About Yavapai County, AZ

Due to the lower price points in the Sedona marketplace, buyers who have always wanted to live in Sedona and previously couldn't afford it, buyer's who always DREAMED for a 2nd home in Sedona, are now snapping up our low foreclosures and short sale properties. Our residential resale market is seeing a surge of activity. That will continue for quite a while. However, if you are thinking of buying... now... stop thinking and buy! Or you could miss out. Interest rates are creeping up.... and just a 1 % point higher interest rate will offset a 10% reduction in the price of a home. So why wait! Take advantage of the market now. And if you are a seller - please, please, do yourself a favor - and price the property to sell, not to sit. To sell - to attract a buyer. I have seller's say to me... Well, I don't want to give it away! Your not giving it away. A price reduction will pique a buyer's interest, and you have to be lower than the next guy. Your still making money - and you no longer have to pay the mortgage. Lower the Price! If you don't have any showings... Lower the price!That is the reality of the situation for both buyer's and seller's in the Sedona Real Estate Market! For all your buying and selling needs, contact me at 1-928-301-0669/www.barbarbaker.com Happy Buying... Happy Selling

Sales volume in the distressed home market in the Prescott AZ area is up to a record high this year with 36 homes closing in the first 15 days of June. This compares to 79 homes sold by traditional resales during the same period.

The average price per square foot for REO and short sales was $91 and the average time to sell was 123 days compared to $111 per square foot and 163 days on market for traditional resales. Traditional home sellers are continuing the trend of reducing their prices to sell against the foreclosures and short sales.

Short sales about 12% of sales: of the 36 homes sold, 4 were short sales (highlighted in yellow). REOs continue to sell at a much higher rate than short sales.

Over 47% of the homes sold at or more than asking price (see green highlight). Last week we were at 42%. This continues to be amazing in a "weak market." Also note that most of the ones that sold quickly (list is sorted by Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) received full price offers.

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 is only 2.1% off.

See: Why short sales aren't always a good deal.

This is a screenshot. To see the orignal table go to my blog entry here.

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.

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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.

Well. the Sedona Home Sale Market Place is slowly inching it's way back up. For the end of May - the Median sold price was $426,000. down by 16% from last year at this time, but up substantially from our record low point of this past January at $341,500 The number of our Pending is up by 135% - which tells me buyer's are coming back into the market place in droves - because of the low pricing and interest rates. the Vacant Land market has suffered tremendous wounds - down by 60% from the same time this past year with a median sold price of $121,000. The Good news is that we are seeing more solds and pendings in that marketplace - which tells me that investors and buyer's (the one's with cash or great credit) are getting some incredible deals out there. And like the Sedona Real Estate Residentail Marketplace... the Sedona Real Estate Condo market has gone up in it's pricing and in it's number of solds when compared to last years. It continues to be a great time to buy. Please call me at 800-975-5943 or email me at barbara@barbarabaker.com or visit me on the web at www.barbarabaker.com for all your buying and selling needs.

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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