Heather Tawes Nelson ABR, CLHMS - Scottsdale, AZ

Here are the Scottsdale AZ home sales results for January 2012. This report covers homes for sale and home sales activity in Scottsdale for January 2012, including pending home sales. Additionally, the last 12 months of data are included for comparison.

The numbers are placed into three different categories, including Scottsdale homes currently for sale, pending home sales and Scottsdale home sales that closed in January.

January 2012 Highlights for Scottsdale AZ Homes for Sale:

• Active Scottsdale Homes for Sale: Inventory was back up again in January after the seasonal fall-off at the end of December. We are now back to November 2011 levels.
• Pending Homes Sales in Scottsdale: Pending home sales saw a really nice rebound by the end of the month to 462. This is the highest it has been since September of 2011 and should translate into stronger home sales in February.
• Scottsdale Homes Sold: Home sales were very low in January at 320. However, this is something we see seasonally so it was not a surprise. And, as alluded to in the pending sales comments, we should see a nice jump in the February figures.
• Sales Price to List Price: 94.1% - This is pretty representative. We have been in the 94% region for the last several months.

In summary, January 2012 was a mixed month for home sales and activity in Scottsdale, Arizona. We saw the impact of seasonality in all of the categories, with an increase in inventory and sales being low. However, we are now moving into the "season" and a higher activity cycle, so the figures should improve over the next several months.

Search Scottsdale AZ Homes for Sale

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale

Disclaimer: Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 2/1/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes for sale and home sales in Scottsdale AZ over the last 12 months. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes.
Copyright © 2012 Heather Tawes Nelson

This is the third post in a series about some of my favorite things to eat in Scottsdale, Arizona. Scottsdale and the surrounding areas have some amazing restaurants and local artisans and I love finding new places and things to try.

Postino's White Bean Bruschetta - If you never have been, Postino is a charming place tucked into the Arcadia area of Phoenix. (There is a newer location on Central, but I have yet visit.) One of the great options they serve is a bruschetta sampler. You choose four of the many types offered and the bruschetta come delivered to you on a platter for sharing. They are all quite good, but my favorite overall is the white bean and chopped tomato. I have to have it every time I am there.

Pure Sushi in North Scottsdale serves a very unique sushi roll that is not really a roll. It is called "Box Sushi" and it is one of our family's favorites. To make the Box Sushi, no seaweed is used. Instead, they compress the rice, roe and fish into a box. Once it has formed into a triangle, it is then cut up into several pieces. The fish is tuna and salmon and the bottom layer of rice has a little roe mixed in for color and a little crunch.

The third item on this list is the Duck Carnitas Empanada at The Mission in Old Town Scottsdale. Playing with the more traditional preparation that is made with pork, The Mission uses duck meat instead. This delicious, rich, cheese and duck-filled fried dough is topped with an orange habanero sauce that is sweet with a bit of spice.

The Caprese Salad at Sassi in North Scottsdale is not to be missed. Sassi has the Buffalo Mozzarella imported directly from Italy and it is a very generous, not to mention delicious, portion. The cheese comes intact on a plate of lovely heirloom tomatoes and basil drizzled with olive oil. You can slice the mozzarella to the size you desire, add it to the tomato and basil and enjoy.

That is it for this post, but there will be more to come. Feel free to share any of your favorite bites or places to dine in the comments.

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale

Below are the year-end home sales results for Scottsdale Arizona's 85266 zip code.

85266 is a newer North Scottsdale zip code and covers the northwest part of the city. It is bordered by Cave Creek and Phoenix to the west and Carefree to the north. 85266 does enjoy a higher elevation than Downtown and Central Scottsdale, and while it may not experience the lower temperatures like the northernmost areas of 85262, many of the homes and lots do have incredible valley and city lights views. It is also home to three of the top area golf communities including Whisper Rock, The Boulders and Terravita.

The following analysis covers Q4 2011 home sales for zip code 85266. The data was divided into three categories that I explain below:
- Non-Distressed Sales – These are "normal" or "traditional" home sales. Here the seller and buyer come to an agreement on the price and terms of the home sale and then work together to conclude the deal and pass ownership on to the buyer.
- Short Sales – Short sales are when a distressed homeowner needs to sell their home for less than is what is owed on the home - i.e. they are "short" on the total amount. In this case, approval from the lender or lenders is required for a transaction to take place.
- Foreclosures – These are homes where the homeowner has been foreclosed upon and no longer owns the home. Foreclosures are also known as "Lender-Owned" homes, "REO'" homes or "Bank-Owned" homes.

Overall Findings for the Scottsdale Zip Code 85266 Home Sales Market for Q4 2011 - Data as of January 1, 2012

• Active Scottsdale 85266 Homes For Sale: Over 90% of the homes on the market at the end of December were regular sales. Short sales came in next at 8% and foreclosures were barely represented at 2%
• 85266 Pending Homes for Sale: Although almost all of the homes on the market were regular sales at the end of the year, they only represented 50% of the pending sale inventory. The other half of the pending sales were split evenly between short sales and foreclosures.
• Q4 2011 Scottsdale 85266 Home Sales: Regular sales again made up the majority of the home sales in Q4 2011 with 72% of all sales. Again, short sales and foreclosures were almost evenly split to make up the rest of the sales.
• 85266 Home Prices: Interestingly enough, short sales had the highest average sales price in Q4, but as we would expect, were much lower when you look at average price per square foot sold. As to be expected, foreclosures came in with the lowest average sales price and average price per square foot.
• Discounts Off of List Price: This zip code had the lowest average discount off of sales price. Regular sales sold at only an average of 5% off asking. Short sales only saw an average 2% and foreclosures sold at list price.

2011 Scottsdale Home Sales in Zip Code 85266
Here are 85266's home sales broken out by quarter and by home sale type.

In 2011, over two thirds of sales in 85266 were regular sales and the balance was almost evenly split by short sales (17%) and foreclosures (15%.)

If you would like to see this information for the City of Scottsdale AZ, please see these previous reports:

View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type Q3 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type Q2 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type Q1 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for 2010
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for 2009

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale

Disclaimer: Due to rounding issues, not all columns will add up to 100%. Data and information were pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 4/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 10/1/2011 and 1/1/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes for sale and sales in Scottsdale AZ zip code 85266 for Q4 2011. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Copyright © 2011 Heather Tawes Nelson

Here are the final numbers for 2011 home sales in the Scottsdale Arizona zip code of 85255.

85255 is a larger zip code and can be found in North Scottsdale, just north of the top of Loop 101. It is home to many luxury communities including some of the top golf communities in the area, namely Troon Country Club, Desert Highlands, Grayhawk, DC Ranch and Silverleaf. There is a very broad range of homes and home types to choose from including "lock and leave" condos and townhomes, gated and non-gated subdivisions as well as custom homes and large estates. One of the other things unique to Scottsdale's 85255 is Pinnacle Peak, which is beautiful to look at and fun to hike.

You will find 85255's home sale activity for Q4 2011 below. The information was broken down into the three types of sales most frequently seen right now:

The three categories are defined as follows:
- Non-Distressed Sales - These are the "regular", "normal" or "traditional" home sales. Here, the seller and home buyer are the two principals in the transaction and agree on terms and price to result in a successful sale.
- Short Sales – You will see a short sale when an "underwater" homeowner plans to sell the home for less than the loan amount(s) owed on it. In many cases, there is more than one loan involved. In this case, the company or companies who loaned the money to purchase the home have to give the approval on the terms of the contract since they will be getting less than what is owed.
- Foreclosures - Foreclosures are just like what they sound like. They are homes that have been foreclosed upon and are now back with the lender. These are also called "Lender-Owned" homes, "REO'" homes or "Bank-Owned" homes.

Overall Findings for the Scottsdale Zip Code 85255 Home Sales Market for Q4 2011 - Data as of January 1, 2012

• Active Scottsdale 85255 Homes For Sale: Almost the entire inventory of homes for sale at the end of Q4 in 85255 were regular sales. Short sales (6%) and foreclosures (3%) made up the small remainder.
• 85255 Pending Homes for Sale: Regular homes dropped down a bit proportionally when looking at pending sales at the end of December. They came in at 60%. Conversely, we saw an increase in distressed homes in pending status. Short sales comprised 29% of the market and foreclosures came in at 11%.
• Q4 2011 Scottsdale 85255 Home Sales: The majority of homes sold in Q4 were regular sales (65%.) Short sale representation stayed strong with 20% of closed sales and foreclosures also picked up 15% of the market.
• 85255 Home Prices: For the first time since I have been tracking this information, lender-owned homes had the highest average sales price in comparison to the other two categories. And, for the first time average price per square foot for foreclosures was higher than short sales. As would be expected, regular sales had the highest average price per square foot.
• Cumulative Days on Market: We typically see the shortest average days on market with foreclosures as they tend to go under contract quickly. However, in Q4, regular sales had the shortest time on the market. As to be expected, short sales had the longest time on market at 241 days.
• Discounts Off of List Price: The average 5% discount off of distressed property prices is what we have been historically seeing. Buyers who purchased regular homes saw an average discount of 7%. This was closer to 10% previously, but has been creeping up.

Scottsdale Zip Code 85255 - Sales Data By Quarter for 2011
Here is a quarter by quarter 2011 snapshot for home sales by type in the 85255 zip code. If you compare Q4 to the entire year, you will see that the ratios have remained more or less static throughout with regular sales capturing about 60% of the market, short sales capturing about 25% of the market and foreclosures capturing about 15%.

If you would like to review this data for the City of Scottsdale AZ versus a single zip code, please visit these previous reports:

View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type Q3 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type Q2 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type Q1 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for 2010
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for 2009

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale

Disclaimer: Due to rounding issues, not all columns will add up to 100%. Data and information were pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 4/1/2011, 7/1/2011, 10/1/2011 and 1/1/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes for sale and sales in Scottsdale AZ zip code 85255 for Q4 2011 and for the year of 2011. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Copyright © 2012 Heather Tawes Nelson

Here are the 2011 results for the Scottsdale and Phoenix luxury condo market. The total number of luxury condo sales in 2011 was up to 20, which was up from 16 in 2010 and 11 in 2009.

Scottsdale and Phoenix Luxury Condo Market Statistics - 2011
Here are the combined sales results for these luxury condos. Sales were somewhat level throughout the year. Q1 was the strongest quarter with 6 sales and Q4 was the weakest with 4. Of note is that average discounts off of list price shrunk quarter after quarter. In Q1, buyers enjoyed an average of 17% off of asking price. By Q4, that discount was only 6%. Also, we saw a large drop in days on market for the last half of the year.

Scottsdale Luxury Condo Market Statistics - 2011
Here is the same analysis as above, but this one only includes Scottsdale luxury condo sales. As you can see, Q1 was the best performance for Scottsdale luxury condos, double the activity of the other three quarters. Q1 also saw the lowest average sales price and price per square foot coupled with the largest discount off of asking price.

The majority of luxury condo sales in Scottsdale for 2011 took place at Optima Camelview and Scottsdale Waterfront Residences. However, we did see some different communities making some strides including The Landmark in the Kierland area and the newly re-opened Safari Drive.

Phoenix Luxury Condo Market Statistics - 2011
Here is the recap for the Phoenix luxury condo market. As you can see, there were no sales in Q1 for Phoenix. The middle two quarters enjoyed some activity and then we closed out Q4 with a single sale. Average sales price and price per square foot dropped over the course of the year, but the average discount off of asking stayed pretty level.

There were three communities in the Biltmore area represented in the 2011 condo sales. Esplanade Place had two sales as did 2 Biltmore Estates. The third community was The Residences at 2211 Camelback.

Year Over Year Comparison of Sales - 2009 through 2011
Here are the sales figures for the last three years including number of sales and average sales price. Scottsdale luxury condos have seen a lot of sales growth over the last couple of years, but have also seen average sales price decrease. Sales figures for Phoenix luxury condos have stayed somewhat flat, but we are also seeing price declines over time.

Overall, the luxury condo market had a decent 2011. Sales were up over 2010 and activity was somewhat level from a macro level. However, looking a little more closely, Scottsdale started off very strong in Q1 2011 and then dropped down and stayed there. Whereas, Phoenix had no sales in Q1 and then saw level sales activity for the remaining three quarters.

Originally posted on Live Better in Scottsdale

Disclaimer: Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 4/1/2011, 7/1/2011 and 10/1/2011 and 1/1/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at resale luxury condos in Scottsdale and Phoenix over the last 12 months. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes. Some rounding in the percentage figures may result in figures not adding to 100%.
Copyright © 2012 Heather Tawes Nelson