COURTESY OF MICHAEL ORR/W P CAREY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
THE NEW
GOLD RUSH
cally stocked with eight or nine
months’ worth of homes.
The inventory in Phoenix has
dropped by about one-fourth
compared to this time last year, a
tightening that roughly matches
what has occurred in cities like
Denver and San Diego. In some
markets, including Sacramento
and Los Angeles, supply is down
by nearly half.
With so few homes on offer,
one sale has an amplified effect over local prices, making the
market particularly vulnerable to
skittish movements.
“Housing has become like a
thinly traded, volatile public
stock,” Humphries said. “Any
change in demand can dramatically affect the price.”
For now, demand is all going in
one direction: up.
Open houses, a traditional
method agents use to attract potential buyers — and new clients
— practically never happen in
Phoenix. There’s no need. Even
on weekends, there are just a few
dozen held in the entire metro
area, and most of these were in
outlying communities.
Shannon and Kathy Hudgins
and their two daughters recently
stopped by one such house, in a
HUFFINGTON
07.21.13
subdivision on the edge of the desert in Surprise, Ariz., nearly an
hour’s drive from downtown Phoenix. The three-bedroom home sold
for $167,000 in 2011 and is now on
the market for $199,000.
“Too expensive,” declared
Shannon Hudgins, after a 20-minute tour. “We’ve definitely seen a
price increase lately,” he added.
Realtor Dru Bloomfield of Realty One Group said she recently
Director of
Arizona State
University’s
real estate
center
Michael Orr
says, “people
are buying
homes like
stocks.”