Peter Corbett
The Arizona Republic
Scottsdale Realtor Karl Stauffe describes the local real estate market as a “game of chicken going on between buyers and sellers.”
Buyers are waiting for the market to correct while some sellers hold out for the kind of prices that their neighbors got at the height of the housing frenzy last year, said Stauffer, Scottsdale Area Association of Realtors treasurer and a Diamond GMAC Real Estate branch manager.
“They are both waiting to see who blinks first,” he said in a weekly report tracking the market.
Meanwhile, the inventory of houses for sale has been level for three weeks and homes are selling.
Stauffer urges buyers to advance the market correction by making an offer on a home.
A motivated seller just might take less than the asking price.
It’s the Blue Collar Comedy Tour approach to selling houses, he jokes.
“Just git’er done!”
Buyers have options
This summer’s market is in stark contrast to a year ago.
The Northeast Valley area had 5,508 homes listed for sale as of Aug. 11, up from 2,127 a year earlier, an increase of 159 percent.
The Valley went from a seven-week inventory of homes last year to more than seven months now, Stauffer said.
But second-quarter prices have increased from a year earlier by about 10 to 25 percent in most of the Northeast Valley’s ZIP codes. And homes are selling at about 96 percent of the asking price, according to the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service.
Still, there has been a decline in prices in recent months in Scottsdale. Plus, the average time that homes were on the market in the second quarter ranged from 50 to 97 days in the area’s ZIP codes.
David MacIntyre, Arizona Best Real Estate broker with five offices and 160 agents, said there is certainly some weakness in the market, but sales and revenue are up so far this year for his company.
Realtors say they are seeing signs that the market is leveling off and sales are picking up.
The Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service is forecasting that prices and home sales will increase in the third quarter and the housing inventory and average days on the market will decline.
