Latest Phoenix Home Sales Data -- March 2010

I can't help but be a nuisance when it comes to this kind of information: http://bit.ly/cU7dcm.  But seriously, the story could have been better reported.  And just in case the paper deletes my comment, here it is:

...Rather than seeing a detailed report that breaks out different price ranges, is it safe to assume the following:

Foreclosures are continuing to occur across the board with single-family homes and multifamily. This in turn disproportionately affects multifamily units, which almost always lag single-family homes in the greater Phoenix market. Add to this the fact that excess inventories are finally coming to market in the multifamily sector and it's a double whammy for condos/townhouses.

Meanwhile, stability in the employment market is bringing buyers back to the table, while at the same time having the unintended consequence of more short sales or strategic walk-away activity. Since the fringes of town already saw prices drop so significantly last year, they are now starting to stabilize. Thus, price volatility is going down in the burbs, but still not increasing like more established neighborhoods, as people simultaneously become more selective in terms of location. Thus, we can now all breathe a sigh of relief that the housing crisis is over, totally ignoring the fact that it's an asymmetrical "recovery."

And finally, how about the biggest elephant in the room, which is the federal tax incentive set to expire in April/June, combined with the end of the Fed's mortgage purchase program. It seems that there are plenty of reasons to lock in those purchases and mortgage rates now, rather than a few months from now, which means we'll probably see the same positive numbers for a couple of months. But what do 3Q and 4Q 2010 hold in store for us? I wouldn't be willing to bet on it.

Not at all factually based, but the article left us to guess what was going on...... How did I do? And if you really appreciate my perspective, then by all means, I invite you to check out my blog -- where I somewhat casually try to cover this kind of information: http://bit.ly/9YQJoe.