Home In Tempe

Canadians buying up homes in the U.S.

A business associate  and friend recently sent me a clip from the Montreal, Q.C. Gazette. The article was run on September 11, 2008. 

The story talked about how Arizona and Florida are popular with Canadian buyers.  The most common reasons: The depressed U.S. housing market, the devalued U.S. dollar, and record snowfall in Canada last year. 

According to the 2008 National Association of Realtors (N.A.R.) annual profile of international home buying activities in the U.S., Canadians have replaced Mexicans as the top foreign buyers of U.S. properties. 

A survey conducted by the N. A. R.  Found that, in the last twelve months ending in May, 2008, nearly one quarter of foreign buyers of U.S. properties were from Canada - double the proportion of the year earlier. 

Condominiums were the most popular among Canadian buyers.  Nearly half of all properties purchased by Canadian buyers were condominiums. 

The article also went on to say that buyers from Canada or more than twice as likely to purchase a U.S. home with cash than any other method.  69 percent of Canadians bought properties with cash. 

I made it a lot easier to search Phoenix area bank owned properties on this site.  Click here to see how comprehensive the searches can be.  You can now find Phoenix area  bank owned properties arranged in the following manner for both the metro Phoenix area and for outlying areas:

• bank owned homes under $125,000
• bank owned homes under $150,000 with four bedrooms
• bank owned homes under $150,000 with a pool

There are over 600 properties you can search very easily on this site.  I didn't make any searches available over $150,000 because there is so much inventory under $150,000. 

However, if you feel so inclined, send me an e-mail and I will send you Phoenix area  bank owned properties over  $150,000 that include your specific criteria.  You can even request property based on a specific subdivision, school, or geographic area. 

Tempe wins 3 awards

The City of Tempe claimed three honors at Valley Forward's 28th Annual Environmental Excellence Awards for its transportation program and arts center.

Held Sept. 6 in Scottsdale, the awards ceremony recognized the sustainability initiatives of 49 public and private projects in 24 categories, from private homes to commercial buildings to public spaces.

The Tempe Center for the Arts (TCA) and Tempe in Motion (TIM), the city's transportation program, won prestigious Crescordia awards. The Tempe Center for the Arts won an Award of Merit in the Site Development and Landscape/Parks category.

In the Buildings and Structures/Public Assembly category, the Tempe Center for the Arts was praised for transforming a former landfill on the south bank of Tempe Town Lake into an architectural showpiece that houses local arts organizations and adds to community quality of life.

The TCA was opened in September 2007, featuring a design that incorporates materials like native river rock. Architekton of Tempe and Barton Myers Associates, Inc., of Los Angeles, collaborated with Tempe to design a beautifully-placed community art center that enhances the landscape while promoting quality of life issues related to sustainability, recreation and culture.

In the Livable Communities/Multimodal Transportation and Connectivity category, TIM was recognized for implementing innovative projects that provide alternative modes of transportation to improve air quality and decrease traffic congestion. Since the passage of the city's 1996 transit sales tax, Tempe has added bus service, implemented five free neighborhood circulator routes, created an alternatively-fueled fleet, constructed light rail, built bikeways, constructed two "green" buildings and implemented neighborhood pedestrian facilities. Tempe is also actively supporting the construction of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings in its community including the East Valley Bus Operations & Maintenance Facility and the Tempe Transportation Center.

Tempe won an Award of Merit in the Site Development and Landscape/Parks category, for the Tempe Center for the Arts. Design Workshop and the City of Tempe collaborated on the beautifully appointed, 17-acre lakeside art park that is an outstanding contribution to the City of Tempe's sustainability. The Tempe Center for the Arts, located on the southwest end of Tempe Town Lake, resides in the park and creates a landmark for outdoor enthusiasts to admire while boating, fishing, cycling, skating, strolling or jogging.

Free firewood available to public

From 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 6 and 7, 2008, the City of Tempe is making free firewood available to the public.

The event will take place at the City of Tempe Maintenance Yard - Northwest corner of Rio Salado and Hardy Drive (Located at the northwest corner of Rio Salado and Hardy Drive, west of the Tempe Center for the Arts parking lot. Enter off of Hardy Drive.)

Tempe wants to recycle the trees that were lost as a result of last Thursday's monsoon. Therefore, the city of Tempe will be providing free wood for personal consumption.

Tempe Beach Park, Downtown Tempe and the surrounding residential neighborhoods lost over 170 Mesquite, Cottonwood, Pine and Eucalyptus trees. The collection of branches, limbs and stumps can be used for firewood, smoking food, composts and more. Residents are encouraged to bring their own tools to cut the wood. Dumping at this location is prohibited.

YOY price per-square foot drops $48 in Phoenix area

I track a variety of statistics and update many reports during the first few days of each month. Here is another: year over year price per-square foot. Click here to learn why price per-square foot is a more solid indicator than average price.

This chart shows the total number of homes sold each month and the corresponding price per-square foot. The price per-square foot is obtained by dividing the average sales price by the average square footage of all homes sold in a calendar month.

The average price per-square foot was $175 in August of 2007 and is $127 for August 2008. The August number was actually higher than July's. There was a similar spike from December 2007 to January 2008, but the downward trend did not stop.

This downward trend has not given any solid signs off easing off. A decrease in the the number of foreclosures on the market will be the beginning of the end of dramatic price declines.

Note: Information obtained from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service 9/2/2008

Total listings down by over 700 in Arizona Regional MLS to begin September 2008

Listings are down and foreclosures are up. The number of listings to begin September 2008 decreased by 770, but are down 2,914 from May 2008. The number of those listings that are foreclosure-type properties increased 1,100 from August 1st, 2008. 27% of all listings on the ARMLS are foreclosure type properties. As reported yesterday, 47.2% of all sales are foreclosure-type properties.

44,668 of the listings are in Maricopa County and 4,511 are in Pinal County. Maricopa and Pinal Counties comprise the Greater Phoenix selling area. 2,515 listings are from other counties in Arizona or other regions from across the country. The ARMLS allows Realtors to post listings in areas other than our selling area.

Total sales down 142 from July to August; foreclosure sales up

The string of "consecutive increases" in total homes sold in the Arizona Regional MLS came to an end today when sales for August 2008 were down 142 from July. There were 5,829 homes sold in August -- compared to 5,971 in July.

Reporting was made difficult last month when the ARMLS launched it's new and improved version. Sales figures were not reported correctly during the first few days, and the sales figures were not complete until a week (or so) into the month. Could publishing this information so quickly be a cause for future revision? Possibly, so I'll check again in a few days for consistency.

The number and percentage of foreclosure sales continued to increase in August 2008. August's 2,754 sales were 197 higher than July's sales. The percentage of "sold homes" that were foreclosures jumped from 42.8% in July to 47.2% in August. That percentage has steadily increased for 15+ months.

The 3 columns on the right side show sales by county. The ARMLS selling region is comprised of Maricopa and Pinal counties. However, MLS allows Realtors to list property from all Arizona counties and even areas across the U.S.

It is getting increasingly more difficult for "normal sellers" to complete against "foreclosure-type" sales.