Prescott Real Estate Trends

Archive for the 'Prescott Real Estate Trends' Category

Fewer people are falling behind on their mortgages

February 19th, 2010 categories: Home Buyers, Home Sellers, Market Update, Prescott Real Estate Trends

Friday is my favorite day of the week. Even if I have to work all weekend, there’s something good feeling about Friday’s.

Friday is the perfect day for good news, so when I read that fewer people are falling behind on their home loans I felt it would be a good post for the day.

According to MSNBC Business headlines, the number borrowers falling behind on their mortgage payments dropped sharply at the end of last year, a sign the foreclosure crisis is beginning to ebb. This decline is notable because delinquencies usually rise this time of year.

If you would like to read the entire article, please click the link below.
Have a happy Friday everyone!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35478157/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/

If you have questions about the value of your home or would like to discuss market conditions, please call us at 928.778.4492 or e-mail us at info@thehuffmangroup.com

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Prescott Real Estate- Cloudstone Patio Homes

January 13th, 2010 categories: Cloudstone Patio Homes, Home Buyers, Prescott Real Estate Trends

Gorgeous and affordable. This home located at 359 Dreamweaver is one of the best buys in Prescott. This home features 2,360 sq. ft., 3 large bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a formal living room with a fireplace, and a spacious family room.

Other features include travertine tile flooring, granite counter tops, tile roof, paver driveway, block fenced yard, landscaping and panoramic views. This home includes a two year warranty.

This home is offered at $259,900
MLS # 940882. Take a Virtual Tour

For more information, contact Sherry Huffman or Sue Brown at 928.778.4492

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Prescott Real Estate- You make money when you buy, not when you sell.

March 28th, 2009 categories: Home Buyers, Prescott Real Estate Trends

I’ve heard “you make money when you buy, not sell” many times over the years, and it never made as much sense as it does right now.

One of Warren Buffett’s most famous quotes, which is very relevant to today’s times is “To be cautious when others are greedy, and greedy when others are cautious”.

Many people are cautious right now even with prices having dropped anywhere from 30% to 50%. Bank owned properties currently account for 50% of closings in Prescott as of the end of February. Bottom line is, these are the market conditions in which many people have made fortunes. I’m not saying that waiting and watching is a bad thing, but like the boom, this bottom isn’t going to last forever either.

When you look at some of the most successful real estate investors, the decisions they make in the down times, not up times, are what set them apart from the crowd.

“Most of the biggest real estate fortunes were not made in good times, but in bad times like this” Barbara Corcoran reminds us in this talk with NBC.

In the 4-minute interview, Corcoran touches on the basics and the essentials of foreclosure investing,

“Everyone who loses their shirt loses it somewhere else.”
“Every big shark started small.”
“The house on the corner sets the tone for the block.”

She also lends some personal perspective to rent rolls, the cost of losing a tenant, and finding a good business partner.

Banks are anxious to sell their foreclosed homes and that makes this an ideal time for savvy real estate investors.

When it comes down to it, those who buy & invest in Prescott Real Estate over the next few years will be looking pretty smart in 5-10 years.

If you have any questions about investing in today’s Real Estate market, call us at 928.778.4492 or e-mail at info@thehuffmangroup.com

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Buying Prescott Real Estate- Understanding the Housing Stimulus Plan

February 23rd, 2009 categories: Prescott Real Estate Trends, Real Estate News

Many of us are wondering, “What does Obama’s housing plan mean to me?

That’s a great question and the bottom line is we just don’t know yet. It’s going to take a few months for us to see the plan in action. Here are a few basics about the program.

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan includes two initiatives to help struggling homeowners. One is a refinancing program for homeowners with less than 20% equity in their homes, or who owe more than their home is worth.
The second program attempts to lower monthly payments for homeowners at risk of losing their home. In addition, the plan includes a third initiative to support low mortgage rates by strengthening confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Refinancing Initiative
Under current rules, those families who own less than 20% equity in their homes may have a difficult time refinancing and taking advantage of the historically how interest rates. Therefore, the refinancing initiative in the new plan provides refinancing help for homeowners with less than 20% equity in their homes or who owe more than their homes is worth. This initiative is open to homeowners who have conforming loans which are guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who owe up to 5% more than their home is worth. According to the plan, “credit worthy” or “responsible” homeowners can refinance their mortgage into a 30 or 15 year fixed rate loan based on current market rates. The refinanced loan, however, cannot include prepayment penalties or balloon payments. For many families, this low-cost refinancing may help reduce their mortgage payments by up to thousands of dollars per year. As with the rest of the plan, details about this initiative will be released at a future date including what, if any, credit score requirements will be included. This initiative aims at providing help to individual families as well as entire neighborhoods by helping reduce foreclosures and stabilize home prices. It is intended to help homeowners who are struggling to afford their mortgage payments, but cannot sell their homes because prices have fallen significantly.

The goal of this inititave is simple:
Reduce the amount homeowners owe per month to sustainable levels. To accomplish this, lenders are encouraged to lower homeowners payments to 31% of their income by lowering their interest rate to as low as 2% or by extending the terms of the loan. in addition, lenders can also lower the principal owed by the borrower, with the Treasury sharing the costs.
Since the focus of this initiative is on helping families and neighborhoods, investment properties do not qualify. Supporting Low Mortgage Rates
As part of the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan, the Treasury Department is increasing its funding commitment of Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac to ensure the struegth and secutiry of the mortgage market and to help maintain mortgage affordability. The government plans to unveil the final details of the plan on March 4, 2009. Will will continue to post updates as they become available.
If you have any questions about this plan, please don’t hesitate to call us at 928.778.4492.

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Prescott Real Estate- PRICING YOUR PRESCOTT HOME TO SELL

December 15th, 2008 categories: Home Buyers, Home Sellers, Prescott Real Estate Trends

If you are a home seller today, your competition is fierce! You’re not only competing with bank owned properties, short sales, other homes in your neighborhood but the negative news media as well. Many homes in Prescott have been on the market all year, some longer.

Does this mean that homes aren’t selling? No. Homes are selling and if you want or need to sell your home in a timely manner, putting the right price tag on the property has never been more important than it is today.

In the Prescott area, home buyers have 20 to 25 comparable properties to look in any given price range, and when making a decision on what home to write an offer on it usually comes down to one thing, price. Buyer’s are purchasing homes that offer the most and cost the least, and your home may offer the most, but if it also costs the most, it may be on the market for a long time.

Here are some thoughts on pricing your home Prescott home right!

It’s important to be ahead of the pricing curve. If your Prescott home is priced well from the beginning, the chances of your home and a qualified buyer meeting greatly increases. If your home is overpriced, qualified buyers move on to the next property and you end-up chasing the curve downwards with price reductions. In some cases, it’s too little too late, you’ve missed your prime selling opportunity and the listing becomes stale.

Study recent sales. This is the starting point for any thoughtful and successful pricing strategy. Take the time to study past sale statistics for homes in your area similar to yours.

Do not confuse active listings with closed sales. Active listings have not sold, they are just your competition.

A “buyers market” is not the time to test the waters. If the market is appreciating, this strategy may work, but in Prescott’s Real Estate as of December 15th, you may quickly find yourself chasing the market and costing yourself money.

Leave some room for negotiation, but don’t overreach. No seller wants to feel he or she left money on the table, and no buyer wants to overpay. Your price should give both parties room to maneuver, but if it is too high, the buyer may perceive it as unrealistic and move on to the next property.

Don’t make a career out of selling your home. Call us for a comprehensive, honest price evaluation of your home.
928.778.4492 or e-mail us at info@thehuffmangroup.com.

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Prescott Real Estate- Foreclosure activity drops nationwide

December 12th, 2008 categories: Market Update, Prescott Market Statistics, Prescott Real Estate Trends

Prescott Real estate; foreclosure

The number of American homeowners dragged into the foreclosure crisis fell this past month to the lowest level since June as new laws lengthened the process.

Nationwide, more than 259,000 homes received at least one foreclosure notice in November, down 7% from October, but 28% higher from one year ago.

In October, 5.03% of homes listed for sale in Prescott were banked owned. As of today that number has gone up to 8.26%

A report was issued by RealtyTrac naming Nevada, Florida and Arizona as the nations top foreclosure rates. In Arizona one in every 198 homes is in foreclosure.

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Prescott Real Estate- Pending Home Sales Up Strongly

October 8th, 2008 categories: Prescott Real Estate Trends

This article was released today by the National Association of Realtors. It’s nice when you can post some positive news….

Pending Home Sales Up Strongly

WASHINGTON (October 8, 2008) – Pending home sales activity surged as buyers took advantage of low home prices and affordable interest rates, according to the National Association of Realtors^Ò.The Pending Home Sales Index,¹ a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in August, jumped 7.4 percent to 93.4 from an upwardly revised reading of 87.0 in July, and is 8.8 percent higher than August 2007 when it stood at 85.8. The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it stood at 101.4.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home buyers were responding to improved affordability. “What we’re seeing is the momentum of people taking advantage of low home prices, with pending home sales up strongly in California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C., region,” he said.² “The improvement also reflects the drop in mortgage interest rates after the government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. It’s unclear how much contract activity may be impacted by the credit disruptions on Wall Street, but we’re hopeful most of the increase will translate into closed existing-home sales.”The PHSI in the West surged 18.4 percent to 109.5 in August and remains 37.8 percent above a year ago. In the Northeast the index jumped 8.4 percent to 79.8 and is 2.0 percent higher than August 2007. The index in the Midwest rose 3.6 percent to 84.5 in August and is 6.6 percent above a year ago. In the South, the index increased 2.3 percent to 96.0 but is 2.1 percent below August 2007.Yun notes the unusual timing of contract activity in August. “Home buyers in July were hampered by overly stringent lending criteria in the months before the government takeover of Fannie and Freddie,” he said. “August shows some unleashing of pent-up demand before the credit crisis accelerated in September.”He cautioned that the sampling size for pending home sales is smaller than the track on existing-home sales, so there is more volatility in the forward-looking series. “We need to see just how much of this gain holds up,” Yun said.NAR President Richard F. Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach, Calif., said despite all the turmoil in world financial markets, home mortgages are available. “Mortgages have been harder to find, and availability and terms vary depending on credit score and location, but Realtors^Ò can help buyers find reputable lenders while helping them navigate the transaction process,” he said. “The recently enacted economic stimulus package should help housing by gradually freeing the flow of credit.” -more- #125October PHSI/Forecast – add 1 Yun now expects growth in the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) to contract for two consecutive quarters, in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2009, before expanding in latter part of 2009 as the housing market begins a steady improvement. Looking at middle-ground assumptions, existing-home sales are forecast at 5.04 million this year and 5.41 million in 2009. Following national declines of 5 to 8 percent in 2008, home prices are projected to increase 2 to 3 percent next year.New-home sales should total around 503,000 this year and 471,000 in 2009. Housing starts, including multifamily units, are likely to fall 28.2 percent to 973,000 units this year, and come in around 843,000 in 2009 as builders continue to clear the accumulation in inventory. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will probably average 6.1 percent in the fourth quarter and rise gradually to 6.6 percent by the end of 2009. NAR’s housing affordability index is expected to average 18 percentage points higher this year than in 2007.The unemployment rate is projected to average 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter and then average 6.6 percent in 2009. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is estimated at 4.0 percent for 2008 and 2.0 percent next year. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income is forecast to grow 1.7 percent this year and 1.0 percent in 2009.The National Association of Realtors^®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.# # #¹The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity from 2001 through 2004 parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. There is a closer relationship between annual index changes (from the same month a year earlier) and year-ago changes in sales performance than with month-to-month comparisons.An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales. ²Market information is from unpublished snapshot data; please contact your local association of Realtors^® for more information. Existing-home sales for September will be released October 24; the next Pending Home Sales Index / Forecast will be released at 11:30 a.m. EST on November 7 at NAR’s annual convention in Orlando, Fla. Information about NAR is available at www.realtor.org. This and other news releases are posted in the News Media section. Statistical data, tables and surveys also may be found by clicking on Research.

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Have you ever experienced an earthquake?

October 7th, 2008 categories: Prescott Real Estate Trends

Home after earthquake

Have you ever been in a earth quake? As a a native Californian I experienced many. The ground starts shaking and the first thing that goes through your mind is “how much worse is this going to get?” Second thought is “when is it going to stop?”After the Dow dropped another 500 points today, I thought to myself ”how much worse is this going to get and when is it going to stop?”

I’m not sure if anyone has the answers to either of those questions, I do know that like an earthquake, this too shall pass.

I’m happy to say that Arizona doesn’t experience earthquakes. Knock on wood…

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Housing Arizona

September 23rd, 2008 categories: Prescott Real Estate Trends, Real Estate News

On September 17, Governor Janet Napolitano announced the launch of Housing Arizona. This program is designed to assist home owners who are concerned about their mortgages, or those who are facing foreclosure.

Housing Arizona will provide more than $13 Million dollars of additional resources to help prevent foreclosure and fight homelessness in Arizona.

A portion of the $13 Million will go toward strengthening the Arizona local foreclosure hot-line that was established for families concerned about their mortgages. If you know anyone who is falling behind on their mortgage payments or fear falling behind, encourage them to call the hot-line at 1-877-448-1211. This hot-line will put callers in touch with local foreclosure counselors in their particular areas of the state so they can receive advise and guidance wherever they are.

It is estimated that over 1 million families are in jeopardy of losing their homes this year. If you are behind on your mortgage payments, do not wait until the bank contacts you! Be proactive and contact them. Know your options. Below are two helpful links if foreclosure is a concern to you.

http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure/

http://www.foreclosurehelpandhope.org/index.html

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Home Prices Continue To Adjust

July 30th, 2008 categories: Home Sellers, Prescott Real Estate Trends, Real Estate News

price reduction

Stumble, skid, slide, falter, this is all we hear about the real estate market. This morning I heard on the news “More Bad News For The Housing Market! Prices in Phoenix continue to slide downward, down 26.5% from May of 2007″.
This market correction had to happen and it’s not a bad thing. Lower home prices will help move us from the problem into the solution.

The real estate market conditions that got us here started in the mid to late 1990s. We had a 10 year run of accelerating sales and appreciating values. Home values in Prescott were up 25%, in some cases the appreciation was a staggering 45%. In 2004 through 2006, the average sale price in Prescott for a single family home was $420,000. These are unsustainable numbers for Prescott, Arizona Real Estate. The average annual income for people who work in Prescott is $34,454.00. Prescott does not have the job market to support an average sales price of $420,000. People who work here should be able to afford a home here.
So when I hear prices are down, who’s to say it’s not a good thing?

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Archive for the 'Prescott Real Estate Trends' Category

Fewer people are falling behind on their mortgages

Prescott Real Estate- Cloudstone Patio Homes

Prescott Real Estate- You make money when you buy, not when you sell.

Buying Prescott Real Estate- Understanding the Housing Stimulus Plan

Prescott Real Estate- PRICING YOUR PRESCOTT HOME TO SELL

Prescott Real Estate- Foreclosure activity drops nationwide

Prescott Real Estate- Pending Home Sales Up Strongly

Have you ever experienced an earthquake?

Housing Arizona

Home Prices Continue To Adjust

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