I’ve been taking this fabulous series of classes from the Scottsdale Association of Realtors, called Scottsdale 101.  An amazing amount of information is being provided to us by the employees of the City of Scottsdale and my plan is to share some of what I hear. It’s interesting to learn about the inner workings of the city, and to see the dedication and enthusiasm of the many speakers who are educating a room full of Realtors on the inner workings of the city.

Scottsdale Governing Structure

In our first class, David Ellison, Assistant City Manager, and David Richert, Acting City Manager, explained the structure of Scottsdale city government.

Scottsdale operates under a charter government, where the elected officials, the City Council, set policies, and the City Manager and his staff, implement the policies and oversee the delivery of Scottsdale city services.

City of Scottsdale Organization Chart

Scottsdale and many other cities in Maricopa County, including Phoenix and Chandler, use this charter form of government.  The structure is set up to take the politics out of running the city, by separating administration and policy-making, thus providing a continuity of service.

The City Council consists of seven members and the Mayor.  A similar set up to corporation with a Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board.

In Scottsdale, the City Council assigns six positions:

1. Attorney
2. Auditor
3. Clerk
4. Manager
5. Treasurer
6. Judge

The Scottsdale City Manager is, in effect, the CEO running the equivalent of a $1.2 billion business, with responsibility for about 2400 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Approximately 100 other employees report to the other five positions.

One of the things that I’ve been most struck by in the six classes I’ve attend so far is how plugged-in and proud, the speakers have been.  The assistant city manager talked a bit early on sharing that city employees created the employee values, and that they are actually implemented, because employees feel like they own them. He also talked about what an innovative and creative city, Scottsdale is. The excitement of working in such an environment has been evident in every present I’ve seen over the past three weeks.

Scottsdale General Plan

The city has a General Plan that serves as a guide to the city’s future in regard the character, land use, and quality of life.   It also includes aspects related to:

• Economic vitality
• Community involvement
• Housing
• Neighborhoods
• Open Space & Recreation
• Preservation and Environment Planning
• Cost of Development
• Growth Area
• Public Services and Facilities
• Community Mobility

Voters actually have to approve the plan and the next iteration of the General Plan will be up for vote in 2011.

Get Scottsdale General Plan 2011 info on Facebook.

Scottsdale General Plan Growth Areas

The General Plan focuses on future growth of three primary areas of Scottsdale:

• The Airpark — Plans call for a roadway system surrounding the Scottsdale Airport which would allow travelers to circumvent some of the busiest intersections surround the airport.  The City Council has already approved a $110M budget for the project with completion of Phase 1 occurring in 2012.
• Downtown Scottsdale – from Thomas to Camelback Roads, including Fashion Square
• McDowell Road (formerly the Motor Mile) — The remaining car dealerships would be moved to the 101 and McDowell Road.

Other Miscellaneous, but Interesting Scottsdale Facts

• The city is 32 miles long and covers 185 square miles.
• Downtown Scottsdale covers 800 acres.
• The fiscal year starts July 1st.
• Scottsdale is one of eighteen cities in USA with AAA rating by all three rating agencies. Triple-triple A.

To give you some sense of the differences, I’ve broken the city down into 3 areas that are defined on the following map.  The red circle encompasses what I will call North Scottsdale, and the purple circle includes South Scottsdale, downtown, and neighborhoods north to Indian Bend Road.  In between, you will find many of the “ranches”, including Scottsdale, McCormick, and Gainey Ranch. (For today, I’ve left out Scottsdale 85254, since this area is mostly located in the city of Phoenix.)

In all of the charts you will see below, the light blue line is the average for all of Scottsdale.  The other lines will denote the various zip codes in Scottsdale.

North Scottsdale: 85255, 85262, 85266

Mid Scottsdale: 85258, 85259, 85260

South Scottsdale: 85250, 85251, 85257

The information I’m providing you is taken from homes currently on the market, not all of the homes in the given geographical area.  It will give you an idea of the differences based on the inventory of single family homes for sale in Scottsdale over the past 3 months.

Average Price per Square Foot

The average price per square foot for a home for sale in Scottsdale is currently $260 per square foot.

In South Scottsdale, home prices vary from $120 to just over $200 per square foot.

In central Scottsdale, prices currently average $200-245 per foot, while in the northern parts of the city, prices average $260-330 per square foot.

As you can see, there has been a steady, gradual decline in home listing prices pretty much through the city over the past 90 days.

Median Home Age

The average age of a home on the market in Scottsdale is surprisingly just under 15 years.

In the southernmost part of the city, homes for sale are older, with a median age of 50 years, while in the area just north of downtown Scottsdale, the median age is closer to 35 years old.

Further north, the median age of homes for sales in the McCormick and Gainey Ranch areas (85258) is 24 years, while to the north (85260), homes are in the 21 year range, and to the east (85259) towards Fountain Hills, the median age drops dramatically to 13 years.

In the northern reaches of Scottsdale, the median age of homes for sale ranges from 8-11 years.

As you would expect, these numbers are pretty static in all zip codes.

Median Home Size

When it comes to home size, the differences between the areas are even more striking.

The median home size in Scottsdale is just over 3200 square feet.  However, in South Scottsdale the median home size is closer to 2000 square feet.

In central Scottsdale, the median home size varies considerably more, from a median of 2600 square feet for homes between Indian Bend and Bell Roads (85258 and 85260), and jumping  to 3800 square feet east of that area (85259).

In North Scottsdale, homes for sale in all zip codes are considerably larger than the city median, ranging from 3600 to 4300 square feet.

What’s it all mean?

In South Scottsdale, the homes for sale are smaller, quite a bit older, and less expensive. Think affordable. First-time home buyer. Investment. Rental.

In North Scottsdale, homes are much larger, typically built in the past 10 years, and cost considerably more than the Scottsdale average.  Think luxury. Vacation home. Golf get-away. Desert living.

Then, there’s the middle of Scottsdale playing in with the rest of the picture for a diverse Scottsdale home market, providing a little something for anything thinking of buyer in Scottsdale.

Data Source: Altos Research

Depending on whether you look at short-term or long-term numbers, there are 9-11 months of inventory (properties for sale) in the city of Scottsdale.  

The following definitions will help you see the difference between the short and long-term view:

Days Inventory Based on Annual Sales – The number of days it would take to sell all the currently active listings based on the rate of sales over the last year.

Days Inventory Based on Monthly Sales – The number of days it would take to sell all the currently active listings based on the rate of sales over the last month.

It’s important to look at both of these figures, because the monthly sales figures can be inflated or deflated depending on the time of year.  For example, our numbers in November typically taper off, but this year, they were buoyed by the anticipated end of the 2009 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit.

Moving on to look at Market Demand, you can see that the landscape is gradually improving.  Supply is still a bit high.  Demand is improving. But, overall the real estate sales environment in Scottsdale appears to be moving in a positive direction.

The definitions the indexes in the chart above are:

Cromford Demand Index™ is a value that provides a short term forecast for the demand position within the market. It is derived from the trends in pending and sold listings compared with historical data over the previous four years. Values below 100 indicate a weakness in demand, while values above 100 indicate a stronger than normal demand. A value of 100 indicates a balanced market.

Cromford Market Index™ is a value that provides a short term forecast for the balance of the market. It is derived from the trends in pending, active and sold listings compared with historical data over the previous four years. Values below 100 indicate a buyer’s market, while values above 100 indicate a seller’s market. A value of 100 indicates a balanced market.

Cromford Supply Index™ is a value that provides a short term forecast for the supply position within the market. It is derived from the trends in active and sold listings compared with historical data over the previous four years. Values below 100 indicate a shortage of supply, while values above 100 indicate an excess supply. A value of 100 indicates a balanced market.

Price per square foot is one of the truest indicators of home pricing. As you can see here, price continue to depreciate in Scottsdale, but the city has not been hit nearly as hard as many of the other parts of the Valley.  Looking at the monthly averages, you can see that possibly we are at a plateau in average sales price per square foot.

I’d like to make a big conclusion about where are going from here, but for now I will just say "It is, what it is."  One thing I do believe is that the worst is behind us.

Data Source: Arizona Regional MLS/ Cromford Report

When it comes time to install a new solar system, the local permitting process can be a difficult bureaucratic headache.  Or it can be a walk in the park . . . a Scottsdale park.

Vote Solar, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring solar to the mainstream, named Scottsdale one of the top five best cities for solar permitting.  Vote Solar cited Scottsdale as one of the best for a variety of reasons:  Vote Solar cites the “best practices” fee of $250 per permit – Scottsdale’s typical charge is $148.  In addition, Scottsdale issues most permits “over the counter” – meaning people can get it with no wait.  Lastly, people can submit plans and purchase the permit online.

For more information about Scottsdale’s solar efforts or this recognition, contact Senior Plans Examiner Dustin Schroff at (480) 312-7762 or dschroff@ScottsdaleAZ.gov, or visit the City of  Scottsdale’s Green Building Program page.

Photo Credit: Randy Son Of Robert

By the way, all Scottsdale homes are not serviced by the City of Scottsdale.  The American Water serves a band of homes in the area surrounding McDonald Drive.  Another small percentage of homes in North Scottsdale are either on wells, or have water hauled in by truck and stored on the property.

As a Scottsdale home seller, you are obligated to share this information in the Residential Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement you complete when you list your house.

Of the 4,462 homes on the market in Scottsdale today, 4% have water sources other than the city, so while the number is few, you would definite want to know the quality, availability, and cost of water before completing your hyome purchase.  If you do buy a bank-owned home, or the seller disclosure is not provided for some other reason, BE SURE to do your research ahead of time.

I can count on this question in every listing appointment. And the short answer is, “Depends”.

Depends on:

• Where your house is located
• How you price it
• What kind of condition it’s in
• And a host of other external factors that buyers and sellers don’t have direct input into, like interest rates, tax incentives, consumer confidence, …..

Today, I’ve pulled some Altos Research housing data, to show you how long homes have been listed for sale in Scottsdale.  In this first chart, for the whole of Scottsdale, you can see that number of days on the market peaked in July and has started a steady downward trend.

However, we all know that real estate is local, so I’ve done a quick comparison of the Median Days on Market for several Scottsdale zip codes.

First, from the southernmost part of the city, Scottsdale 85257, time to sell a house didn’t start decreasing until the September.

In Scottsdale 85258, where McCormick and Gainey Ranches are located, Days on Market matched the same pattern as the City of Scottsdale and started decreasing in July.

The same trend is true for Scottsdale zip code 85255, home to McDowell Mountain and DC Ranches, as well as Grayhawk.

However, moving northward toward Carefree and Cave Creek, you can see that the zip code 85266, home to many luxury homes and the community of Terravita, the number of days to sell a house still has not peaked.

When it comes times to sell your home, you will want to look a lot closer at statistics in your neighborhood.  Some subdivisions sell much more quickly than others, so it’s imperative you have a good sense of what is going on close to home, as well as in the surrounding areas.  Armed with current and relevant data, you and your agent can then price your house to sell, know just how long it might take.

Related Links – More Scottsdale Real Estate Statistics

To take a look at what is going on currently (as of the day your are reading this post), you can look at the following reports for the city of Scottsdale and then for each Scottsdale zip code:

Scottsdale Real Estate Statistics – Single Family Homes

• 85262 – North Scottsdale including Desert Mountain, north of Jomax and east of Pima Road
• 85266 – North Scottsdale including Terravita, north of Jomax and west of Pima (new zip code as of 7/1/2007)
• 85255 – North Scottsdale, including DC Ranch, Grayhawk, and McDowell Mountain Ranch
• 85260 – North Scottsdale, between Shea Boulevard and Bell Road
• 85254 – Scottsdale address, but located in City of Phoenix. North of Shea and South of the aqueduct.
• 85259 – North Scottsdale, mostly east of 104th Street and west of Fountain Hills
• 85258 – Central Scottsdale, including McCormick Ranch and Gainey Ranch
• 85250 – Central Scottsdale, between Chaparral and Indian Bend Roads
• 85251 – Downtown / South Scottsdale, between Chaparral and Thomas Roads
• 85257 – South Scottsdale, south of Thomas Road to the Tempe border

Have some out-dated, obsolete electronic gear that needs to be recycled?  The city of Scottsdale does a great job at setting up these events. 

Load your car.  Head towards 90th Street and Via Linda.  Follow the signs.  When you get to the city’s yard, city employees will unload your car, and you will be on your way, probably in less than 5 minutes. All of the city recycling events are efficient and well managed.

You will probably see one of the biggest piles of old TVs and monitors ever!

Details:

Date: October 10th, between 7:30 am and 2 pm

Location: Corporation Yard, 9191 E. San Salvador Dr. 

Why?

Electronics make up the bulk of the waste that threatens the environment because of the potentially dangerous elements contained within them.  Recycling these items prevents them from reaching landfills . . . and creates less waste and provides usable items to organizations that can recapture their value. 

What kind of electronics are accepted?

• Computers/Peripherals: PC’s, Printers, Keyboards, Scanners, Mice, Monitors, Circuit Boards and Hard Drives.
• Office Equipment/Products: Telephones, Cell Phones, Answering Machines, Pagers, Typewriters and Calculators.
• Entertainment Equipment: Cameras, Televisions, Recorders (VHS and DVR) DVD Players and Stereo Equipment.

Need more info? 

Call (480) 312-5600 or check out the  City of Scottsdale’s Recycling information.

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.

Interesting in getting outdoors now that the weather is starting to cool off?   Here’s info on another free class from the City of Scottsdale:

There’s no time like the present to think about planting a beautiful landscape and conserving water. 

Register now for any of the city’s 10 fall landscape workshops, such as vegetable gardening, wildflowers, or drip irrigation!  These free workshops are held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Via Linda Senior Center, 10440 E. Via Linda.

Classes are held throughout October, but advance registration is needed.  Simply call (480) 312-5690 for all the details and to reserve your spot in one or more of these popular workshops.

And while, I was digging around trying to find the titles and dates of the ten workshops, I found this little gem:  Residential Revitalization Landscape Workbook.  It’s 44 pages of ideas and a step-by-step process for planning your landscaping project. 

Step 3 jumped out for me.  Check out these imaginative design theme ideas!

• Birdscape
• Colorscape
• EZscape
• Flutterscape
• Nativescape
• Shadescape
• Verdescape

The world is all a buzz about social networking!  Want to learn about Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and more?  The city is offering a class this coming Tuesday evening at the downtown Scottsdale Library.

Can Social Networking Media Click for You?

Find out during a free class from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library, 3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd. This class will feature everything you want to know about LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking media.

The event is presented by the Scottsdale Public Library and the Boomerz non-profit group. For more information, contact Melissa Tornquist at (480) 312-7557 or via email at mtornquist@scottsdaleaz.gov.

You can learn more about the local library system at ScottsdaleLibrary.org.