I’ve been building a video library that will soon create my on-line listing presentation.  When I go to a listing a appointment, I want to focus on the seller and their house, not me selling my services.  This video shares a bit about how I work.

• Connection and trust are critical components of any relationship.  When I go on a listing appointment, my objective is to see if I connect with the seller and vice versa.
• Once I list your home, I’ll market it extensively on-line, using premium paid-for services with Realtor.com and Zillow.
• And, throughout the listing and selling of your home, communication is key. My goal is to communicate with you, the way you prefer.

Check out this increasingly positive new for the Scottsdale real estate market. In searching through the Cromford Report for Scottsdale, I discovered something fairly remarkable.

As you can see in the chart above, the percentage of distressed sale listed is almost identical to those sold.  And these distressed sales make up only 25% of the market, which is as low as you will see in all of Scottsdale.

The third important point is that the average price per square feet for sold properties is almost identical for normal and pre-foreclosures.  Typically, pre-foreclosures (or short sales) are much more aligned with lender-owned pricing.

Good to see some improved market strength in central Scottsdale 85258, home to the Ranches – McCormick Ranch, Gainey Ranch, and Scottsdale Ranch.

Finally, there seems to be a bit of a change which is good news for sellers. And may indicate that it’s time for buyers to take some action.

First off, condo listing prices are increasing.

Inventory is decreasing.

The time on market is increasing a little bit in the lower price ranges, but decreasing for higher prices.

Overall, the condo market is seeing a steady improvement since the first of the year.

So, if you’ve been thinking about listing your Scottsdale condo, please consider calling me for a complimentary pricing evaluation, so you can see what your property might sell for in today’s market.

And if you are ready to buy, here are the condo properties currently available for sale in Scottsdale. By clicking on the map, you can refine your search to the size, area, and price range you are interested in. 

After you’ve set up your search, you can get updated listings by email, delivered to you as they become available.

For additional info about our local real estate:

• What kind of residential properties can I buy in Scottsdale?

• How many bedrooms does a Scottsdale home / townhouse / condo have?

Today, I was researching homes for sale by auction in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and the surrounding areas. Lender-owned properties don’t always sell as quickly as the banks would like, and sometimes, a stagnant real estate listing will be put up for auction.

As of today, there are “only” 220 single family homes listed in ARMLS as being for sale by auction.  They range in price from $24,000 to $522,000.

Most of the properties up for auction seem to be found along the I-17 corridor, along Grand Avenue to the northwest, and then scattered around the East Valley.

Interestingly, only three of these properties up for auction are in Scottsdale. I guess I expected more.

More information on Scottsdale Foreclosures:

• Looking for Foreclosures in Scottsdale?
• The State of Real Estate: Short Sales, Foreclosures, and Bankruptcy
• Phoenix Real Estate Auction Starts Today (with home buyer tips)

Single family home sales continue to improve.  Historically, January homes sales are the low point of the year (circled in red above), and have occurred in January for all years, but 2002. The first chart shows that Scottsdale home sales have been improving gradually over the past two years.

Looking at just the January data for Scottsdale over the last 11 years, the improvement is even more apparent. The number of homes sold in January 2011 exceeded 2001, and almost matched the years 2002-2004. The average number of homes sold over the ten previous years (2001-2010) was 299. The 334 homes sold this past month is above this average, giving even more hope for an improved real estate market for 2011.

Related Posts:

• Economy in Arizona on the rise, expert says
• Scottsdale Real Estate: Rental Property Sales Up Slightly
• Scottsdale Real Estate Update: 2010 Home Sale by Property Type and Price Range

Kris Berg at San Diego Castles Realty created the following video to put it all in perspective!  ☺

Paradise Valley is a real estate microcosm.  Homes are much larger and median prices are significantly higher than anywhere else in the Phoenix area, including it’s neighbor, Scottsdale.

Commonly call “PV”, this city has irregular boundaries, that extend from Camelback Road on the south, to Shea Boulevard on the north.   The area is filled with acre plus lots, beautiful homes, and magnificent views of Camelback and Mummy Mountains.  Some homes border the Phoenix Mountain preserve. 

The city of Paradise Valley shouldn’t be confused with the geographical area to the Northwest that is home to the Paradise Valley School district.  This area is home to a number of private and charter schools, as well as sitting in mostly in Scottsdale Unified School District.

The number of homes for sale in Paradise Valley has been at an all-time high, but you can see that since April, there has been a drop of almost 20%.  In August, the number of listings dropped below 500, for the first time since October 2008.

One of the other changes occurring in the PV market is that time that the number of days of inventory (how long it would take to sell current home listings at the current sales rate) started has been decreasing since May of this year.

Paradise Valley has relatively few properties identified as short sales, and even fewer that are bank-owned (foreclosures). These properties however are impacting the local real estate market since they are being listed at significantly lower prices, around $300/square foot, as compared to $500/square foot for a typical listing.  When it comes to actual sales, short sales and foreclosures account for more than 25% of the sale in July.  Sales prices for typical sales are averaging almost $350/square foot, while short sales and foreclosures are selling at an average of $100/square foot less.

Taking a more historical look at the Paradise Valley sales price trends, you will see that the annualized average sales price per square foot has steadily decreased from $450 per square foot a year ago.  Comparing last year’s average sales price to this year’s (on a per square foot basis) shows that depreciation has been 19%. Recent trends, comparing last month to this year, do shows that depreciation is slowing slightly.

A few definitions (courtesy of the Cromford Report) that may help you further understand the charts above:

• REOs or lender-owned properties have already been through the foreclosure process and completed their trustee sale. These properties were sold by the trustee to the beneficiary (lender). In a few trustee sales (typically less than 5% at the moment), the property may be sold to an investor or wholesaler who is prepared to bid higher than the bank. These properties are not classified as lender-owned. The lenders use the ARMLS system quite heavily to market their inventory of homes and compete aggressively on price. At the moment we lender-owned properties constituting a significant share of the homes listed for sale, and an even large proportion of the homes sold.
• The Pre-foreclosure category includes those properties that have started the foreclosure process but have not yet had the trustee sale. We also include those which are being marketed in a short-sale situation, even if a notice of trustee sale has not been issued. In a full pre-foreclosure situation, the owner(s) have received a notice of trustee sale and the property is being marketed in order to try to sell the home before foreclosure completes. Many of pre-foreclosures are in a “short sale” situation, where the price asked is lower than the outstanding debt secured by the home. Such sales require the approval of the lender. A few may also (or instead) be the subject of bankruptcy proceedings and the sale may require approval by the court. We generally refer to all these situations as “distressed sales”
• Normal sales are those where the owner has the unencumbered right to sell the property without requiring approval from a lender, court or external corporation of any kind, and the owner is not a financial institution. In a normal market these constitute the vast majority of all listings and sales. The degree to which these sales become a smaller proportion of all sales indicates the level of distress being felt in the market.