Tucson Real Estate Blog

August Stats and more…

Average sales price and median sales price both dropped from July to August.  It looks like we are seeing the softening finally showing up in the market.  Active listings went up by almost 450 listings.  And was I right about days on market?!?  That jumped to 53 days for August.  I expect 56-58 days for September.

August volume of total sales was up to $370,671,466 from July.  This was brought on by over 150 more sales than in July.

As I have said before, price your Tucson home properly and expect it to sell sooner than 50 days.  Price it too high and plan to live in it longer or not sell at today’s price but something much lower as you drop your price down trying to catch the market.

Interest rates are around 6.25% for a new 30 year conventional loan.  The news I have seen indicated the Federal Reserve may have made one too many increases as the economy weakens.  We might see 6% again.  BUT… I still think we will see higher rates in about six months and it will take around 60 days on average to sell a home.

If you are a buyer, rates are very good and if you really look at the sold’s in the past few months you can purchase a nice home without paying a premium for the home.  I just showed a home over the weekend that was my buyers 2nd choice.  Today I was informed by the listing agent that the sellers were dropping the price by $20,000.  Now that’s a motivated seller!!!  The property the buyers bought resulted in a $14,000 reduction in asking price.  We could not find comparables to support the asking price.  And if I can’t find it, how is an appraiser going to find it?  Take your time and review all the information that is available through your agent and come up with an intelligent offer.

If I can help you with buying or selling please contact me at 296-7143 or email me.

Would you be ready for an emergency?

This past summer with the storms that passed through Tucson and caused flooding and power outages, gave me some thoughts and concerns for my family.  Am I prepared for any type of disaster or stoppage of services?  What if a windshear took out my electricity for two days or more, am I prepared?  Are you prepared?  Here is a link to the Department of Homeland Security for a list of suggest items you should have for any emergency.  I have one item that I plan to add to this list which is a generator and enough gas for 3 or more days.  You can keep your refrigerator and freezer going for 5 or more days with proper use of the generator.  How about a big box fan if it is summer?  At least you will have moving air.  We don’t need to have a national emergency to need this “kit”.  Get yours started soon!

Good News!!!

The Overnight Federal Funds rate will remain the same for the next month.  Still some inflation concerns by the Federal Reserve.  This should help mortgage rates to hover around 6.5% for the next month.  Also noted was housing starts nationally have dropped 6% in August for a more than three year low.