Mortgage Rates Edge Higher for the Week Ending 3/28/2013

Mortgage rates moved slightly higher this week, but still remain low by historical standards and are providing support to the ongoing housing recovery, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for mortgage rates for the week ending March 28:

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.57 percent, with an average 0.8 point, rising from last week’s 3.54 percent average. A year ago at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.99 percent. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has remained below 4 percent for more than a year.
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.76 percent, with an average 0.7 point, rising from last week’s 2.72 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.23 percent.
  • 5-year adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.68 percent, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 2.61 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.90 percent.
  • 1-year ARMs: averaged 2.62 percent, with an average 0.3 point, dropping from last week’s 2.63 percent average. A year ago at this time, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.78 percent.
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Phoenix Homes Under Contract in 24 Hours

There’s a new phenomenon in today’s real estate market. Homes are being sold in 24 hours or less. Some people take more time to decide on a new pair of shoes. Redfin has coined the term “Real Estate Flash Sales” to describe homes that go under contract not within days, but hours of their debut.

Where do flash sales happen the most? The top 15 cities with the most flash sales in the last five months are —

Rank City # Flash Sales
1 Phoenix, AZ 540
2 Chicago, IL 261
3 Houston, TX 188
4 Dallas, TX 184
5 Austin, TX 163
6 San Diego, CA 135
7 Los Angeles, CA 132
8 Sacramento, CA 128
9 Denver, CO 115
10 Portland, OR 115
11 Las Vegas, NV 100
12 Baltimore, MD 97
13 Washington, DC 87
14 Seattle, WA 87
15 San Jose, CA 74

To determine these rankings, Redfin counted the number of homes listed from October 1, 2012 to February 26, 2013 whose status changed from “active” to “pending” within 24 hours time, using data pulled from local MLSes and public records.

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March 23, 2013

Metro Phoenix Housing¹ Market Snapshot
March 23, 2013
City Active Pending Sales DOM² Avg $/SF
Anthem 149 84 66 66 $112.41
Chandler 641 493 356 60 $121.98
Fountain Hills 251 60 48 96 $181.06
Gilbert 766 556 389 56 $111.84
Glendale 572 506 288 63 $90.61
Laveen 141 154 64 72 $70.90
Maricopa 551 282 138 88 $65.40
Mesa 1,143 814 583 56 $105.59
Peoria 522 406 246 65 $109.21
Phoenix 2,899 2,254 1,366 67 $110.86
Queen Creek 829 521 333 80 $80.22
Scottsdale 1,930 510 488 93 $209.77
Tempe 203 149 101 54 $116.64
Note¹ – Housing = Single Family Homes, Note² – DOM = Days On Market
Data Source: Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS)
For other cities or area, please call (480)292-8281 or email gchen@az-realty.com
Above data was compiled by Gary Chen, Associate Broker, ABR, CIAS, CNE, SFR
Original data complied by The Cromford Report
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Landlord Quick Tip – A Landlord’s Secret Weapon

Proving a negative is never an easy task. Unfortunately, that’s what many landlords are forced to do when fighting deadbeat tenants.

The most likely time that a tenant will dispute the condition of a rental property is when they are in court fighting an eviction or asking for their security deposit back. That’s because they realize they can get an offset against what they may owe in rent or damages by complaining to the judge that the property was poorly managed.

Often, judges grant tenants the leeway to raise every concern imaginable — from bedbugs to ghosts. Sometimes landlords are caught completely off guard.

Move-in/move-out checklist is a landlord’s secret weapon for successfully managing properties, and for defending against frivolous tenant claims.

The move-in/move-out checklist accomplish a number of things:

  • The process proves to the tenant that the landlord’s paying attention to the condition of the property.
  • The tenant realizes they’ll have a hard time proving their claims in court, and may back off. The chance of that is even greater if the landlord’s taking pictures or video and included them in the move-in/move-out checklist.
  • The move-in/move-out checklist forces a tenant to pipe up about needed repairs immediately, rather than sitting passively by for months before raising the concern. If the item is not noted on the move-in report, the landlord can ‘prove a negative’ — that the damage was not there when the tenant moved in.
  • The form helps in resolving legitimate condition issues so they don’t come up at the end of the lease term — or during the eviction.

To make the most of move-in/move-out inspections, follow these tips:

  • Have the tenant present, especially at move-in.
  • Use the Arizona Association of Realtor’s format of the checklist. Here is the copy of AAR move-in/move-out checklist.
  • Ask tenants to sign the reports and note any items of concern.
  • Allow tenants a few days after move-in to update the report. That helps bolster the landlord’s case that any damage was caused by the new tenant.
  • Fix any items that are flagged at move-in. Keep receipts of any repairs.
  • Save all tenant communications, including notes of phone calls and copies of emails in the tenant’s file.
  • Offer tenants a ‘pre-move-out’  inspection a month before the lease ends while they still have time to clean and restore the property.
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ARMLS RENT Check™ – Mar 19, 2013

Metro Phoenix Rental Market Snapshot

Median Lease $:  $1,063 vs $1,075 of Feb 2013, -1.12%

Average Lease $:  $1,225 vs $1,237 of Feb 2013, flat

Avg. Days on Market:  55 vs 55 of Feb 2013, flat

Rent Check Quotient™: 55% vs 49% of Feb 2013,  +12.25%

Rent Check Quotient™ (RCQ™) is derived by dividing the # of leases by the # of closed sales

Elevated lease activity is stoked by high foreclosures, which turn home owners into renters, and investor sales into rentals rather than owner occupied houses. Sales inventory shortages also drive potential homeowners to rent rather than purchase.

All above stats are for single family homes rentals. Condominium and apartment rentals are not included.

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Builders Offer Less While The Market is Hot

Here is the scoop on the change in Co-Broke policy by Lennar Homes and its Co-Broke Program is being publicized with the following wording:

“Lennar® Makes It Easy. Register Your Clients and We’ll Do The Rest!”

They are paying only 2% Co-Broke on the first sale this year by an agent. A different commission applies to homes sold after the first Lennar Home Sale.

Why so?

  • Is Lennar making more effort selling directly to home buyers?
  • Is Lennar’s new co-broke program turing agents and their clients away?
  • Is Lennar encouraging agents to just register their clients and do nothing?
  • Is Lennar confident enough that it can serve home buyers better without agents?
  • Is Lennar sure enough that agents will come back to register other clients?

I guess time will tell.

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ARMLS Subscriber Confidence Index for March 2013

For the fourth month in a row, all three indices buoyed with new confidence. The current Subscriber Confidence Index rose 2.2 points to 89.7. The Present Confidence Index also increased by 3.3 points, to 90.4. The Expectation Index which factors in the respondent’s expectation of their family income in the next six months, rose a modest 1.5 points, to 89.2.

Here below is the quick review of the SCI index performance in last 3 months –

  • Current Subscriber Confidence Index – 83.2/Jan 2013 >> 87.5/Feb 2013 >> 89.7
  • Present Confidence Index – 85.7/Jan 2013 >> 87.1/Feb 2013 >> 90.4
  • Expectation Index –  81.3/Jan 2013 >> 87.7/Feb 2013 >> 89.2

For how these indice being developed and measured, check out our Jan 2013 ARMLS SCI posting for more information.

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March 16, 2013

Metro Phoenix Housing¹ Market Snapshot
March 16, 2013
City Active Pending Sales DOM² Avg $/SF
Anthem 152 82 63 68 $110.39
Chandler 666 513 322 62 $120.04
Fountain Hills 255 50 47 99 $180.05
Gilbert 774 551 362 54 $112.34
Glendale 543 509 287 63 $91.19
Laveen 149 146 68 62 $68.71
Maricopa 552 259 155 99 $63.54
Mesa 1,154 831 552 59 $103.13
Peoria 530 412 233 63 $107.24
Phoenix 2,956 2,234 1,279 67 $109.47
Queen Creek 818 535 299 77 $80.95
Scottsdale 1,918 505 473 99 $210.75
Tempe 206 133 97 59 $116.51
Note¹ – Housing = Single Family Homes, Note² – DOM = Days On Market
Data Source: Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS)
For other cities or area, please call (480)292-8281 or email gchen@az-realty.com
Above data was compiled by Gary Chen, Associate Broker, ABR, CIAS, CNE, SFR
Original data complied by The Cromford Report
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Basis School Selects Mesa’s Eastmark

The nationally renowned charter school BASIS has selected Eastmark for its next East Valley campus. Construction on BASIS Mesa at Eastmark commences in March 2013.  The new school is set to open fall 2013.

BASIS is the first 5-12 educational partner and a perfect fit for Eastmark. It will give hundreds of children more opportunities to earn a world-class education, which is a tremendous value for kids, their families and the region’s future workforce.

The new BASIS Mesa at Eastmark will complement the East Valley BASIS programs. Because of the strong interest by parents and students, the BASIS Board of Directors agreed there was enough demand to develop another school in the East Valley, explained Craig Barrett, retired Chairman/CEO of Intel Corporation and Chairman of the Board for BASIS Schools Inc.

BASIS Chandler School has had a waiting list since opened so the school is eager to grow another location for the region to meet the needs.

The BASIS Mesa at Eastmark will open with grades 5-10, adding grade 11 by 2014 and grade 12 by 2015. BASIS Mesa may also add K through 4thgrades in ensuing years. The design and size of the new school will be similar to its Chandler campus. The campus will be located adjacent to the Eastmark Great Park situated on approximately 4.5 acres. DMB is advancing the development and construction of Eastmark Parkway to meet the timelines of the opening of the charter school.

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March 9, 2013

Metro Phoenix Housing¹ Market Snapshot
March 9, 2013
City Active Pending Sales DOM² Avg $/SF
Anthem 160 72 56 71 $109.81
Chandler 645 492 317 63 $118.66
Fountain Hills 246 50 48 90 $175.23
Gilbert 754 556 334 61 $110.38
Glendale 542 481 297 65 $90.38
Laveen 153 139 62 71 $67.76
Maricopa 568 253 150 94 $64.31
Mesa 1,172 825 509 63 $102.24
Peoria 534 407 233 58 $105.56
Phoenix 2,979 2,120 1,294 66 $109.42
Queen Creek 832 510 290 78 $78.90
Scottsdale 1,868 522 431 105 $207.07
Tempe 199 134 100 55 $116.57
Note¹ – Housing = Single Family Homes, Note² – DOM = Days On Market
Data Source: Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS)
For other cities or area, please call (480)292-8281 or email gchen@az-realty.com
 Above data was compiled by Gary Chen, Associate Broker, ABR, CIAS, CNE, SFR
Original data complied by The Cromford Report
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