“AAR asked market watchers in four regions (Maricopa County, White Mountain, Tucson Metro Area, Flagstaff) around the state to review recent housing data and provide forecasts for the year to come. Each region—and each neighborhood—is moving through the cycle of lower sales prices, higher inventory and distressed property supply at its own rate. But all are feeling the effects of the recession…”

Read the full article: http://www.aaronline.com/AZR/Dec/09Market2010.aspx

“Existing-home sales rose again in November as first-time buyers rushed to close sales before the original Nov. 30 deadline for the recently extended and expanded tax credit, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million units in November from 6.09 million in October, and are 44.1 percent higher than the 4.54 million-unit pace in November 2008. Current sales remain at the highest level since February 2007 when they hit 6.55 million.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the rise was expected. ‘This clearly is a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out on the tax credit, but there are many more potential buyers who can enter the market in the months ahead,’ he said. ‘We expect a temporary sales drop while buying activity ramps up for another surge in the spring when buyers take advantage of the expanded tax credit, which hopefully will take us into a self-sustaining market in the second half of 2010. In all, 4.4 million households are expected to claim the tax credit before it expires and balance should be restored to the housing sector with inventories continuing to decline…’”

Read the full article: http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2009122201?OpenDocument

“Existing-home sales in August gave back some of their strong gain in July but remain above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – declined 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 5.10 million units in August from a pace of 5.24 million in July, but remain 3.4 percent above the 4.93 million-unit level in August 2008. In the previous four months, sales had risen a total of 15.2 percent…”

Read the article: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/09/ease_four

“Perhaps a client wants your help leasing a property while she rides out the market. Maybe you have a relationship with a builder who is sitting on unsold inventory. You might even be doing a favor for an out-of-town client by paying a bill or adding chemicals to the pool. Suddenly you’ve dipped your toe in the property management waters. Before you dive right in, there are some important factors you need to consider…”

Read the article: http://www.aaronline.com/documents/AZRPropMgmt.aspx

“Contract activity for pending home sales has risen for six straight months, a pattern not seen in the history of the index since it began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2 percent to 97.6 from a reading of 94.6 in June, and is 12.0 percent higher than July 2008 when it was 87.1. The index is at the highest level since June 2007, when it was 100.7…”

Read the article: http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2009090101?OpenDocument

“For the first time in five years, existing-home sales have increased for four months in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June, and are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008.  The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005…”

Read the article: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/08/strong_uptrend

“The first question that must be answered is why would the owner of a primary residence wish to convert their property into a rental property? The short answer is that renting the property provides huge tax benefits and allows for flexibility in managing a real estate asset, particularly in a bad market…”

Read the article: http://www.aaronline.com/documents/RentalProperty.aspx

“Existing-home sales in the second quarter showed healthy gains from the first quarter in the vast majority of states, and price declines have increased affordability in most metro areas, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors®.

Total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, rose 3.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate¹ of 4.76 million units in the second quarter from 4.58 million units in the first quarter, but remain 2.9 percent below the 4.90 million-unit pace in the second quarter of 2008.”

Read the article: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/08/2nd_Helped?LID=RONav0021

“On May 14, 2009, Judy Lowe was appointed Commissioner of the Arizona Department of Real Estate. AAR sat down with the new commissioner in late June 2009 to discuss her goals and get answers to questions submitted by AAR broker members.

RAISING PROFESSIONALISM
AAR: The most popular question that we received from the membership was how to elevate the level of professionalism in the industry. Do you have any plans to raise fees or require more hours to obtain a license, renew a license or become a broker?

Commissioner Lowe: The thing that we hear over and over and over again is: “Please, we’ve got to do something about this professionalism in the industry.” We need to increase the knowledge base of the licensee and the professionalism of the licensee. And whatever it takes to do that, we’re committed to doing that…”

Read the interview: http://www.aaronline.com/documents/JudyLoweAZR2009.aspx

by Michelle Lind, AAR General Counsel/Assistant CEO

Sen. Steve Pierce, sponsor of SB 1271, feels the bill needs to be fixed due to the unforeseen and unintended consequences of the legislation. He has asked the Legislature and the Governor’s office to repeal the bill so that legislators and industry stakeholder groups can work on a new bill to accomplish the original objective of 1271- to help small community banks in Arizona.

Pierce met with AAR and other stakeholders yesterday to discuss changes to the legislation. The consensus was that there is a more direct way to assist local Arizona banks, who were not eligible to receive any TARP funds, on the ever-growing foreclosure issue.

AAR will continue to work with the Legislature and the Governor’s office on this important homeowner issue.

We’d like to thank Sen. Pierce for all of the time and energy he has put into working on this complex issue as well as for being an open listener and participant in the discussions with all of the engaged stakeholder groups.

Please check www.rallinow.com for more information on this as it develops.