arizona real estate and the us economy

[finboy]

with the us economy and housing market going through some pretty major shocks as of late, real estate (especially future retirement type communities) are looking like good investment properties, as well a nice place for a possible vacation home.

what is the general consensus on the market for housing right now? still still slipping or soon to level out?

what are good area's in Arizona to look for?

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/195478/us-housing-market-/
this thread touched on chandler/gilbert

any other states that look like good area's to invest in?

[Graham_A_M]

Florida, if its not too late.

[Canmorite]

Prices are still slipping in the states. There already is a huge discount now compared to a few years ago, but there may be more downside.

If you're happy with the price you can get, and don't mind/can handle some market fluctuation, you should be ok. Interest rates are consistently being lowered in the US too.

[bspot]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
Florida, if its not too late.

I looked into it quite a bit. Anywhere good is holding it's value just fine. The super rich didn't have subprime mortgages and aren't foreclosing on their vacation properties too much.

[me&you]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M
Florida, if its not too late.

I disagree.

Florida is great, but I think it's too early... the shit isn't even in the same room as the fan yet, let alone hit it in FL.

[mekeni]

I am leaning towards buying a property in Montana....

[jdmXSI]

i've been considering in either Scottsdale AZ or Miami FL, possibly even in San Diego CA. I dont think you'll start seeing a mass of foreclosing properties for quite sometime now though. Maybe a year or two... Who knows.

[RX_EVOLV]

i agree, its too early, this will go on at least til 2009-2010 imo. and it will drag the "prime" mortgage with it eventually. With the sub-prime crisis dragging down the overall housing prices, eventually the average joe w/ a good credit will have a house that is worth less than their mortage, and he/she might opt to default instead.. which would induce a 'prime' mortgage crisis... hope it wont come down to that but for sure right now it is far from over...

[HRD2PLZ]

In Arizona it seems to be the area's farther out that were harder hit. I am in Scottsdale right now and sure there is quite a few homes on the market, but virtually none of them are foreclosures, especially in North Scottsdale. Down in South Scottsdale there is some, but I didn't think they were priced THAT well just yet. Things are still moving in Scottsdale, my parents place (near The Boulder's) actually increased in price. At this point, it seems like its the lower income area's that have been the hardest hit. Who knows what the next couple of years will bring though.

[MPowered]

I just talked with a realtor in Phoenix and he mentioned that there are now 83,000 homes for sale in the Phoenix area. There were 56,000 for sale in November. Compare that to 5000 for sale in Calgary. There has been at least a 10% drop in prices in the last month and market uncertainity has more people concerned. He said realtors are starving for business and the only people buying are Canadians. I'm going down for the month of Feb. to look at some property. Lots to choose from.

[autosm]

^^ I agree I came down here ready to buy one or two houses.

I think I will wait a bit and see what happens.

The prices have dropped in the month I have been here.

[B20EF]

A guy I know said he just bought land and a Mobile home in Texas for $40,000. I guess they are pretty cheap too.

[avow]

is there any websites that you can find a good list of homes for sale in az?

[HRD2PLZ]

just a word of caution though, just because it may be cheap doesn't necessarily mean its a good deal. There are many, many area's in the Phoenix area that I wouldn't buy in. Make sure you know the area's because no matter the market it's location, location, location.

That being said, I heard there was some conversions in central Scottsdale for sale right now which are fairly well priced. Might be looking to pick something else up down here too. All this talk of buying down here has got the wheels turning....

[Altezza]

I have a feeling there is room to go yet. When the economy boomed in the Greater Phoenix Area (Phoenix), prices of luxury homes accelerated in price faster than "average" homes. This can be said pretty much about any local economy, not just Phoenix. The reverse is also true, once an economy goes into recession, luxury homes are the ones to take the hardest hit. A great portion of Scottsdale caters to the luxury owner. Generally speaking, the sub-prime crisis will hit the lower-income home owners first, which offers one explanation as to why you don't see many foreclosures in the Scottsdale area. If the crisis is strong enough, and the economy hops into recession, more and more luxury homes will hit the market at higher and higher discounts to current values.

Even though the Phoenix area is still relatively vibrant, wait and see what happens over the next few years. By then, the local economy would be feeling the full effect of the new law that prevents companies from hiring and employing aliens. That economy has thrived off cheap labour for the longest time (even cheap skilled labour). The question now is how diligently they plan on enforcing the new law.

A friend of mine owns several homes in the Greater Phoenix area. She's intent on holding out these next few years before considering picking up more properties. She encouraged me to be patient as well.

[autosm]

Originally posted by HRD2PLZ
just a word of caution though, just because it may be cheap doesn't necessarily mean its a good deal. There are many, many area's in the Phoenix area that I wouldn't buy in. Make sure you know the area's because no matter the market it's location, location, location.

That being said, I heard there was some conversions in central Scottsdale for sale right now which are fairly well priced. Might be looking to pick something else up down here too. All this talk of buying down here has got the wheels turning....

Its hard to think they are not a good deal when the neighborhoods look like edgemont but the homes are 100-150k

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by jdmXSI
i've been considering in either Scottsdale AZ or Miami FL, possibly even in San Diego CA. I dont think you'll start seeing a mass of foreclosing properties for quite sometime now though. Maybe a year or two... Who knows.

I think other than Scottsdale, those are some the most expensive real estate cities in US.