First-timer home buyers are now the Valley's fastest growing group of home buyers. Some believe first-time buyers soon will account for half of the area's home sales.
Thanks to the federal housing plan's $8,000 incentive for first-time buyers and the state, city and county Neighborhood Stabilization program, which help people buy foreclosure homes as their primary residences, there has been a shift the market away from investors.
This is all great news for the Valley as home sales are at record levels in many Valley communities, and prices are inching up.
The Valley's median home price is at $116,500, up from a low of $115,000 at the end of April; a 1.3 percent increase. This might now seem like much but consider that a year of those monthly gains could become a 15.6 percent annual increase in home prices.
Pending sales prices are following the same upward trend.
Homes priced below $150,000 are moving off the market quickly and some are getting multiple offers."
The investors that are buying Valley homes in this market are different than the speculators from the previous years. A few years ago, most investors put very little down so it was easier for them to walk away and let homes go into foreclosure. Now most investors are paying cash. Investors who get financing are required to put down hefty down payments, which they aren't as likely to walk away from.
This housing market is a more conservative one which should help stabilized our market.
The Arizona Republic
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