Interest rates in Scottsdale are truly remarkable this month.

Jay Thompson, aka “The Phoenix Real Estate Guy”, published an update to his interest rate chart a couple days ago showing interest rates at 4%, the lowest rates in the 40 years tracked here by FreddieMac.

Personally I can share that the last two contracts I received for listings now under contract had “not to exceed rates” quoted at 4.25% and 4.375%. One was an FHA loan, and the other was conventional.

Really quite amazing and one of the reasons that buyers are still out looking for homes and writing contracts during the last two weeks of December. This is typically a pretty quiet time of the year for real estate in Scottsdale, but not this year.

And as I shared last week, Phoenix area real estate agents are very optimistic about the coming months. And if you’d like to get a better handle on what’s going in the world of home finance nationally, I recommend The Mortgage Reports by Dan Green.

The consensus from my Mastermind meeting yesterday was that 2012 is going to be a strong year in real estate, and the lenders present didn’t really see much of an increase in interest rates, until after the election. Another agent mentioned that he’d listed a record number of homes in December. With the low interest rates, minimal home inventory, and voracious home buyer demand, I do believe that the first half of 2012 will be quite remarkable.

All we need are more homes to sell.

So, if you’ve been thinking about listing your house, and need a market update, just call or email.  It’s a complimentary service, and will give you info you need to decide whether now is a good time for you to sell.

photo credit: swanksalot

Document Shredding

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 from 7:00 a.m. – 11:00 am

9000 E. Indian Bend
East side of the North parking lot
in the Pavilions Plaza

"Shred It" will shred up to 5 boxes per person. Paper Documents ONLY! Paper clips and staples do NOT have to be removed.

Police Officers of Scottsdale Association (POSA) will be accepting donations to help support POSA Outreach. Suggested donation of $2 per box.

Please contact Officer Kory Sneed at 480-312-5696 for more information.

Scottsdale Real Estate - Data Source: ARMLS (Click chart for larger view.)

The Scottsdale single family home market has definitely seen some improvement during the past 12 months.

1. The number of active listings (inventory) has decreased by 33%, from 3,000 to 2,000 homes per month.
2. Sales have increased about 15%, from 350 to 400 per month.
3. Overall, average price per square foot has held steady, for both listings and sales.
4. Foreclosure notices and trustee sale have also declined.

Still plenty of room for improvement, but definitely a good news story for homes sales in Scottsdale.

Recently, during a tour of the Paiute Neighborhood Center, I learned that over 15,000 Scottsdale residents are below the poverty level.

For all of its reputation for luxury living, between 5 and 10% of Scottsdale residents are in dire need. And the holidays, especially Thanksgiving, remind us all to be grateful for what we have and to share if we choose.

There are many ways you can help.

For instance, I saw a tweet this morning that Vista del Camino is still 100 turkeys short for Thanksgiving.  I was in Albertson’s last night and saw that they have frozen turkeys for 59 cents a pound.  So, for about $10-12, you could really make life a little more special for a family in need. And, for a bit more you could fill a Thanksgiving food box with:

• $25 dollar grocery card (to purchase turkey or ham)
• stuffing mix
• sweet potatoes
• potatoes (fresh or instant)
• canned gravy
• vegetables (2 cans of corn or string beans)
• cranberry sauce
• canned fruit (such as fruit cocktail)
• Jell-O
• desert (or 1 large can of pumpkin and 1 can of evaporated milk)STUFFING
• mile
• chicken broth
• pickles or olives
• rolls

If you’d rather write a check, make it payable to:

Concerned Citizens for Community Health (CCCH), which is a local non-profit organization 501(C)3. CCCH has partnered with Vista del Camino for over 35 years to make the services they provide possible. Mail or drop your check off at Vista del Camino, which is located at 7700 E. Roosevelt, Scottsdale 85257 (between Scottsdale and Hayden Roads).

For more up-to-date information, please call Vista del Camino at (480) 312-Give (4483) or e-mail them at 480312give@scottsdaleaz.gov.

Additional information and resources for Scottsdale residents in need and volunteers wanting to help:

• Scottsdale Shares
• Scottsdale’s Adopt-A-Family
• Vista del Camino
• Paiute Neighborhood Center
• More Opportunities to Volunteer in Scottsdale

Past articles on volunteering in Scottsdale:

• Scottsdale’s “Frances “Forever” Young Unsung Community Heroes for 2011
• Earn a free bike in Scottsdale – really!
• Got some business background to share? Volunteers needed

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

However, there are a couple challenges with foreclosures right now.

1. There just are not very many foreclosures (REOs) on the market Scottsdale.
2. Banks are shifting from foreclosures to short sales, because they tend to lose less on this type of sale.

If you look around the Greater Phoenix area, and compare distressed sales by city, Scottsdale definitely has fewer lender owned sales (as a percentage), than all other cities, except Anthem, Sun City West, and Sun Lakes.   If you add in short sales, the cities with less fewer total distressed sales include the three cities mentioned, plus Gold Canyon and Sun City.

When you look at the October 2011 statistics for Scottsdale Single Family Home sales (below), you see that of the a very small percentage of homes listed for sale are lender owned foreclosures.  With only 107 foreclosures listed as of November 1st, and 75 sold in the prior month, it’s clear that the supply of lender owned properties is dwindling in the city.

Here’s a quick look at the home market composition for Scottsdale 85250, located just north of Fashion Square and south of McCormick Ranch. As of the beginning of the month there were approximately 40 homes with foreclosures pending, where notice has been filed, but the sale has not occurred. Some number of these homes are certainly listed in the local MLS as short sales. The number of pending sales is down by 50% since the beginning of the year.

Looking at the number of homes where the banks have foreclosed (REOs), but have not been listed on the market yet, you’ll see there a grand total of five as of the first of the month. Miniscule.

Next, you’ll see the number of homes that are actually listed for sale on the MLS as foreclosures.  Again for the Scottsdale 85250 zip code. Five single family homes are currently available for sale as of the first of the month.

Looking at foreclosures that are under contract, you’ll see there are four. Not a huge number at all, and I would bet that most of those properties receive multiple offers on them.  The competition for the dwindling supply is fierce.

Going through the rest of the Scottsdale zip codes, moving from south to north, you’ll see that the situation is for the most part very similar.

Starting in the South Scottsdale zip code of 85257, you can see that REOs supply is way down, with only 10 single family homes listed as of the first of November, and 20 more that are not yet listed. With a combined total of 80 homes last year at this time, it’s clear that the supply of REO properties is dwindling here.

Next, in the Scottsdale zip code 85251, there are 5 bank-owned single family homes on the market, with twelve more that haven’t been listed yet. Supply is also much lower than at the beginning of the year.

Bank-owned activity in central Scottsdale (85258) has been more sporadic, but definitely on a downward trend, but consistently very low, hovering around 5 active REOs, and 5 unlisted REO’s.

Further north, in Scottsdale 85254, the number of available foreclosures is fewer than 20, and has been decreasing rapidly over the past year.

Around the Scottsdale Air Park, REO’s show an even more striking downward trend, also showing a cuurent cumulative total of about 20 units.

Even the affluent, Northeast Scottsdale zip code of 85259 is seeing a dramatic decrease in lender-owned listings and (hopefully) soon to be listed properties, which currently number about 20.

In North Scottsdale zip code 85255, The number of active lender owned listings has decreased over the year, however, total number of active and unlisted REOs, about 60, has remained fairly steady throughout the year. Very much the exception to what is being experienced in the rest of the city.

Finally, both of the two northernmost Scottsdale zip codes of 85262 and 85266, are also experiencing a decrease in lender owned homes. As of the 1st of November, only 15 REOs were listed, with 20 more taken back by the bank, but not yet listed.

All in all, it’s an encouraging story. And, with the banks focusing more on short sales, I think 2012 is going to be a year of positive change for the Scottsdale real estate market. Buyer will shift their focus from the foreclosure market and begin looking much more seriously at short and typical sales. Definitely seems like a step towards a more normal (and healthy) market.

View current Scottsdale Foreclosures for Sale.

More on the Scottsdale real estate market

• “Wish I could say Scottsdale home sales prices were holding steady”
• Lots of Home Showings in North Scottsdale
• Having a hard time finding a house to buy in Scottsdale?

After showing a house late this afternoon, I was loving the drive home, savoring the sunset. Driving past this gorgeous view south from McCormick Parkway, just west of Hayden Road, I realized that I just had to go back and snap a shot. With Camelback Mountain in the background, this was definitely a sunset I wanted to remember!

Spectacular Scottsdale. We are pretty lucky, aren’t we?

Can you imagine volunteering at the local hospital for 50 years, like:

Marguerite “Pam” Berges
Fifty years . . . five decades . . . a half century — that’s how long Community Hero Marguerite “Pam” Berges has been volunteering at Scottsdale Healthcare as part of the hospital’s Auxiliary volunteer program. Pam has been there since the program’s 1961 founding, when she was just one of 25 charter members.

Or starting a group of community minded volunteers called the “Charity Chicks”?

It started with a few crazy “chicks” who met through casual volunteering and ended up forming lasting friendships. One of those chicks, Amy Davison, saw the endless possibilities . . . and the endless community needs. So in 2003, Amy hatched Charity Chicks with a simple mission – getting a bunch of women who care together to “share the joy of giving.”

Or, believing in people of all abilities, like:

Matt Mays has volunteered his time for Scottsdale’s special needs community for six years. While a recreation leader and volunteer coordinator working with the developmentally disabled, he continues that job on his own time. For the past two years, Matt has energetically served as a volunteer coach and scene designer for Detour! Company Theater, a business that makes theater accessible to actors of all abilities.

I had the good fortune to be invited to the 2011 Frances Young Unsung Community Heroes breakfast this morning. I walked in and immediately bumped into Matt Mays, not knowing he was an award recipient. What a special treat is was to learn of his award and be there as he was honored.

Matt has been a mentor and a friend to my son with autism.  His spirit is huge and he always gives with a smile on his fact. Truly a special guy.

To learn more about each of the award recipients, visit the City of Scottsdale’s new release: 2011 Frances Young Unsung Community Heroes named

More about Scottsdale services:

• Scottsdale Living: Tips for New (and Current) Residents
• First Responder Card for Scottsdale Citizens with Special Needs
• Miracle League of Arizona: Accessible Baseball Field Planned for Scottsdale Kids