October 1, 2019
For the first time in many years, I am able actually to experience the changing leaves and it is just one more blessing the man in the photo above added to my life. I write this post just outside of Minneapolis because our family has been in town celebrating the life of my father-in-law Rick Bauer. A truly amazing man has now happily rejoined his beloved wife of 57 years, Donna, who passed just over 2 years ago. They will be dearly missed every day and forever in our hearts.
HOW ABOUT THE TERRAVITA REAL ESTATE MARKET?
The Terravita real estate market story continued to be one of high demand and very low supply in September. Prices edged up significantly on 12 closings and as I repeatedly say, expect that trend to be with us for the foreseeable future. The price of any item is determined by supply, as well as the market’s demand for that item. For more of an explanation on this topic click here: How Does the Supply of Homes for Sale Impact Buyer Demand The days on market is out of wack below but I would ignore that statistic as it was skewed by an unfortunate sale at 6097 Brilliant Sky being on the market for over 400 days. It was a very unusual situation that ended in a short sale. We don’t see that very often.
Lastly, on the prospects of the demand trend extending, here is an article that some of you may have missed: Arizona is the fastest-growing state in the nation
Here are the September 2019 Terravita Real Estate Market Statistics*:
September 1, 2019
Jeesh! Demand in Terravita remains exceptionally high. Despite scorching daily temperatures and almost no inventory, the Terravita real estate market had another exceptionally high sales month in August. And it is actually higher than it looks in the stats! Our team had one of our off the market listings sell and that won’t be entered into the MLS until next week!
The pricing average this month looks pretty average. It isn’t. There were a couple of homes in less desirable locations that closed this month and they pulled the average way down. Prices are moving up.
For those of you worried about moving here is a good article I found that might be helpful:
Moving mistakes: 45 percent of Americans stress about this, study says
And you might find this interesting:
The No. 1 most expensive state to buy a home in — it’s not New York or California
Do you know someone looking for a smaller Terravita home that they can fix up to make their own? We have one in a great location coming up in about 2 weeks and it will be in the mid $300,000’s. Let us know!!!!!
Here are the August 2019 Terravita Real Estate Market Statistics*:
*Please note this report is created as of the first of the month and is prone to changes.
**The term “Contracts Accepted” means that there was a new contracted accepted on this home this month. This is to say that this listing has moved from an “Active” status in the MLS to a “Sold” status and begun the escrow process and is heading toward “closing”.
*All information is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
August 1, 2019
Yee Haw! We will not reach 100 Degrees today!
85266 is the Best in America!
Did you guys see the best zip code in America for Baby Boomers? Yep! 85266! Check it out: The Best Zip Code in America for Baby 
Boomers
The Terravita real estate market had another stellar month in July with 12 home under contract. That still leaves us about 12 contracts and closings behind 2018 but we are gaining ground. And there are only 5 active listings on the market right now! (That includes the amazing golf and mountain view lot we put in last night!) I honestly can’t remember a time with just 5 active listings. Maybe in 2005 when we had all that funny money loan stuff around but I really don’t think so. Crazy!
If you guys have a few minutes you have got to check out the incredible new search tool at the TerravitaRealEstate.com website. We are the first to have it and it will blow you away. Just click this picture below and when you get there scroll down to the 3D aerial.
July 1, 2019
Happy Canada Day to all our Canadian friends. How nice that it falls on a Monday so you can enjoy a long weekend! For another Canadian July 1st Fun Fact click here! > In Montreal, 70,000 Households Move On the Same Day
Wow! Terravita ended the first half of the year on a strong note with 10 homes going under contract and just 10 active listings on the market. (10 active listings!! Are you kidding me?!) That is a very good sales month and a curiously small number of homes on the market. Demand is clearly up and supply is down. More thoughts on this later . . .
MARKET CORRECTION?
In my first quarter market update (Read here> SNN Q1 Update) you might remember that I wrote that we were still experiencing the same low demand market, that we had felt in the last quarter of 2018. I emphasized that while this demand drop was extreme, folks should not panic as markets do this from time to time. The market is always fighting to achieve balance and we need to be patient as it finds it own level. That is what I believed the market was doing when I wrote that piece at the end of March, and what I believe is happening now. If you keep reading I think you will agree.
The Cromford Report is THE source for accurate, timely real estate statistics in the valley. While there are a lot of factors, probably the best way to give you a sense of how the market corrected is to go right to that source. Below is the first sentence in the June 3rd Cromford Market Update:
The month of May 2019 was a monster. New all-time records were set for sales units and dollar volumes through ARMLS, surpassing not only 2018 but the bubble year of 2005.
Now that is the valley wide report, but if you remember Terravita had 18 homes go under contract in April. That is quite a market correction!! (Cromford tracks closings not homes under contract like we do and most of these homes closed in May.)
I will have more details for you later in my mid year update but the short story is that Terravita real estate market looks strong. My current advice:
Sellers – Patience. There is no reason to hurry as demand is up and supply is way down. That generally results in higher prices.
Buyers – Patience is no virtue when it appears things could be headed dramatically up. If you see something you can live with – buy it. On the plus side for you, interest rates down significantly. If you need a good lender we have the best lenders you can find.
COMING SOON: GOLF & MOUNTAIN BACKYARD VIEWS!
Other items we thought you might enjoy:
Want to raise successful kids? Science says do these 5 things every day
Boomers have become “a stick in the spokes” of the housing market, Chicago Tribune says
Scottsdale ranks amongst the best places to celebrate 4th of July
Here are the June 2019 Terravita Real Estate Market Statistics*:
*Please note this report is created as of the first of the month and is prone to changes.
**The term “Contracts Accepted” means that there was a new contracted accepted on this home this month. This is to say that this listing has moved from an “Active” status in the MLS to a “Sold” status and begun the escrow process and is heading toward “closing”.
*All information is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
June 1, 2019
Wow! If you weren’t in Terravita this month you should have been. We had one of the best months for weather in memory. Contrasted to that, the Terravita real estate market was fairly average with 8 homes going under contract. I should mention though that this is a good number of sales when you consider the low inventory, and the days on market came down significantly.
The low inventory continues to be the standout data point though, with just 15 active listings for sale. With the heat coming soon we shouldn’t expect to see much of an increase until October. Speaking of the heat ….
It Is Pool Time!
It is pool time everywhere, and below is an article that was too well done and too important not to share. If you haven’t seen it I really think it is worth everyone’s time to read and maybe share. Please give it a look:
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning
Here are the May 2019 Terravita Real Estate Market Statistics*:
*Please note this report is created as of the first of the month and is prone to changes.
**The term “Contracts Accepted” means that there was a new contracted accepted on this home this month. This is to say that this listing has moved from an “Active” status in the MLS to a “Sold” status and begun the escrow process and is heading toward “closing”.
*All information is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
May 1, 2019
Don’t you love when the Palo Verde’s Bloom?
OK! Terravita had a very good April sales month with 18 contracts accepted. That is a strong sales month at any time, but this year it seems particularly important.
It would appear the buyers that have been waiting for something more “HGTV” looking, are accepting that the inventory is what it is going to be . Many of the sales came in the second half of the month, and that would seem to portend well for May sales too.
As is the case these days there was a higher cancelation rate than we generally see. This is a fairly recent but naggingly persistent trend. Overall we are still in a seller’s market, but buyers seem to be pushing back a bit. One of the ways this resistance manifests itself comes in the form of copious inspection requests. When sellers oppose what they feel are either petty requests or renegotiations in the inspection phase, we get higher cancelation rates. And that isn’t good for anyone.
Inventory Is Still Down
As I alluded to above, a large part of the buyer’s frustration is the limited inventory we are experiencing. There are just are not enough homes on the market to choose from. We know this because we are working with a lot of buyers and we hear it. A lot. But we also know it on the seller side. We had two cases recently where the transaction was completely canceled, only to have the buyers come back again to rebuy our sellers home! I have to imagine that those buyers tried hard not to have to come back to us and accept our seller’s terms. If there was anything else available I would think they would have purchased it.
In the end – of course – it is really all about price. With low supply and good demand, prices have done well. But I just found a somewhat surprising chart on Scottsdale pricing that I thought you might enjoy. To see it please scroll down below. BUT FIRST . . .
Check Out Connecting Scottsdale North!
In case you missed our email this week announcing the New Connecting Scottsdale North Group, please click here: Connecting Scottsdale North
Scottsdale Prices are Up, sort of
The Median Sales Price in Scottsdale was $590,000 in the first quarter this year, up 7.5% compared with the same quarter last year, and 26% over the last 4 years.
That being said, Q1 2019 is the only 1st quarter in the chart where prices aren’t higher than the previous quarter; the median sales price was flat from Q4 ‘18 to Q1 ‘19. Compare that to Q1 in 2016, 2017, and 2018, which were all higher than the preceding Q4.
We won’t know for a few months whether this cycle of price appreciation is slowing down, or if this is just a blip in the pattern.
Here are the April 2019 Terravita Real Estate Market Statistics*:
*Please note this report is created as of the first of the month and is prone to changes.
**The term “Contracts Accepted” means that there was a new contracted accepted on this home this month. This is to say that this listing has moved from an “Active” status in the MLS to a “Sold” status and begun the escrow process and is heading toward “closing”.
*All information is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
April 1, 2019
Chronically low inventory continues to hinder the Terravita Real Estate Market. We just do not have enough supply to meet the demand. This time of year homes that are priced and marketed properly sell quickly.There are 25 homes in the inventory with an average of 130 days on market. That longer days on market signals that the demand is not finding the homes it needs are the price it likes. While there were 13 Terravita contracts accepted in March, that is still slightly below the average for the month, and the quarter sales number are well behind. If you have any interest in selling we have a lot of buyers in waiting! Really! Speaking of selling . . .
Earlier this year I wrote to you guys about my favorite seller story for 2018. I described how we helped a seller who’s home had endured 1,953 days on the market of unsuccessful selling, and sold it for him quickly. (If you missed the first story click here: Seller Story 2018)Well It happened again! Now we have a story for 2019! But this time with a twist.
Scott’s Favorite Seller Story So Far In 2019
In my last story the seller called me because I had sold his neighbors home for full price very quickly. This time a real estate agent called! He asked if I would take over a listing he had been unable to sell and pay him a referral fee. This home has had sat unsold for 1,192 total days on the market! That is over 3 years worth of days on the MLS, and believe me it is much harder to sell a home that has stagnated on the market. But we love helping sellers, so we accepted the challenge.
Our team went in and completely revamped the marketing, relisted the home for $10,000 higher than it was listed previously, and we got the seller an offer the very first day. That offer is now in escrow waiting to close so that seller can move on with his life. (I found out later that the seller asked the agent to call me, so I have left the names out of the story to avoid any embarrassment) But here is our seller telling his side of the story:
Here are the March 2019 Terravita Real Estate Market Statistics*:
*Please note this report is created as of the first of the month and is prone to changes.
**The term “Contracts Accepted” means that there was a new contracted accepted on this home this month. This is to say that this listing has moved from an “Active” status in the MLS to a “Sold” status and begun the escrow process and is heading toward “closing”.
*All information is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
March 1, 2019
It is funny how things change:
Last month at this time in this blog I was making fun of the “Polar Vortex” the rest of the country was experiencing and how we were enjoying 70 degree temperatures. This month we had this!!!!!!!!
Last year at this time I wrote how things were looking great for the year ahead because Terravita had over 40 homes on the market for sale AND there were already 25 contracts accepted for the year. This year there are just 25 homes for sale and there have only been 11 contracts accepted for the calendar year. We have tons of buyers that want to live in Terravita! We need more inventory! If you are looking to sell give us a call!
If you make it to one of our Open Houses, be sure and tell our buyer’s agent Ryan that you saw him in the Titleist ad below. Apparently, he has been moonlighting as a lifestyle model! Here he is rocking some Camo Titleist attire:
Here are the February 2019 Terravita Real Estate Market Statistics*:
*Please note this report is created as of the first of the month and is prone to changes.
**The term “Contracts Accepted” means that there was a new contracted accepted on this home this month. This is to say that this listing has moved from an “Active” status in the MLS to a “Sold” status and begun the escrow process and is heading toward “closing”.
*All information is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
Happy February all! Our 70 degree temps being contrasted to what most of the country is experiencing makes it feel all the happier doesn’t it?
The Terravita real estate market enjoyed a more normal sales month by having 6 contracts accepted. This is a decent January number but like our temperatures, it feels much better when contrasted to December only having one home go under contract.
More interesting this month is the average price per foot. The Terravita average came out to $241 per foot this month which is slightly below our annual average. Nothing interesting there right? But a closer look reveals that the average was the result of only 2 closings: One for $200 per foot and the other for just over $300 per foot! If you look still closer you would see that the home that sold for $200 per foot was arguably better updated and had better views than the one that sold for $300 per foot. And to a real estate numbers geek like me… now That is interesting.
Finally, thank you for all your kind emails about the twins and their 10 year challenge photos that we sent earlier.. Your kindness reminded me of the response to what was easily the most popular postcard we ever created where we included the twins. Maybe we should send it again!
Here are the January 2019 Terravita Real Estate Market Statistics*:
*Please note this report is created as of the first of the month and is prone to changes.
**The term “Contracts Accepted” means that there was a new contracted accepted on this home this month. This is to say that this listing has moved from an “Active” status in the MLS to a “Sold” status and begun the escrow process and is heading toward “closing”.
*All information is provided by the Arizona Regional MLS and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.
For more Terravita updates, click here
