Unlike closed sales, which typically reflect contracts from 30-60 days ago or more, pending sales are a good measurement of current demand.
If I were to go out and buy a house today, it would be marked in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) as a pending sale, but it might not close for weeks or months. Regardless of when it actually closes, that sale is a reflection of today’s demand. Pending sales tell us what’s going on in the market today.
Bullhead City pending sales hit 2.5 year high in June
The following chart shows the number of pending home sales in Bullhead City each month for the last several years (you might want to click on the chart to open up a larger version):
Bullhead City pending home sales hit 2.5 year high in June
As you can see, the big blue line for 2009 moved above the lines for 2007 and 2008 back in March.
There have been more pending sales in each of the last four months than the same period the previous two years. The June mark of 137 homes is the highest since November of 2006.
This increased activity bodes well for the Bullhead City market, which is sitting on its lowest inventory in over three years (742 homes).
It will be interesting to see how the rest of 2009 plays out.
The big month for closed sales so far this year has been May. Note that 28 of the 77 homes sold in May went pending in March (see big spike on chart above).
Judging by the even bigger spike in June, and depending on the timing and number of sales that fall out of escrow, there might be a bigger month coming up in the second half of the year.
So what do you think?
Will home sales continue to climb? If so, what will that mean for prices?
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lori_greig/ / CC BY-ND 2.0
When I say “Fourth of July”, what comes to mind? Fireworks? Picnics? Star Spangled Banner?
To that I say you’ve never visited Oatman at high noon on Independence Day. At least not in the last 20 years or so.
You see, mid-summer Oatman is so hot you actually can fry an egg!
That’s right, folks. This Saturday, July 4th, Oatman, Arizona will host its annual Egg Fry contest. The premise is simple.
For the uninitiated, Oatman is small mining town along Route 66, not far from Bullhead City. A visit to Oatman is like traveling back to the old west. A town where (real) burros and (fake) gunfighters roam the streets.
And yes, once a year people gather to see who can cook up the “most edible” egg . On the side walk.
From the Oatman Chamber of Commerce website:
One of the Ghostrider Gunfighters shoots off a round and the fryers have 15 minutes to make the most edible fried egg. We provide two official eggs and a piece of foil. We tried cooking right on the sidewalk at first but the eggs cook right into the sidewalk and are hard to clean up. The fryers can use any type of solar heat. Mirrors, magnifying glasses etc. The are several Egg Fry categories with medals and prizes.
This is a free, one of a kind event. So, why not come out and – as the Chamber of Commerce website says – “join the eggcitement?”
Check out Oatman’s wikipedia page for more on the history of Oatman.
Attention foodies: You can now get your fresh produce fix every Saturday morning right here in Bullhead City. But that’s not all…
I was pretty jazzed when I learned about the new Farmers Market, which had it’s first run today at the Colorado Place on Highway 95 at Riverview Dr.
On an economic level, there’s the obvious benefit of supporting local businesses by generating sales dollars. Also, most Farmers Markets I’ve been to also provide more off-beat (for lack of a better word) vendors a storefront to showcase their product. I’m talking about candles, soaps, crafts and handmade products of all sizes and shapes. And of course, let’s not forget the staple – fresh produce, often grown by local farmers and sometimes of the organic variety.
More than fresh fruit and veggies at good prices though, there’s a social benefit to the community that interests me. Farmers Markets are a place where people can get out of the house and mix with other locals. That’s the sort of intangible that gives some soul to a community.
I’ve noticed this movement over the last few years away from the standard shopping mall and toward something else. A retail palce where people congregate, or just hang out. It’s good for business and it’s good for the community.
Go to Southern California and you’ll find places like The Grove in Los Angeles, which is essentially an outdoor shopping mall in a beautiful lake setting. You can go shopping, grab lunch, or just sit by the water and listen to music.
If you’re one who makes the drive from Bullhead City to So Cal frequently, maybe you’ve seen or stopped off at the mall in Rancho Cucamonga off of I-15 . In the Pheonix area there’s Arizona Mills Mall, Green Valley has The District and so on.
Some of these malls have carousels, others have water features that children run through while parents watch on from plush lounge chairs. These are family friendly places where people get out, hang out, and of course shell out some money along the way. You don’t have to shop or spend money to get in, but chances are you will, even if it’s just a bite to eat.
So what does all of this have to do with a Farmers Market in Bullhead City? Plenty I think.
We’re not getting a multi-million outdoor shopping mall with major retailers anytime soon, but this is a great step in the right direction. So I stopped by this morning to check the place out first hand.
As you can see in the photo above, there’s only a handful of vendors (this is the first day), but there was a small group of people gathering around the produce making purchases as the the live music was setting up at the Firehouse Coffee booth. Very cool!
They had everything from corn to giant black berries, italian and yellow squash, melons, cheries (two bucks a pound!), grapes and lots more. Even some organic stuff. Some of it is from local farmers, others trucked down on Thursday and Friday from Norethern California. There were also a few other non-food vendors there.
It really looked like a successful first day in the making. I’ll be following up with one of the produce guys this week to see how they did. I’ll keep you posted.
You can check out the Farmers Market next Saturday from 6 – 11 am. Map to Bullhead City Farmers Market
Just a quick one to give kudos to Frontier Communications for stepping up to support the community and Arizona veterans by picking up the cost to keep the Eternal Flame burning at Arizona Veterans Memorial Park along the Colorado River in Bullhead City.
The flame has been at issue since January when the City of Bullhead City turned it off (ouch) to save costs. Public reaction to the move was swift as the story made national news. Good thing, too. According to Mohave Daily News that’s how Frontier’s CEO got wind of it:
“This article actually resonated a lot with me because it was about a community that worked hard to do something wonderful and was faced with an economic challenge as a result,” Wilderotter said. “The nice thing about being the CEO of Frontier is I could pickup the phone … and say, ‘How can we help?’ It was deeply important to me that we help.”
Good move Frontier!
The only thing left to say for now is Thank You.
As if the opportunities for home buyers weren’t sweet enough, Arizona has just sweetened the pot big time. Want to know how?
First, a little background.
There was a real estate boom in Arizona awhile back that featured frenzied demand, shrinking inventories, and soaring prices. Then there was a bust that included vanishing demand, bloating inventories, and falling prices. An unfortunate byproduct of this cycle was the dreaded foreclosure.
Buyers started to turn out in our neck of the woods late last year, mostly for those foreclosures. Inventories started to shrink, and prices started to stabilize in some segments of the market. Even foreclosure inventories started dropping, but they have not gone away altogether.
It seems that the Arizona Department of Housing really wants to see all those foreclosures sold ASAP. So much so that are willing pick up 22% of the purchase price for qualified buyers of foreclosed homes. Enter “Your Way Home AZ“, a program funded by HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program:
Because access to homeownership is fundamental to Arizona’s way of life, Your Way Home AZ is a financing tool that will make it easier for eligible, credit-worthy homebuyers to obtain mortgages.
Funding is made available through the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). The state of Arizona and nine other counties and communities received more than $121 million to help stabilize our hardest hit neighborhoods through a variety of efforts.
This program, which is now available in Mohave County (including Bullhead City, Fort Mohave, and Mohave Valley), actually provides purchase assistance through a “forgivable”, zero-interest, no-payment loan. Forgivable means the loan simply goes away after a certain period of time . Just how long depends on the amount:
- 5 years for assistance of $15,000 or less
- 10 years for assistance of $15,001 – $40,000
- 15 years for assistance of more than $40,000
Keep in mind these terms are specific to the Arizona Department of Housing program in Mohave County, which may be different that those programs offered throughout the state by various partners.
I want to emphasize that, yes, this is a loan. But it’s a second loan with no payments, so it is not factored into qualifying for the purchase. Say you have a purchase price of $100,000 with 3.5% down payment ($3,500). Your first loan would be $74,5000 ($100,000 minus $22,000 second, minus $3,500 down payment). Your payments would be based on that $74,500.
There is no payment and no interest on the $22,000 second. Should you own the home for 10 years, the second loan is forgiven. If you sell the home sooner, you will owe the $22,000, but with no interest.
This program makes it easier for people to qualify and afford a home, while at the same time encouraging the sale of foreclosures thereby putting those homes back in the hands of humans who will occupy the home instead of leaving them vacant while they sit on the books of banks across the country.
Qualified first-time buyers can also still receive their federal tax credit of up to $8,000!
There are income restrictions and other requirements that must be met, including attending an mandatory 8 hour class. For complete details please visit the website or talk to your lender to see if they are approved for this program.
Of course I’d me more than happy to help you! Give me a call or drop me an email anytime.
