photo credit: Dru Bloomfield – At Home in Scottsdale

The 34th annual Mighty Mud Mania is today, June 19th, 2010, from 8:30am to 2pm at Chaparral Park, located at 5401 N. Hayden Road in Scottsdale.  Parking is fairly limited, so there will be shuttles from Mohave Elementary School which is located on the northeast corner of Jackrabbit and Granite Reef. 

Map of Park, Parking, and Shuttle Service

Mud Mania was first held in 1976 as a promotional gimmick for Johnson’s Wax “Shout” spray pre-way.  The company handed out 300 white t-shirts for participants, but the Arizona mud was just too much to the pre-wash, so Johnson dropped it’s sponsorship.  However, the event was so successful that the city took it over as the “culminating activity of all the Scottsdale Parks and Recreation summer programs“.

I’ve been riding by the park watching the preparations for the last several weeks.  Thursday, I stopped to take a few photos of the pits that were all ready for the big event.  I also ran into Jan Cameron, Director of Scottsdale Parks and Recreation, who was surveying the scene.  She mentioned that the event was being held on Saturday this year, so that more parents could watch and participate. She said the event was also being held earlier in the summer so the turf would have more time to recover for falls sports.

Here’s another photo of a mud pit ready for water and kids. It’s huge!

photo credit: Dru Bloomfield – At Home in Scottsdale

Today, there will lots of mud pits (with age group designations), giant mudslides, sandcastle building, and a hose-off.  Swimming at Chaparral Pool is on a buck, but you must have a clean swim to get in!

Below are a couple photos from last year’s event.  It really is amazing how muddy everybody gets, and how many adults spend the day in this mud soup!

The Scottsdale Fire Department was and will be on hand to hose everyone off afterwards!

Event details are here: City of Scottsdale’s Mighty Mud Mania page

I’ve included the full slide show, and invite you to take a look.

Highlights for the Phoenix area resale market include:

1. Seven straight months where number of home sales surpassed 2007.
2. The number of 2008 homes sales surpassed 2007 by almost 10%.
3. Results from the second half of 2008 showed significant improvement over the first half of the year.
4. Sales increases are definitely being fueled by dramatic price decreases, especially in the second half of the year.
5. Bank-owned properties are a significant portion (approximately 33%) of the homes sales.
6. Bank-owned properties are priced much lower than owner sold homes, and are selling at a faster rate.

I’m in the process of looking into home sales individual cities around the valley, and will be sharing some of those highlights.  The results have been surprising and may signal some significant opportunity for buyers who have been waiting on the sidelines, looking for the bottom.

Scottsdale Real Estate Market Overview

 

Scottsdale home buyers are starting out 2009 in a real estate market that is tilted very heavily in their favor.  If you click on the chart above, you will get a full-sized version of the report,  that’s a bit easier to read.  Single family home prices (excluding condos) have fallen and are now stagnated, and it’s taking quite a while (on average) to sell a house.

In the following charts, I’ve shown single family home prices for both 2007 and 2008.  I think what is most unexpected in this chart was the notable increase in listing prices.  For Scottsdale single family homes, median list prices started surging in fall of 2007 and continued to rise until warm weather hit in April 2008.  At this point, sellers dropped prices and held them at these lower levels throughout the summer.  This past fall, you can see that prices jumped again, but have tapered off and plateaued.

Scottsdale Single Family Homes - Median List Price Comparison 2007-2008 (Click to see larger chart)

No question that homes are taking longer to sell.  Here, you can see that our upward trajectory continues at a steady pace.

Average Days on Market - 2007-2008 Comparison (Click for larger chart)

Inventory (the number of homes on the market) grew steadily throughout 2007, and has continued to fluctuate throughout 2008.  You see that the end-of-year figures for 2007 and 2008 are very similar.

2007-2008 Comparison - Number of Single Family Homes for Sale (Click for better view)

Market Action for Scottsdale Home Sales - 2007 vs. 2008 (Click for larger view)

It takes a week or so for the previous months sales figures to finalize, and then we will be into the beginning of January.  One of the reasons that I like subscribing to the Altos Research reports is that using listing data gives a glimpse of what may be coming.

I’ll post the corresponding charts for condos tomorrow.

Definition of the Market Action Index, courtesy of Altos Research:

The Market Action Index (MAI) illustrates the balance between supply and demand using a statistical function of the current rate of sale versus current inventory. An MAI value greater than 30 typically indicates a “Seller’s Market” (a.k.a. “Hot Market”) because demand is high enough to quickly gobble up available supply. A hot market will typically cause prices to rise. MAI values below 30 indicate a “Buyer’s Market” (a.k.a. “Cold Market”) where the inventory of already-listed homes is sufficient to last several months at the current rate of sales. A cold market will typically cause prices to fall.

This past week has been filled with family, work, and a bit of home improvement.  I have quite a few market updates in queue and will get those posted over the next several days.

In the meantime, I’ll take a moment to wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!