Prescott, AZ

Sales volume in the distressed home market in the Prescott AZ area remained strong with 33 homes closing in the last 15 days of June. This compares to 77 homes sold by traditional resales during the same period, about 30% of overall sales.

The average price per square foot for REO and short sales was $86 and the average time to sell was 117 days compared to $117 per square foot and 159 days on market for traditional resales. That means that distressed homes are selling at about 25% off!

Short sales about 20% of sales: of the 33 homes sold, 7 were short sales (highlighted in yellow). Short sales are starting to make up a larger percentage of the distressed home sales in the Prescott area.

Are you going to make an offer on a short sale?

Read this first: 10 questions for Prescott AZ short sale brokers

Over 45% of the homes sold at or more than asking price (see green highlight). Last week we were at 47%. Some of the buyers I am working with right now are trying to get 20% off of the bank's price. You can see how futile this exercise is when the average was only 2.8% off. The discount on tradtional sales was an average 6.5% off of the list price.

To see a better image of this graph, go to the original post on my blog.

Considering making an offer in today's distressed home marketplace in Prescott or Prescott Valley? See: Top 10 tips to win the REO multiple offer game.

For more information on any of these listings, please contact me.

Search for Prescott area REO/Foreclosed and Short Sale Listings

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Several newspapers thought that a decline in May foreclosures from April's record high was good news, but a decline off a record is not necessarily healthy. Here's an article from the WSJ that I thought was a little more appropriate.

Here's a bleak milestone: there's been more the 1 million foreclosures filed in the U.S. so far this year, according to a count by the Center for Responsible Lending.

Not all of those foreclosures will result in evictions, but the statistic offers a sobering illustration of the magnitude of the problems that still face the housing market.

Some worry that the sheer volume of foreclosures could swamp the government's efforts to help underwater borrowers refinance and to modify loans of distressed homeowners. Three weeks ago, Treasury department officials estimated that more than 55,000 homeowners had been helped so far by the Obama administration's loan modification plans, including some 15,000 borrowers who were in trial modifications with Chase Home Mortgage, and 3,000 who were in a trial with Wells Fargo.

The CRL, a nonprofit research and lobbying group that favors aggressive policies to help troubled homeowners, estimates that there are 6,500 new foreclosures filed every day. The center estimates that there will be 2.4 million foreclosure starts in 2009, based off of figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association that are adjusted to reflect the entire mortgage market.

The CRL supports the Obama administration's efforts to set standards for banks to modify loans, where the government will match in part the costs to the servicer to lower mortgage payments to 31% of a borrower's income. The CRL warns that "loan modifications are not likely to succeed with superficial fixes that fail to lower a homeowner's monthly payment."

See the original post By Nick Timiraos, Associated Press

With an estimated 2.4 million foreclosure starting this year and a paltry 55,000 loan mods, the REO business should continue to grow in all areas including Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, and Dewey-Humboldt.

Twenty-seven new foreclosed or short sale homes came on the market last week, up 50% from last week's 16. These made up about one in every 5 homes being listed in the Prescott Arizona Area MLS system.

Short Sales: 12/27 are short sale listings (see yellow highlight). Short sales are starting to make up more and more of the distressed inventory. I think this is mainly due to the fact that more agents and homeowners are becoming familiar with the process. And most of the new short sale listings are being priced more aggressively too. Many of my buyers are looking at the $100 per square foot number as a goal...might work in Prescott Valley, but in Prescott, this is tough for anything of quality.

Thinking about a short sale? Read these tips to make it go as quickly as possible:

How to help speed up a short sale tips

To get more information about any of these listings or any others in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley or Dewey-Humboldt areas, feel free to contact me, or you can search by MLS number, address, or lots of other ways in our Search Prescott MLS section.

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Just like the previous week, twenty new foreclosed or short sale homes came on the market last week, about one in every 5 homes being listed in the Prescott Arizona Area MLS system. 5/20 are short sale listings (see yellow highlight).

Is there a flood of foreclosures ready to hit the market?

See: Banks to unleash a phantom inventory of foreclosures say some

To get more information about any of these listings or any others in Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley or Dewey-Humboldt areas, feel free to contact me, or you can search by MLS number, address, or lots of other ways in our Search Prescott MLS section.

Want to see what the latest sales figures are for the Prescott Az area foreclosure market?

See: Prescott area REO and short sale homes sold 5-1-09 thru 5-15-09

You can get this report sent to you via email. Sign up here.

Get your Fico Scores/Reports

Many lenders, real estate agents, and home builders applauded when HUD said it would let banks and local governments offer short-term "bridge loans" to cover the down payment for first-time buyers eligible for the tax credit. The loans would have been available to applicants for federally insured mortgages such as Federal Housing Administration loans.

See: Home builders see positive signs in market

Now, Federal officials have done a 180 saying that the money cannot be used as a down payment.

See: Tax credit ineligible for down payment

To many, including myself, this money should be used to for other things than the buyer's down payment. Without any skin in the game by homebuyers, we could end up where we are today...buyers need to have equity in their homes to make prudent decisions about their homes.

Sellers of homes in the Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, and Dewey-Humboldt need every bit of help they can get and welcome Federal help. However, throwing good money after bad is in noone's best interest.

To find deals of REO, bank owned, foreclosed, short sale, and distressed homes in the Prescott AZ area: