We're Shoveling Sunshine in Arizona!

  

We all have our bucket lists... somewhere on mine was ice fishing in northern Wisconsin.  Did that last week! 

Also went up to Lake Superior and took a ferry out to Madeline Island.  As the ferry crunched through the ice, I put my business card on the bulletin board... added the following message: 
We're shoveling sunshine in Arizona!

Scottsdale has over 330 days of sunshine a year! 
Weather should be perfect for the Open!


Courtesy of The Weather Channel

 Have a great week!

10 Cities Where List Prices Soared in the Last Year

Courtesy of REALTOR®Mag/National Association of REALTORS®
Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, January 26, 2012

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Daily News

List prices are heating up in Florida, as recovery takes hold in the Sunshine State. Florida boasts the highest number of cities in the top 10 for largest increases in median list prices in the last year. In Miami alone, median list prices have jumped 32 percent in the last year. 

Nationwide, median list prices have inched up 5.03 percent from December 2010 to December 2011, according to Realtor.com data.

The following cities are where median list prices have increased the most in the last year, based on December 2011 data of 146 metro areas from Realtor.com:

1. Miami, Fla.
Year-over-year increase: 32.50%
Median list price: $265,000

2. Naples, Fla.
Year-over-year increase: 21.67%
Median list price: $365,000

3. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla.
Year-over-year increase: 21.47%
Median list price: $229,375

4. Punta Gorda, Fla.
Year-over-year increase: 19.42%
Median list price: $179,000

5. Boise City, Idaho
Year-over-year increase: 19.25%
Median list price: $154,900

6. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
Year-over-year increase: 18.38%
Median list price: $219,000

7. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
Year-over-year increase: 17.62%
Median list price: $241,000

8. Daytona Beach, Fla.
Year-over-year increase: 16.06%
Median list price: $179,900

9. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.
Year-over-year increase: 13.79%
Median list price: $165,000

10. Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Mich.
Year-over-year increase: 13.32%
Median list price: $137,000

Fed Vows to Keep Rates Low Until 2014

Courtesy of REALTOR®Mag/National Association of REALTORS®
Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Federal Reserve announced that short-term interest rates will likely stay near zero for nearly three more years, a move that is expected to spillover to long-term mortgage rates for home buyers and home owners.

In August, the Fed had made a rare move to say it would keep rates near zero until at least mid-2013. The Fed said Wednesday that the economy still needs more help and it will now extend that period to 2014. 

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a news conference that the Fed isn’t happy with the modest economic recovery and that the Fed may need to take additional steps to spur recovery. He did not comment further on what those steps might be, though. 

While the economy has improved somewhat in recent weeks, Fed officials say it’s worried about “strains in global financial markets” and the still high unemployment rate. 

Some critics say that the Fed’s vow to keep mortgage rates longer won’t do enough to help the economy and the housing market. They argue that too many Americans are already unable to take advantage of the record low mortgage rates because of the tightening of lending standards.
 
Bernanke shared that concern, saying that millions of home owners were unable to refinance because of damaged credit or being from underwater in their homes. 

Source: “Fed Sees Low Rates to 2014,” The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 26, 2012) and “Fed Signals That a Full Recovery Is Years Away,” The New York Times (Jan. 25, 2012)

2011-2012 Cost vs. Value: Which Remodeling Projects Pay Off the Most?

Courtesy of REALTOR®Mag/National Association of REALTORS®
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

When tackling home remodeling projects, you’ll find some projects pay off more than others at times of resale. Remodeling Magazine, in conjunction with REALTOR® Magazine, recently released findings of its annual Cost vs. Value report for 2011-2012, revealing which remodeling projects offer the biggest bang for your buck.

Overall, the trend right now is replacement over remodeling–swapping out the old for the new rather than doing a total gut job, which can be much more costly.

This year’s Cost vs. Value report found that exterior replacement projects–such as new garage doors and a new entry door–offer some of the best returns at resale, allowing home owners to recoup close to 70 percent or more of the costs of the project at times of resale.

The following are the top, mid-range projects from this year’s report, based on what home owners stand to recoup at time of resale:

1. Replacing the entry door to steel
Estimated cost: $1,238
Cost recouped at resale: 73%

2. Attic bedroom (converting unfinished attic space into a bedroom with bathroom and shower)
Estimated cost: $50,148
Cost recouped at resale: 72.5%

3. Minor kitchen remodel (including new cabinets and drawers, countertops, hardware, and appliances)
Estimated cost: $19,588
Cost recouped at resale: 72.1%

4. Garage door replacement
Estimated cost: $1,512
Cost recouped at resale: 71.9%

5. Deck addition (wood)
Estimated cost: $10,350
Cost recouped at resale: 70.1%

6. Siding replacement (vinyl)
Estimated cost: $11,729
Cost recouped at resale: 69.5%

5 Low-Cost Kitchen Updates to Attract Buyers

Courtesy of REALTOR®Mag/National Association of REALTORS®
Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, January 26, 2012

Considered the heart of a home, the kitchen can be instrumental in selling a property.  Many buyers prefer dwellings with modern kitchens, especially since it's a room they'll use every day and a place where they will entertain guests. 

Attend open houses in the neighborhood to see how kitchens compare. If all the other homes have new appliances, your sellers will want to do the same or accept a lower price.

But a kitchen retrofit does not have to be extensive. A recent Realty Times article offers tips on attracting buyers with lower-cost kitchen upgrades.

• Repaint in a neutral color
• Eliminating clutter
• Clean, clean, clean
• Change light fixtures and hardware
• Opt for less expensive granite

Source: "Kitchens Sell a House," Realty Times (01/24/12)
(c) Copyright 2012 Information, Inc.

Phoenix-Area Housing May Be on the Mend - All Signs Indicate Recovery is Under Way, Experts Say

Source:  The Republic | azcentral.com
Article by Catherine Reagor - Jan. 6, 2012 11:12 PM 

Data from the end of 2011 suggest that a housing-market recovery has begun in metro Phoenix.
The upswing in the market will surprise many because it comes less than five months after the region's existing-home prices fell to their lowest level since 1999. But even at last year's low point in August, when the median home price fell to $112,000, many market indicators pointed to an increase in the area's home prices by year-end. Now, it appears they were right.

Search home values | 31 Days of Foreclousres
 
The median price of a metro Phoenix home rose to $120,000 in December, its highest level since November 2010, according to the Information Market, a real-estate data firm. That was the first December since 2005 that the region's median price didn't drop.

The number of home sales in 2011 climbed to their highest level since the housing market's peak in 2006. Foreclosures fell to their lowest level since 2008. And the number of Phoenix-area homes listed for sale has dropped to a figure not seen since 2005, indicating demand is finally exceeding supply. This is a complete turnaround from 2007, when the housing crash started and cheap foreclosure homes flooded the market while buyers were few.

Now, investors are snatching up both foreclosure and short-sale houses at a record pace. Regular buyers, who need a mortgage to purchase a home, are having a hard time competing with cash-paying investors.

"The housing market definitely saw the bottom in August or September of last year," said Mike Orr, new director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

He continues as publisher of the "Cromford Report," an online daily real-estate market analysis. "I talked to 200 Realtors the other day, and almost all were much more positive about Phoenix's housing market then they were just two months ago."

Experts agree on roughly what a healthy market looks like: The number of home listings holds steady, and sales keep pace. Foreclosures are few, and median sales prices inch up steadily, but not so quickly that they become volatile.

The end of 2011 began to look more like that ideal than it has in recent years.

Home sales climbed to almost 95,000 in 2011, a near-record for annual resales in metro Phoenix.

During the boom, annual sales climbed above 150,000, although more than 60,000 of those deals were for new homes. Now, new-home sales are averaging about 600 a month.

Arizona homebuilding analyst R.L. Brown said the construction of new houses won't pick up until the supply of inexpensive foreclosure homes dries up. New homebuilding could increase this year if foreclosures continue to slow.

The number of homes listed for sale in metro Phoenix is down to 25,000, compared with 43,000 a year ago, according to Cromford. Only 9 percent of the homes on the market are lender-owned foreclosures. A year ago, 20 percent of the homes were foreclosures that lenders were trying to sell inexpensively.

Foreclosures started to climb in late 2007 and peaked in 2010 at almost 50,000. Last year, the number of homes taken back by lenders fell by 16 percent from the year before. Pre-foreclosures steadily fell in 2011, so foreclosures could fall again this year.

It has been a year of ups and downs for the region's housing market, making it more difficult to predict or time a recovery.

One month, home sales were down and prices were up, while the next month foreclosures might tick up as home sales climbed.

Metro Phoenix's housing market became fragmented during the crash. Inexpensive homes sold more quickly than luxury houses during the past few years, keeping the area's median home prices lower.

The market has also reverted to being driven largely by location. A house in north Phoenix might go for the asking price, while a house farther out in Queen Creek or Buckeye might sell in a short sale for half of what the owner owed.

Some market watchers still don't believe a real recovery has started.

Phoenix real-estate agent Brett Barry with HomeSmart thinks "lenders are just kicking the can down the road," drawing out the foreclosure process so the market looks better than it is actually doing.

"Any stabilization in 2011 is a temporary bottom," he said. "Banks are now letting many owners miss 24 to 36 payments before finally foreclosing. This is a sea change as these homes don't appear on any radar screens until they do foreclose."  He thinks those potential foreclosures will drive down prices more.
 
Early in 2011, the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service's pending- sales index showed metro Phoenix's median home price would fall to $100,000. It didn't drop that much, although it did fall to $112,000 after hovering around $115,000 for the first six months of last year.

But now that the region's median is climbing up, foreclosures and listings are down and sales are at a nearly record pace, a growing number of real-estate analysts say the market recovery has started.

"Six months ago, we saw a drop in prices coming. But based on other indicators, it was obviously going to be temporary," said Tom Ruff, analyst with the Information Market. "Now, we are finally seeing year-over-year gains in pricing and sales. The housing market's recovery is on track."

Home Affordability Offering Up 40-Year Deals

Courtesy of REALTOR®Mag/National Association of REALTORS®
Daily Real Estate News | Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Home affordability is at 1971 levels, due to falling home prices and record low mortgage rates, pushing home ownership in reach to more families, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Home owners are bringing in nearly double the median income they need to cover the cost of an average home, HousingPredictor reports. 

"With interest rates at historically low levels and markets across the country beginning to improve, home ownership is within reach of more households,” Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said in a statement.

Home sales have been ticking up, according to recent reports by the National Association of REALTORS®, the National Association of Home Builders, as well as the Obama administration’s December Housing Scorecard. 

However, some consumers are finding more stringent lending standards for getting a mortgage a roadblock to home ownership, and some housing experts have blamed tighter underwriting standards in recent years for continuing to hold back the housing market. 

Source: “Home Affordability Reaches 1971 Level,” HousingPredictor (Jan. 11, 2012)