Prices in the Arizona desert got hit harder than anywhere else…It depends where you look.
I found this interesting article in Fortune magazine that agrees with what I have been saying to my clients. The active adult communities have not taken as big a hit as the traditional communties and have already started to see increases. Here’s a part of the article-
According to the latest MLS data, Sun City, while definitely hurting, is a lot better off than its neighbors. The median sales price in April for a single-family dwelling in surrounding Maricopa County (Arizona’s populous region that includes Phoenix, Mesa, and Scottsdale) was $125,000, down from $230,000 a year ago. That’s 46% in 12 months. Ouch. In Sun City during the same period, home prices fell just 24%. What’s killing Maricopa County is foreclosures. Even as home sales rise, cheap, bank-owned properties are flooding the market: 1,042 in April alone, plus 8,396 new pre-foreclosures, where the borrower has stopped paying and the eviction process is underway. Foreclosures during the same month in Sun City? Six, representing an infinitesimal one-hundredth of 1% of Sun City’s single-family homes. Fewer foreclosures equals greater stability.
It’s a pattern that seems to play out nationally. While there’s been little research on how retirement markets have fared specifically, experts say that the same profile - minimal foreclosures, less severe price drops - is true of retirement communities across the country. Says Bill Ness, founder of the retirement website 55places.com: “It is a common understanding among most agents that real estate values have held up better in active adult communities than in other non-age-restricted communities.”
There could be a simple explanation for this: Old people aren’t as stupid and greedy as young people are. Or maybe they’re just not as stupid and greedy as they were when they themselves were younger. “By the time you’re retired,” says Phil Andrews, 85, a Vietnam vet and 10-year resident of Sun City West, “you’ve got a little bit of sense about buying a house. You’re not going to buy one you can’t pay for.”
If you would like to read the rest of the article you can click this link and it will take you to the Fortuen website.
Of course for more information about real estate in Arizona you can contact me direct at 623.271.4234 or visit www.Retiring2Az.com for all you active adult questions.
Jay Otlewski
RE/MAX Integrity
