Scottsdale Real Estate News & Lifestyle

Greater Phoenix Luxury Condo Market – May 2009

Here are the results for May for the Phoenix area luxury condo market. I define luxury condos as those with list prices in excess of $1 million.

At the end of May, there were 69 luxury condos for sale throughout the valley. Forty-three condos were located in Scottsdale, twenty-four were in Phoenix, and two were located in Tempe. Only one luxury condo sold in May. It was a penthouse unit at Esplanade Place in the Biltmore area of Phoenix. The three bedroom, three bathroom, 3,350 square foot unit sold for $1,725,000. There was also one pending sale at the Scottsdale Waterfront for a three bedroom, three and-one-half bathroom, 2,975 square foot unit .

Here is a quick overview of May 2009’s numbers:

Please visit my website for more information on Scottsdale AZ real estate and the surrounding areas.

Disclaimer: Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 4/1/2009 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale condos in Scottsdale, Tempe 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.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

Scottsdale AZ Luxury Home Market - May 2009

Here are the May figures for the Scottsdale luxury home market. This analysis looks at the last 12 months of activity for single-family resale homes in Scottsdale with list prices of $1,000,000 and above.

- Scottsdale Single-Family Homes: May 2009 - 

Homes Priced Between $1,000,000 - $1,499,999
- Actives: Continuing the downward trend we have been seeing over the last four months, actives fell 13.7% over April to 429. This is well below the 12 month average of 534.
- Pendings: Pending sales jumped to 44, a 46.7% increase over April. The 12 month average for this price segment is 26.
- Sold: Twenty homes sold in May. This was down from the 24 sales in April, but still ahead of the 12 month average of 17.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 91.0% This number is back up into the 90%’s for the first time since January.

 Homes Priced Between $1,500,000 - $1,999,999
- Actives: This number decreased to 285 after two months of being in excess of 300 homes for sale. This is the first time we have dropped under the 12 month average of 28 since December of 2008.
- Pendings: There were 16 homes pending sale at the end of the month, the same as April. This is well ahead of the 12 month average of 10 pending sales.
- Sold: There were 11 home sales in this price segment in May, the highest it has been in the last year and well ahead of the average of 7.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 80.9% This is a very low ratio meaning there were significant price discounts on some of the homes that sold. Typically, this number is in the high-80%’s or low 90%’s

Homes Priced Between $2,000,000 - $2,999,999
- Actives: This price segment had 317 active homes for sale at the end of the month. This is the lowest it has been in 12 months and has been steadily decreasing since January. The 12 month average is 345.
- Pendings: There were 8 pending sales, the same as April. This is ahead of the 12 month average of 6.
- Sold: Six homes sold in May, up one over April. The average is five.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 87.4%  

Homes Priced $3,000,000+
- Actives: 203 homes were for sale in this price segment at the end of May. This number has been steadily decreasing since November of 2008. The 12 month average is 266.
- Pendings: There were five pending homes, the same as April. This is slightly behind the 12 month average of 6.
- Sold: There were four home sales, which is the same as the average, but lower than March and April.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 83.2%  This number is about where it has been over the last three months, suggesting large discounts on some of these Scottsdale luxury homes.

The results for May are almost universally positive. The number of active homes for sale continues to decline. Pending sales are up or holding steady and sales activity is strong. Based on the number of pending homes in the $1,000,000 - $1,499,999 segment at the end of May, I anticipate a very strong June for this price segment.

To see the detailed data behind this report in spreadsheet form, please visit my Scottsdale luxury real estate market reports page and click on the "Scottsdale Market Trends" report. For other information on the Scottsdale AZ real estate market and the surrounding areas, please visit my Scottsdale Real Estate Market Reports page.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 6/1/2009 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes in Scottsdale 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. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

Scottsdale AZ Real Estate Market Performance for Single-Family Homes- Through May 2009

May 2009 was another very positive month for the Scottsdale AZ real estate market. Building on the last several months of great performance, sales of single-family homes were up, pendings are at the highest level I have seen and inventory continues to drop off.

May 2009 Findings

• Active Homes for Sale: This figure dropped to 3,224, an 11.9% decrease over April. This figure is well below the 12 month average of 3,843 and is the lowest I have seen in 21 months of tracking this data.
• Homes Pending Sale: There were 562 pending home sales at the end of May. This number is significantly higher than the 12 month average of 330 and was up another 15.4% over April.
• Home Sales: Home sales jumped again in May to 348, a 15.6% increase over April. This is the fifth month in a row we have seen increases in this figure. The majority of this growth in home sales is in the lower price points and/or sales of distressed properties - i.e. short sales or lender-owned homes.

There seems to be a lot of momentum going in the Scottsdale single-family market right now and based on the pending figures, June will be another strong month.  

Disclaimer: Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 6/1/2009 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes 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 © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

Greater Phoenix Luxury Condo Market – April 2009

Here are the most recent figures for the Greater Phoenix luxury condo market, which is defined as condos with list prices in excess of $1 million.

At the end of April, 90 luxury condos were on the market for sale. Of those, fifty-five were in Scottsdale, thirty-three were in Phoenix, and the remainder, two, were in Tempe. Activity was slow for this market segment in April. Only one unit was pending sale at the end of the month. It was a three bedroom, three bathroom, 3,350 square foot penthouse unit at Esplanade Place in Phoenix.

Here is a quick overview of April 2009's numbers:

To learn more about the luxury condo market in Scottsdale or Greater Phoenix, please feel free to contact me. For more information on Scottsdale AZ real estate and the surrounding areas, please visit www.scottsdaleagent.net

Disclaimer: Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 5/1/2009 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale condos in Scottsdale, Tempe 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.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

Things to Do in Phoenix: Desert Botanical Garden

Scottsdale Single-Family Luxury Home Market – April 2009

April was a very good month for Scottsdale single-family home sales. The bulk of the activity is occurring at the lower end of the price spectrum, but we a re also seeing some promising signs in the luxury home market as well. This analysis looks at single-family resale homes in Scottsdale priced $1,000,000 and above over the last twelve months.

- APRIL 2009 - 
 
Homes Priced Between $1,000,000 - $1,499,999
- Actives: There were 497 homes for sale in this price range. This is the first time this number has dipped under 500 in the last year. The 12 month average for this is 549.
- Pendings: At the end of April, there were 30 homes pending, a 7.1% increase over March’s 28. The 12 month average for pendings is 26, so this is positive.
- Sold: April was a great month for home sales in this price point. There were 24 sales, double what we saw in March. The last time we saw sales volume like this was July of 2008. The 12 month average is 17.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 88.4%

 Homes Priced Between $1,500,000 - $1,999,999
- Actives: There were 303 active homes. This number has been hovering around 300 for the last several months and the 12 month average is 290.
- Pendings: Sixteen homes were pending at the end of April, twice as many as in March. The last time there were this many homes pending was June of 2008. The 12 average is 10.
- Sold: Only 4 homes sold in April, which was disappointing. On average, there are 7 sales per month in this price range.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 89.9% This is about where it has been over the last 12 months

Homes Priced Between $2,000,000 - $2,999,999
- Actives: There were 336 homes for sale in this price segment, down from 350 in March. This is below the 12 month average of 349.
- Pendings: Eight homes were pending, which is just ahead of the 12 month average of 7 and a 60% increase over March’s five pending homes.
- Sold: Only five homes sold in April which ended a three month run of increasing sales. On average, six homes in this price point sell per month.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 88.8%. This is back to a more normal level. March had a very low 77.3%.

Homes Priced $3,000,000+
- Actives: There were 231 homes for sale. This figure has been steadily decreasing month-over-month since November of 2008. The 12 month average is 276.
- Pendings: Five homes were pending at the end of April. This is the first time this number has gone down since January. The 12 month average is 6.
- Sold: Five homes sold in April, ahead of the average of 4. However, it was down slightly from March’s six sales.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 84.7%. This is a little lower than is usual, but is an improvement over March’s 83.3%.

As you can see, some of the price segments preformed better in April than others. We are seeing a lot of declines in inventory levels and pending sales are looking good for the most part. Sales were somewhat varied.  

To see the detailed data behind this report, please visit my Scottsdale luxury real estate market reports page and click on the "Scottsdale Market Trends" report. For other information on the Scottsdale real estate market and the surrounding areas, please visit my Real Estate Market Reports page.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 5/1/2009 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes in Scottsdale over the last 12 months. Any references to 'average' figures implies the average of the  last 12 months of data. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

Scottsdale AZ Real Estate Market Performance for Single-Family Homes- Through April 2009

Scottsdale Home Sales in Zip Code 85262 - 1st Quarter 2009

Here are the sales activity figures for the Scottsdale's 85262 zip code over the first three months of the year.

This far-North Scottsdale zip code houses some of the top luxury communities like:

• Desert Mountain
• Mirabel
• Estancia
• Troon North
• Legend Trail

The following analysis looks at single-family resale home sales and has been broken down into three categories - Non-Distressed Sales, Short Sales (Pre-Foreclosure) and Lender-Owned Sales.  

In this zip code, 80% of the homes for sale were non-distressed with the balance belonging to short sales and lender-owned properties. However, only 33% of the sales in Q1 were non-distrssed homes. Short sales made up 31% and lender-owned were 37%. The distressed peoperty sales had a much larger impact in 85262 (68%) than they did in 85255 (52%) or Scottsdale in general (52%).

The sales price discrepancy between non-distressed and distressed was the most marked in 85262. The average non-distressed sales price was over $1.6 million where distressed average prices were in $400,000's.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information were pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) on 4/1/2009 and can change at any time. Some numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

Scottsdale Home Sales in Zip Code 85255 - 1st Quarter 2009

Here are the sales activity figures for the Scottsdale's 85255 zip code over the first three months of the year.

This North Scottsdale zip code houses some of the top luxury communities like:

• DC Ranch
• Silverleaf
• Grayhawk
• Desert Highlands
• Troon Village

This analysis looks at single-family resale home sales and has been broken down into three categories - Non-Distressed Sales, Short Sales (Pre-Foreclosure) and Lender-Owned Sales.  

The majority of homes for sale in this zip code fall into the non-distressed category, with 86% of the market. The non-distressed properties also account for almost half of the pending sales and 62% of the homes sold. (Comparatively, non-distressed sales in all of Scottsdale only accounted for 49% of home sales in the first quarter of 2009.)

Short sales and Lender-Owned homes for sale were about 15% of the market at the end of the quarter. However, they encompassed 52% of pending sales and 38% of homes sold.

In my next post, I will look at the same analysis for another one of North Scottsdale's key zip codes 85262.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information were pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) on 4/1/2009 and can change at any time. Some numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

Scottsdale Home Sales - First Quarter 2009

Here are the figures for Scottsdale's sales activity for the first three months of the year.

This analysis looks at single-family resale home sales and has been broken down into three categories - Non-Distressed Sales, Short Sales (Pre-Foreclosure) and Lender-Owned Sales.  

As you can see, the bulk of the homes for sale, 81%, fall into the non-distressed category. However short sales and lender-owned homes make up just over half of the pending sales and sales. You can also see that the prices for short sale and lender-owned properties are significantly lower than the non-distressed properties. Another item of note is that there is a larger discrepancy between list price and sale price for non-distressed homes (89% of asking price) than the distressed sale homes (94% of asking price.)

In future posts, I will look at the same analysis for two of North Scottsdale's main zip codes, 85255 and 85262.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information were pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) on 4/1/2009 and can change at any time. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

The Greater Phoenix Luxury Condo Market - March 2009

Here are the most recent figures for the Greater Phoenix luxury condo market, which is defined as condos with list prices in excess of $1 million. At the end of March, there were 103 condos for sale throughout the valley. Fifty-nine were in Scottsdale, thirty-three were in Phoenix, and the remainder, eleven, were in Tempe. During the month of March, two luxury condos sold. Both of them were located in Esplanade Place.

Here is a quick overview of March 2009's numbers:

If you have any questions about the luxury condo market or would like to learn more about the communities mentioned above, please feel free to contact me. For more information on Scottsdale real estate and the surrounding areas, please visit www.scottsdaleagent.net

Disclaimer: Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 4/1/2009 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale condos in Scottsdale, Tempe 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.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson

Three Arizona Courses Make Golf Digest's Top 100 List

Golf Digest recently released its America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses for 2009-2010 and three Arizona courses made the list.

Arizona's highest-ranked course was Forest Highland's Canyon Course coming in at number 55. Forest Highlands in Flagstaff is home to two courses designed by Jay Morrish & Tom Weiskopf.

Next on the list was Stone Canyon, another Jay Morrish course, at number 68. Stone Canyon is a newcomer to the list and is located in Oro Valley, outside of Tucson.

The final course to make the Top 100 is The Estancia Club located in Scottsdale. This course was designed by Tom Fazio and is built into the spectacular terrain.

For more information on golf communities in Scottsdale or Flagstaff, please feel free to contact me.

Scottsdale Single-Family Luxury Home Market - March 2009

Scottsdale Real Estate Market Performance for Single-Family Homes- Through March 2009

March was one of the best months we have seen in a long time for the Scottsdale market. Sales jumped to levels we have not seen since September of 2008 and pending sales are the highest I have seen in the 19 months I have been tracking these figures. In addition, active homes for sale were down as well. 

March Highlights:

• Active Homes for Sale – There were 3.933 active homes for sale at the end of March. This is down from 4,007 in February and represents a 1.8% decrease.
• Pending Homes for Sale - Pending home sales hit the highest number I have seen in the last 19 months. There were 391 pendings, up 36.2% over February and way above the 12 month average of 302.
• Home Sales – Homes sales were up sharply from February to 242, an increase of 21.6% over February’s 199. This number is now tracking very closely to the 12 month average of 245.
• Sold Price to List Price Ratio – Homes sold at an average of 89.5% of asking price in March. This is the first time this figure has dropped into the 80%’s in 19 months. Typically, it is in the low 90%’s.

March was a great month for Scottsdale resale homes. The sales figure was very promising and based on the pending sales we are seeing, April should be a great month. The only negative for the month is the sales to list price ratio dropped slightly, meaning there was downward pressure on the home prices. However, this is good news for buyers looking to purchase Scottsdale real estate.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) on April 1, 2009 and can change at any time. Data looks back at the last 12 months of activity and is for Scottsdale single-family resale homes. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer uses the MLS to market its homes. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.

Scottsdale's Optima Camelview Gets Even Better