Market Notes, January 24, 2015: The number of available subdivision homes inched back up over the 500 mark with 503 currently listed at an average of $85.36 per square foot. 162 homes are currently under contract, up from 154 the week prior and 16 homes sold over the last 7 days, selling on average for $73.04 per square foot and thus bringing down the yearly average sold price per square foot to $77.80. If you’ll remember we began the first week of the year with an average sold price per square foot of over $80 but as the sample size grows, that average will most likely fall back to around the $75 average that we finished 2014 with. Buyer demand and enthusiasm has noticeably picked up since the beginning of the year, which is good news for sellers and new builders. I think gas prices and the strengthening of the overall economy have given many folks the confidence they need to buy that first home, or upgrade their existing property. Primary residence buyers are out numbering our winter visitors in purchases thus far with FHA and VA financed loans currently leading the pack. The rental market in Maricopa is also very active with 103 rental properties currently available down from a high of over 200 not too long ago. Since the first of the year, 51 homes have been leased for an average of .48 cents per square foot – meaning an 1800 square foot home is renting on average for $860/mo. We don’t often mention the rental market but probably should more often. On another note, the State of AZ in conjunction with ADOT is soon to be in land acquisition mode for the anticipated railroad bypass. The city has selected their preferred route in option H (a rendering of which is available at our office or at City Hall) which will straighten out John Wayne Pkwy by elevating up over the NAPA auto parts store and skirt the eastern edge of the business’s located on the south side of the tracks and then merge back up with John Wayne Pkwy near the Baptist Church. How the Church will be affected remains to be seen, but the business’s on the south side including Helen’s restaurant, the foundry, and the old historic hotel will most likely not be impacted although access to those properties will change. One of the first parts of construction will be too widen Honeycutt Road and improve the intersection with John Wayne Pkwy and movement on that project is expected within the year. The bypass project will change the face of Maricopa and we will all at some point be saying - “I remember when …”. Maricopa will become a force to reckon with and will be in a great position to compete for business and industry once that project gets closer to reality and I want to thank Mayor Christian Price for his determination and hard work in making this endeavor a reality. On a national note, A. Gary Schilling with Bloomberg View recently wrote an interesting article that speaks to the continued sluggishness of the national housing market. Fortunately for us, Arizona is well ahead of the national curve in post recession housing demand, but nation wide demand remains weak. Following the housing crisis, the government pendulum swung dramatically towards the side of caution and the Dodd Frank bill really tightened up mortgage regulations. Now 7 years later though, the pendulum is wanting to swing back a little bit with Feds easing up on mortgage requirements and promoting low down payment loans. However with Fed funding at nearly zero and the Fed no longer purchasing mortgage securities on the secondary market, there is only so much the government can do to spur buyer demand. My opinion is that the federal government needs to focus on creating a more favorable business environment by reforming the tax code and building an infrastructure for our emerging oil and natural gas industry which will in turn create many good paying jobs giving consumers the money they need to pay off debt and save for a home. A 100% mortgage loan does not help any consumer who has no money – just my two cents. I hope you enjoy the article, it is good “inside baseball” information on the current obstacles confronting the national housing market. Thank you for visiting our website. Please email or call any one of us if we can be of help. Have another great week.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 14:09:08 +0000
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