PHOENIX MSA YEAR-END TOTAL FORECLOSURE FILINGS
160,000
140,000
133,809
124,720
120,000
100,000
88,682
80,000
55,648
60,000
40,000
24,189
20,000
13,048
12,003
11,344
8,075
7,908
-
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
In terms of distressed sales, AT- TOM reported that for 2018 the metro area’s total combined REOs, short sales and third party foreclosure auctions were down 14 percent from the previous year. REOs account- ed for only 4.9 percent of all home sales, while short sales were 5.1 per- cent and foreclosure auctions were 3.1 percent of sales last year. Much has changed in the metro’s economic development, making Phoe- nix once again a place for investors to stake their claim, although in an envi- ronment that is a lot more competitive than it was during the recovery. ECONOMIC FACTORS BODE WELL AGAIN FOR INVESTORS Any market’s potential for invest- ment starts first and foremost with its economy, including population growth, job growth, and ability to
meet demand for housing. According to Stapp’s “Metro Phoenix Real Estate 2019” report, the metro area had the fourth largest economy for employment growth in the country as of August 2018. “I think we are in a fairly healthy position from an economic standpoint. We are pretty much at equilibrium.” From a housing standpoint, while at one time the market’s housing stock was overbuilt by 100,000 units, that excess has since been absorbed. The combination of population and job growth are helping to maintain that equilibrium in the marketplace. In terms of total population, he estimated that the metro area has been growing by between 95,000 and 100,000 people per year for some time now. Stapp believes job growth remains strong in the metro area, particularly in the financial and support service sectors along with an evolving bio
med and bio tech segment. Plus the area has long been known for its em- ployment opportunities in aerospace and defense. As a result, Stapp said this growth has caused homebuilders and developers to move out to the periphery of the metro area in order to provide affordable housing to median-income households. “We’re going to continue to see a really stable housing market. The problem we have is we’re not build- ing enough units. We have too much upward pressure on home prices and rents. We have to build more supply to maintain affordability,” he said. For 2018, ATTOM reported a median sales price for the Phoenix metro area of $250,000, an 8.2 percent increase from 2017 and a 43.5 percent surge over the past five years. It is also near the metro’s peak median price of $252,500 reported in 2006.
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