The Current State of the Arizona Real Estate Market | September 2021
We are still in a sellers market with low inventory and high buyer demand. The SHIFT that has occurred is not forecasted to involve a value decrease or market crash. Home values are holding strong and will continue increasing in the high demanded neighborhoods.
The routine of receiving 20+ offers on a home within a couple days of hitting the market, all above asking prices, and buyers removing important contingencies like inspections and appraisals is a thing of the past (generally speaking).
With SHIFT comes fewer multiple offers (2-4 versus 20+), buyers getting to inspect and get the chance to back out if an appraisal comes in lower than the contract price. Homes that are move in ready or recently remodeled along with being marketed properly with professional photos and staged are remaining to get well over list price and buyers willing to waive contingencies.
Buyers are having more success getting offers accepted and negotiating on homes that are not marketed and staged properly (some sellers and agents got lazy), priced too high, visual deferred maintenance or lack of modern updates and condos and townhomes.
Home Builders have been a lot busier this year than 2020. New communities are selling out and have a few hundred people waiting list before ground breaking. Many of these buyers building new homes got frustrated losing bidding wars. An important note- most of these new build home sales are not counted in the monthly statistics since they are not listed on the MLS.
Cyclical market trends- August is historically slower than Spring and early Summer months. We should see our typical uptick of activity in late September and October before we enter the Holiday season.
Current key trends that have been constant with 2020 include:
Low inventory (Great for sellers)
Low interest rates (Great for buyers)
Strong buyer demand (Great for sellers)
Job growth / Relocation (People love the cost of living and weather in AZ)
Strict lending guidelines (Buyers do not like it, but this is helping prevent a crash)
Buyers used larger down payments and paid cash (more skin in the game)
If you're interested in learning more about the current market trends, feel free to reach out to us at 480.256.2995.
