Heather Tawes Nelson ABR, CLHMS - Scottsdale, AZ

Desert Mountain is a luxury golf community located in far north Scottsdale, Arizona. Located on over 8,000 acres, it features six Jack Nicklaus courses and six elegant clubhouses. It is also home to a spectacular tennis complex with standard courts as well as a clay court and grass court. Other amenities include a fitness center and spa, hiking paths, playgrounds and so much more. Many of the Desert Mountain home and lot prices include a Desert Mountain Deferred Equity Golf Membership.

Here is a look as to how the community of Desert Mountain has been performing from a home sales perspective year-to-date.

Homes start at $587,500 for a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 2,086 square foot home and go up to $9,200,000 for a 5 bedroom, 7.5 bath, 11,373 square foot estate. View Desert Mountain Homes for Sale

To see the original post or to learn more about Scottsdale AZ real estate, please visit Scottsdale Real Estate News & Lifestyle.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data from the Arizona Regional MLS as of 11/18/08 and can change at any time.
Copyright © 2008 Heather Tawes Nelson

Here are October's numbers for the luxury condo market, which is defined as condos for sale for more than $1 million. At the end of October, there were 93 luxury condos for sale throughout the valley.

There were three pending luxury condo sales and one sale in October. The unit that sold was a 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, 2,975 square foot condo with gorgeous views in the Scottsdale Waterfront community. The pending sales were in Scottsdale's Optima Camelview and Scottsdale Waterfront and Phoenix's Esplanade Place.

To see the original post or to learn more about Scottsdale real estate, please visit Scottsdale Real Estate News and Lifestyle.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) on 11/1/08 is subject to change at any time.
© 2008 Heather Tawes Nelson

October 2008 was not a very good month for the Scottsdale luxury home market, or the Scottsdale real estate market as a whole. Sales and pending home sales have been all over the place in the last few months and now we are seeing the number of homes listed for sale increase in almost all of the price ranges.

- OCTOBER 2008 -

Homes Priced Between $1,000,000 - $1,499,999
- Active Homes for Sale: The number of active homes in this price point in October dropped slightly to 543, a 0.9% decrease over September. The average number of homes on the market in this price range over the last 12 months is 642.
- Pending Sales: There was another large drop in pending sales to 15, a 37.5% decrease. This number has been in the 30-40 range for most of the last 12 months.
- Sold: There were 14 sales in October, a 22% drop from September. The average monthly sales figure for the last twelve months is 25.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 87.7%. This is the lowest this this ratio has been in the last twelve months. Usually, you would see it in the low 90%'s.

Homes Priced Between $1,500,000 - $1,999,999
- Active Homes for Sale: There were 297 homes for sale in this price point in October, a jump of 8.8% over September. The average number of homes for sale in this price range over the last 12 months is 310.
- Pending Sales: There were 6 pending sales in October, down 3 from September. This is tracking well behind the 12 month average of 11.
- Sold: Eight homes sold in October, the same number as September. The average for this price point is ten sales per month.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 89.4%. This is the first time this figure has dipped into the 80's over the last year. Typically, it is in the low 90's.

Homes Priced Between $2,000,000 - $2,999,999
- Active Homes for Sale: The number of homes for sale in this price segment in October was 348. This is up 2.1% from September's 341. The twelve month average is 365.
- Pending Sales: Pending home sales inched up to 5 in October. This figure is tracking well behind average of 10 pending homes.
- Sold: Five homes sold in this price segment in October - a large jump over September's single sale. However, this number is still trailing the average of 8 home sales.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 86.4%. This is the lowest this figure has been in the last 12 months.

Homes Priced $3,000,000+
- Active Homes for Sale: There were 286 homes were for sale in this price segment in October, a 6.7% jump over September's 268. This is the second month in a row this figure has increased after several months of declining inventory.
- Pending Sales: 8 homes were pending at the end of October. This is slightly ahead of the 12 month average of 7 pending sales.
- Sold: Only one home sold for over $3,000,000 in October, a huge drop from September's 6 sales. The average for this price point is four sales per month.
- Sales Price to Listed Price: 95.5%, this is the highest this ratio has been since around November of 2007.

As you can see, October was generally a poor month for the luxury home market in Scottsdale. Clearly, some of this can be attributed to market volatility and access to loans for larger loan amounts. Based on the events of the last month or two, it is hard to say what we can expect from the Scottsdale luxury segment. We do know the decrease in pending sales in the $1,000,000-$1,999,999 range will impact November's sales negatively. On a brighter note, the large numbers of pending sales in the $3,000,000+ range bodes well for November.

To see the original post or to learn more about the Scottsdale real estate market, please visit Scottsdale Real Estate News & Lifestyle.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This data looks at single-family, resale home information in Scottsdale only over the last 12 months for homes priced over $1,000,000. Data pulled from Arizona Regional Multiple Listing System (ARMLS) on 11/1/2008 and can change at any time. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2008 Heather Tawes Nelson

The numbers for October 2008 are in and it was another disappointment for the Scottsdale real estate market. We have been seeing home sales and pending home sales trending down for a few months and now we are seeing the number of homes for sale inch up after several months of promising declines.

October Highlights:
- The number of active homes for sale increased for the first time since March 2008 to 3969, a 3.4% increase over September. This figure is still well below the 12 month rolling average of 4,338.
- Pending homes dropped 16.8% in October to 247. The highest number of pending homes was seen in May 2008 with 364 and has been decreasing every month since then.
- There were 228 homes sales in October, a 3% decrease over September. This figure has been steadily decreasing since the high of 321 in June 2008.
- The average sales price to list price ratio for October was 92.1%, meaning that on average, homes sold for 8% less than the average asking price. This percentage has been hovering in the low 90's over the last twelve months.

The fact that the October numbers were down is not surprising since we have been experiencing significant market volatility and capital constriction. Unfortunately, based on the pending figures, it seems November sales will be down as well. Hopefully, pending sales can gain some momentum in the coming months and the inventory of homes for sale will remain at the current level or a decreased level.

To see the original post and for more information on Scottsdale AZ real estate, please visit Scottsdale Real Estate News & Lifestyle.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data pulled from Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) and can change at any time. Data covers the last twelve months of activity and only includes Scottsdale single-family resale homes. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed. Copyright © 2008 Heather Tawes Nelson

AZCentral.com updated its "Median Home Prices for Valley ZIP Codes" tool with data through September 2008. This tool is a great resource that allows you to look at performance by zip code over the last five years. It allows you to search by "new homes", "resale homes" and "all homes".

Not only will you see median home prices year-over-year, but you will also see the number of homes sold as well as a percentage change year over year.

I pulled several zip codes in areas I represent to see how they have been performing and here is what I came up with:

As you can see, the zip codes selected in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley have both benefited from the market boom a few years ago and have been impacted by today's market. However, the price declines in these zip codes have not been as severe as we have seen in other areas of the Valley.

This tool is a great resource if you would like to see where prices have been and where they seem to be going in the zip codes you are interested in.

If you would like to try the tool for yourself, please visit AZ Central's Home Values Tool.

To see the original post or to learn more about Phoenix area real estate and Scottsdale homes for sale, please visit Scottsdale Real Estate News & Lifestyle.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information are pulled from many sources and can change at any time. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2008 Heather Tawes Nelson