Phx Area Home Prices....... A Look Ahead to 2014 ...

Part of our job as Realtors is to always be looking at market statistics, reading predictions from experts and forming an educated opinion on where the real estate in our market is headed. Many of the headsline you read regarding real estate is written on a national level. The market in California and Arizona typically starts the wave that slowly moves across the country. So, the national market statistics you are reading is usually old news for us here in the Phoenix area. So, here in a brief summary is what we are closely watching: 1) In Maricopa County jobs are growing faster than new home starts. Normally this would cause a housing price surge. However, because there are still vacant homes in the area and many residents are taking lower wage jobs, the new workers will most likely be renting or purchasing existing smaller homes. This current job surge is not likely to significantly raise housing prices. 2) Mortgage Interest Rates are expected to keep rising. Interest rates will slowly rise up incrementally, but just a small hike in an interest rate can make a significant increase in your mortgage payment. This means that as the interest rates rise, buyers may have to lower their maximum price in searching for homes. The rising interest rates should also slow rising home values because buyers will be purchasing lower priced homes. 3) Builders are readying plots of land for lots of building in 2014. The new home builders who were sitting on the sidelines for the past 4 years, are now gearing up to build again in 2014. You may have already seen some stalled new communities building again and closing out. As these new homes come up on the market, there will be more competition for the resale homes. So, we are expecting to see resale inventory rise. This increase in inventory will also slow the rising home values. As a side note, it appears the builders are a bit more relaxed when it comes to qualifying new buyers for home loans. As we stated in a previously, please be aware that if you go to a new home builder to purchase a home and do not have a realtor accompany you, you are going in unrepresented. If all goes smoothly, all will be fine. But, if you encounter any glitch in the home buying or building process, please be aware that the new home agent represents the builder and the builder only. They do not have your best interest at heart. Call our Buyer Specialist, Mike Drefs, at 623-693-1505 and we will make sure you get the fair deal you deserve and he will help smooth your path should you have problems with the building process. Mike must be with you on your FIRST trip to the new home community.