an additional 200,000 are built for use as vacation or second homes. Given pent-up household formation—hundreds of thousands have put off their plans because of the tough job market—there could be a couple of years in which closer to 2 million homes will need to be built to meet demand.”

Housing will remain strong for the next several years. That will enable the economy to continue to heal until it fully recovers.

April 2013 Housing Trends Newsletter

I'm pleased to share this month's Housing Trends eNewsletter with you! 

Housing Trends eNewsletter contains Local Market Reports for over 150 Local Markets in 46 states with local prices and number of sales by state prepared by the National Association of REALTORS®.

Housing Trends eNewsletter is also filled with local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by MLSs and the National Association of Realtors, U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, housing market video reports, blogs, real estate glossary, maps, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, community reports that map shopping, schools, recreation and more.

A link to the Housing Trends eNewsletter can always be found at my website.

Pook's Message - 4/5/13

The Phoenix metro market continues to be very active.  While activity varies by location and price range, in most areas, inventory continues to be extremely low and prices continue to be on the rise, creating a wonderful opportunity for Sellers (many of whom were "underwater" not too long ago) and some real frustration for Buyers.  While in recent years distressed properties (Short Sales, Pre-Foreclosures, and Foreclosures) were a large part of the inventory, I'm happy to say that today "normal" sales once again account for the majority of sales.  Today's articles provide great information on the current market.  Also included today is information from my website on how you can do your own property searches for both resales and new build homes.  Please share this information with friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors!  If you or someone you know are interested in buying, selling, or just "checking out the market," please give me a call.  I'm here to help you!

Warmest regards,
Pook

Mortgage Rates Back Down This Week

Courtesy of REALTOR®Mag/National Association of REALTORS®

Daily Real Estate News | Friday, April 05, 2013 

Average fixed-rate mortgages dropped this week, as the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has hovered around 3.5 percent for the past two months, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for mortgage rates for the week ending April 4:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.54 percent, with an average 0.8 point, dropping from last week’s 3.57 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.98 percent. 
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.74 percent, with an average 0.7 point, dropping from last week’s 2.76 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.21 percent. 
• 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.65 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 2.68 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.86 percent. 
• 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.63 percent, with an average 0.4 point, rising from last week’s 2.62 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.78 percent. 

Source: Freddie Mac

Investors Dropping Out as Phoenix Home Prices Show 36.5 Percent Gains

Source: Phoenix Business Journal - Mar 28, 2013
Article by Kristena Hansen

As the chronic shortage of homes for sale worsened last month, the greater Phoenix housing market kicked off home-buying season with dramatic price gains and a drop in investor interest, according to the latest report Thursday from Arizona State University.

The supply problem shoved median Valley home prices to $170,000 in February -- up by 36.5 percent year-over-year, and by nearly 5 percent from the previous month, the report showed.

The average price per square foot -- a metric commonly used by Realtors -- was $110.44, up almost 31 percent year-over-year. Exasperation with the limited supply of existing homes for sale continued to push buyers toward the new-home market, causing the sales volume of newly built homes to climb 67 percent from February 2012 to February 2013, the report said. New-home sales almost doubled their market share from a year earlier, from 6 percent to 11 percent.

The price gains and short supply indicate sellers are maintaining full control of the market, especially for homes priced at the low end. But as bargain deal -- whether through short sales or foreclosures -- are increasingly harder to come by, investor activity is seeing a “significant down trend,” said the report’s author, Michael Orr, a real estate expert at ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business.

After reaching a high point last summer, investor purchases accounted for less than 30 percent of all home sales in Maricopa County last month -- down from 37 percent a year ago. “The shortage continues to get more severe among the most affordable housing sectors,” Orr said in the report. “Overall, ‘distressed’ bargain supply is down 32 percent from last February, since we’re seeing fewer foreclosures and short sales. First-time home buyers face tough competition from investors and other bidders for the relatively small number of properties available in their target price range.”

Supply Problem

On March 1, about 12,450 homes in greater Phoenix were listed for sale on the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service — down by 5 percent from Feb. 1 and well below historical norms, the report said.

Nearly 80 percent of those listings were priced at more than $150,000, indicating the inventory shortage is most severe in the lower price ranges -- a harsh reality for many first-time home buyers, who continue facing multiple bids, sometimes within hours of properties hitting the market.

Luxury homes, on the other hand -- listings priced at more than $500,000 -- are seeing a balanced proportion of buyers and sellers, the report said.

Existing homes

The median price for existing single-family homes in February was $183,750, up 25 percent year-over-year. The average price per square foot for existing homes grew by almost 17 percent, to $125.78. Orr said normal resales are now by far the most common type of home sale. In February, normal resales surged by 62 percent year-over-year to about 3,750 for the month. That enabled resales to increase their market share from 28 percent last February to 51 percent last month.

New Homes

New-home sales jumped by 67 percent from a year earlier, to 799 in February. Gilbert had the biggest chunk of those sales, with 146. Goodyear trailed in second place with 74, followed by Peoria’s 69 and Mesa’s 62.

While this is encouraging, Orr said it’s becoming extremely difficult for home builders to keep up with demand. “New homes are not being built in sufficient quantity to match the population growth in the Phoenix area,” he said in the report. “The construction industry remembers overbuilding from 2003 to 2007, contributing to the disaster in 2008 that resulted in layoffs and bankruptcies for some developers. For now, it looks like they will probably build fewer than half the homes needed to keep pace with the current population trends.”

Distressed Properties

Foreclosures and foreclosure starts -- the point when delinquent homeowners receive notice from their lenders saying foreclosure may occur within 90 days -- backslid 25 percent from January to February and by 52 percent year over year. In Maricopa County, there were 1,462 foreclosure starts last month — far below the peak of about 10,100 in March 2009. By the end of next year, Orr predicts foreclosure notices may drop “below long-term averages.”

Although short sales have become a popular alternative to foreclosures, Orr said they have declined as lenders “have been insisting on higher contract prices” before approving short sales, which has “dampened buyer enthusiasm.”

While still slightly less expensive than foreclosures, short sales and pre-foreclosures are still pricier than the average price of a home owned by a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), such as Freddie Mac.

For example, the average price of short sales and pre-foreclosures climbed by about 10 percent year over year in February, to $165,388, while the average price of a GSE-owned home was $160,269. Bank-owned properties, on the other hand, posted a 42 percent jump in average price last month, to $216,498.

Short sales and pre-foreclosures thus accounted for only 11 percent of all sales in February -- almost half their market share last year of 20 percent.

Investors dropping out as Phoenix home prices show 36.5 percent gains - Phoenix Business Journal