Scottsdale AZ Real Estate & Lifestyle

Live Better in Scottsdale - eXp Realty

Heather Tawes Nelson

Where to Eat in Scottsdale AZ- Thai Pan

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Thai Pan Scottsdale RestaurantUpdate: Thai Pan has closed. It has been replaced with Thai Basil restaurant.

 

 

If you are in the mood for a quick, casual and delicious Asian meal with friendly service, you should try Thai Pan. Located on the corner of Pinnacle Peak Road and Miller Road in North Scottsdale, Thai Pan serves up some of the freshest Thai food around. They are open for lunch and dinner services and you can dine-in or take your food to go.

Created by a husband and wife team who have spent significant time in Thailand, the menu is very diverse and you can customize each dish with vegetarian, seafood or meat options. Also, for many dishes you can select the level of spiciness that you would like.

There are several appetizers to choose from including spring rolls, summer rolls and lettuce wraps. The Thai Toast is another interesting appetizer and is composed of chicken, garlic, cilantro on toast points. The soups and salads are good and our favorites include the Tom Kha Coconut Soup and the ThaiYaki chicken salad.

For entrees, you can choose from Thai-inspired noodles, fried rice, curries, stir-fry and crispy chicken and fish. Some of the ones we have tried and really enjoyed are the Basil Noodles (rice noodles with vegetable, garlic and basil with Thai sauce) and Street Curry Noodles (rice noodles, vegetables, garlic and yellow curry.) From the stir-fry menu, we have enjoyed the Spicy Hoisin Stir Fry (snap peas, carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms and peanut) and the Peanut Satay Stir-Fry (Chinese long beans with a mild peanut sauce.) Thai Pan recently launched a few Asian Pho Noodle dishes and we are looking forward to trying them as well.

Another recent addition to the menu is a series of desserts including Banana Caramel Spring Rolls, the ThaiPan Banana Split and two types of ice cream.

If you are in the area and want a tasty Thai meal cooked to order in a casual setting, definitely give Thai Pan a try!

More Information:
Thai Pan
7605 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Suite 2
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
(480) 513-7471
https://www.thaipan.com/
Open Monday -Saturday for Lunch and Dinner

 

Things to Do in Scottsdale AZ: Attend the Arizona Fine Art Expo

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Looking for a way to enjoy the Scottsdale sunshine? Then take the time and visit the Arizona Fine Art Expo going on now at Mac Donald’s Ranch in North Scottsdale, AZ. Running until March 28th, the Expo is an open air exhibition set up in large white tents at the corner of Scottsdale and Jomax Roads.

Taking place annually, the Art Expo is put on by the Thunderbird Artists. Over 100 artists participate and rather than just displaying their wares, you actually get to see the artists at work as they create. Whether it be painting, sketching with a variety of mediums, jewelry making, mosaics being created or clay and stone taking shape, you will be able to see it in action. If a particular artist’s work catches your eye, commissions are welcome.

In addition to the artists, there are workshops, book signings and lots of live musical performances taking place. Simply check the calendar to see what is coming up. There is also a sculpture garden to stroll through as well as a cafe on site if you would like to grab a bite or drink.

The Arizona Fine Art Expo is a great way to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather while getting to see Arizona’s top artists at work on their craft.

More Information:
Arizona Fine Art Expo
26540 N. Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
– On the corner of Scottsdale and Jomax – at Mac Donald’s Ranch
– Through March 28, 2010

Open Daily 10am – 6pm
– Season Pass $8 / Seniors and Military $7
– Children under 12 are free
https://arizonafineartexpo.com

 

 

Phoenix and Scottsdale AZ Luxury Condo Market Sales- January 2010

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Here are the condo sales figures for the luxury condo market in Scottsdale, Phoenix and Tempe for January 2010. I am defining the luxury condo market as condos with asking prices in excess of $1 million.

January was a solid month for luxury condo market activity. At the end of the month, there were 74 luxury condos for sale. Scottsdale had 57% of the inventory, Phoenix had 38% of the inventory and the remaining 5% was located in Tempe.

Scottsdale Phoenix Luxury Condo Sales January 2010

There was a single sale in January and it was for a three bedroom, two and one-half bathroom, 2,593 square foot unit at the Optima Camelview in Scottsdale. The unit was new construction and sold for $1,250,000.

There were three pending sales as well. The first was at the Scottsdale Waterfront Residences and it was a two bedroom, two and one-half bathroom, 2,469 square foot unit listed for $1,450,000. The other pending sales were in Phoenix at Esplanade Place and Two Biltmore Estates. The Esplanade Place luxury condo was a two bedroom, three bathroom, 3,000 square foot residence listed for $1,695,000 and the Two Biltmore Estates condo was a three bedroom, three and one-half bathroom, 3,890 square foot unit listed for $2,198,000.

 

Overall, the luxury condo market in Scottsdale, Phoenix and Tempe is off to a decent start for 2010. Hopefully, this market segment will continue to improve after experiencing difficult 2009.

 

Disclaimer: Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 2/1/2010 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale condos in Scottsdale, Tempe and Phoenix over the last 12 months. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes.
Copyright © 2010 Heather Tawes Nelson

Scottsdale AZ Luxury Home Market – January 2010

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Below is a look at January 2010’s home sales activity for the Scottsdale AZ luxury home market. This report covers sales activity for single-family resale homes in Scottsdale priced at $1,000,000 and above over the last 12 months.

– January 2010 –
 
Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $1,000,000 – $1,499,999
– Actives: There were 366 active homes on the market in this price range. This was up slightly over November’s 358 and December’s 341, but is still below the 12 month average of 418.
– Pendings: At the end of the month, there were twenty pending home sales. This was an improvement over December’s 17, but is still tracking behind the 12 month average of 28.
– Sold: Only 17 homes sold in January in this price range. This is the lowest this figure has been since March of 2009. The 12 month average is 20 sales per month.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 89.8% – This is pretty typical for this price point.

 

 

Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $1,500,000 – $1,999,999
– Actives: There were 239 homes for sale in this segment. Again, it was slightly up over December’s 230, but still well below the 12 month average of 256.
– Pendings: Nineteen homes were pending sale at the end of January. This is a very strong number and is ahead of the average of 15 pending sales per month.
– Sold: Home sales in January were strong again, coming off of a strong December. There were 12 home sales in this price range. The 12 month average is 9.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 82.4% – This is the lowest this ratio has been since I started tracking the figures in September of 2007. Typically, this number hovers in the high 80%’s and low 90%’s.

 

 

Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $2,000,000 – $2,999,999
– Actives: 227 homes were for sale in this price point. This figure has been dropping since November 2009 and the 12 month average is 271.
– Pendings: We saw a huge jump (45.5% ) in pending home sales in January with a total of 16. We have not seen a number like this since May of 2008. The 12 month average for pending sales is 8.
– Sold: Nine homes sold in January, which was another great performance. The last time we saw 9 home sales in a month was July of 2009. The 12 month average is 6.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 86.2% – This is a little low as this ratio is typically in the high 80%’s and low 90%’s.

 

 

Scottsdale Homes Priced $3,000,000+
– Actives: There were 146 active homes on the market with asking prices in excess of $3 million. This number was up slightly (2%) over December, but is still well below the 12 month average of 183.
– Pendings: Four homes were pending sale at the end of the month. This is right on par with the 12 month average of 4.
– Sold: Sales saw a nice jump in January, up to 4 over December’s single sale. This is also ahead of the 12 month average of 3.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 79.0% – This ratio changes dramatically from month to month. Usually, it is somewhere in the 80%’s, so this was a little low.
Overall, January was a pretty strong month for the Scottsdale luxury home market. With the exception of the $1 million to $1.5 million price range, we saw nice jumps in home sales and pending home sales in the other Scottsdale luxury home price segments.  For the most part, inventory was up, but the increases were not too dramatic. Based on the pending home sales data, February should be another decent month.

To see the detailed data behind this report, please visit my Scottsdale luxury real estate market reports page and click on the “Scottsdale Market Trends” report.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 1/1/2010 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes in Scottsdale over the last 12 months. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2010 Heather Tawes Nelson

Scottsdale AZ Single-Family Homes For Sale – January 2010

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The new year started off a little slow for Scottsdale AZ homes for sale. Although the slowdown is to be expected due to many people trying to close on homes before the end of the year, the dip in this case was a bit more than I would have anticipated. The good news is that pending sales rebounded a bit after dropping off in December. Scottsdale resale home inventory was back up as well.

 

Scottsdale Home Sales January 2010

 

January 2010 Findings
Active Homes for Sale: At the end of January, there were 2,927 homes for sale in Scottsdale. This was a jump up from December when a lot of home listings expired. However, we are still below the 12 month average of 3,134 active homes on the market.
Pending Home Sales: Pending sales enjoyed a nice little rebound in January. They were up 7.5% over December to come in at 471. This is slightly behind the 12 month average of 479.
Homes Sold: There were only 267 home sales in January and this is the first time this number has dropped into the 200’s since March of 2009. This figure has been firmly in the 300’s since April of 2009. Clearly, December’s drop in pending sales had an impact on January’s figures. The 12 month average for monthly Scottsdale home sales is 327.
Sales Price to List Price: 90.4% – This is the lowest this figure has been since July of 2004. Typically, it tracks in the low 90%’s.

While the sales figures were a big disappointment, the uptick in pending sales was an encouraging sign. We are also hearing that more and more Scottsdale short sales are now closing, so ideally, that will help down the road. Inventory was back up, which was to be expected for the beginning of the year, but the good news is that it is still at more or less the same level as October’s and November’s levels.

 

Disclaimer: Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 2/1/2010 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes for sale and sales in Scottsdale AZ over the last 12 months. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes.
Copyright © 2010 Heather Tawes Nelson

2009 Scottsdale AZ Real Estate Market Sales Activity – Includes Short Sales and Foreclosures

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At the end of the year, I compiled all of the sales data for Scottsdale AZ single-family homes and wanted to see how Scottsdale foreclosures and short sales impacted the market for 2009. I looked at the information on a quarterly as well as on an annual basis. Earlier this year, I did the same Scottsdale Foreclosure and Short Sale analysis for the first three quarters of 2009 and wanted to see how the end of the year and annual results turned out. I also looked at two specific North Scottsdale zip codes, 85255 and 85262, to see how the numbers compared. The specific charts of 2009 sales by zip code will be further down in this post.

For the purposes of this analysis, I pulled Scottsdale single-family home resale activity and then broke the information into three classifications:
– Non-Distressed Sales – These are your traditional, “regular” home sales.
– Short Sales – These are where the homeowners are trying to sell the home for less than is owed with their lender’s approval.
– Foreclosures – These are homes the lender has foreclosed upon and now owns. You will see them referenced as “Lender-Owned”.

Overall Findings for 2009 – Scottsdale Single-Family Home Market

  • Active Homes For Sale: Non-distressed sales comprise the bulk of the active homes on the market. Between Q1 2009 and Q4 2009, the percentage of non-distressed homes on the market in Scottsdale ranged from 77% to 81%. Over the course of the year, this percentage shrunk as short sales increased from 13% in Q1 to 15% by Q4. Foreclosures ranged between 6%-8%.
  • Pending Homes for Sale: 81% of the pending sales at the end of the year were non-distressed and short sales. The rest were foreclosures.
    2009 Scottsdale Home Sales: At the end of the year, 83% of closed sales were divided between non-distressed sales (52%) and foreclosures (31%.) Short sales only comprised 17% of the closed sales. So, even though inventory for foreclosures was low, demand was very high.
  • Home Prices: Non-distressed sales went for the highest average price ($643,439), short sales and foreclosure average sales prices came in quite a bit lower at $470,082 and $409,499 respectively. Average price per square foot also followed the same pattern.
  • Days on Market: Short sales have the longest days on market figure. This makes sense as short sales take a longer time to negotiate and close. Foreclosures have the lowest days on market since they often go under contract quickly and often close relatively quickly once the lender has agreed to the terms.
  • Discounts Off of List Price: The largest discount off of list price in 2009 was seen with non-distressed Scottsdale homes at 91% of asking price, or 9% off. Conversely, the discount on short sales was 7% and foreclosures was 5%. So, while asking prices for short sales and foreclosures were more aggressive, they ultimately sold for pretty close to asking price.

Scottsdale 2009 Home Sales Short Sale Foreclosure

In this next section, I looked at 2009 home sales data for North Scottsdale zip codes 85255 and 85262. It is interesting to see how the numbers vary from Scottsdale as a whole.

  • 2009 home sales in 85255 had a higher proportion of non-distressed sales at 59% versus all of Scottsdale’s 52%. However, in 85262, only 39% of the sales were non-distressed.
  • Short sales in 85255 were pretty similar to Scottsdale as a whole with 16% and 17% respectively. However, short sales in 85262 were much higher in 2009 with 22% of all sales.
  • Foreclosures in 85255 made up only 25% of all sales versus Scottsdale’s 31%. But in 85262, foreclosures accounted for almost half (40% )of all 2009 home sales.
  • Discount off of List Price: Again, we saw the biggest discounts off of asking price for non-distressed sales in both zip codes (9% in 85255 and 14% in 85262) and smaller discounts off of list price for short sales and foreclosures.

85255

85255 Home Sales 2009 Short Sale Foreclosure

85262

85262 Homes Sales 2009 Short Sale Foreclosure

Disclaimer: Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes for sale and sales in Scottsdale AZ over the last 12 months. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Mirabel Scottsdale AZ – 2009 Sales Performance

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The luxury golf community of Mirabel is located in far North Scottsdale, Arizona. Its northern location allows the community some of the most spectacular valley and city lights views around. Developed by the Discovery Land Company, Mirabel is spread over 713 acres and has 315 custom homesites as well as a small enclave of 35 production homes located close to the clubhouse. Since it is located at approximately 3,000 feet, temperatures at Mirabel tend to be slightly cooler than other parts of the valley at lower elevations.

Although you do not have to be a member of the Mirabel Golf Club to own property in Mirabel, the main center of activity is the Desert Lodge Clubhouse and the 18-hole Tom Fazio golf course. The Clubhouse design is striking, warm and has all of the amenities you would want including a fitness center, tennis courts, fine and casual dining, pool area with cabanas, pro shop, an activities and lifestyle concierge and so much more.

Below is an overview of Mirabel homes for sale and Mirabel sales activity for 2009 as well as a comparison with 2008’s sales performance. As you can see, home sales were up in 2009 over 2008 by 60%. However, the actual sales volume was below that of 2008 by over $300,000. The average sales price dropped by over $1 million, days on market were up and the average price per square foot was down significantly.

Mirabel Home Sales 2009

Even though sales were up in 2009, Mirabel saw lower sales prices and larger discounts off of asking prices. This is not uncommon as we saw similar patterns in all of the luxury communities in Scottsdale. As capital markets dried up and buyer activity slowed, sellers were forced to lower their prices and negotiate. The presence of short sales and foreclosures also had an impact on sales volume.

Even though 2009 was a difficult year for Mirabel sellers, there were and continue to be some great values for buyers.

 

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 1/1/2010 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at home sale activity in the golf community of Mirabel in Scottsdale, Arizona. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2010 Heather Tawes Nelson

Where to Eat in Scottsdale AZ – Nick’s Italian Restaurants

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Pasta Image CC Blue WaikikiIn the mood for Italian food? If so, Nick’s Italian Restaurants are a great place to take your cravings. With three locations in Scottsdale and one in Phoenix, Nick’s is a local treat that has been enjoyed by many residents and visitors alike over the past ten years.

Nick’s serves its pizza, seafood and homemade pasta for both lunch and dinner at all locations. The atmosphere is casual although I have seen people dress up a little more for dinner service. A highlight of dining at Nick’s is the bread they serve. Upon being seated, a basket of delicious, homemade focaccia bread to dip into herbed oil and vinegar is delivered to your table.

The lunch menu is extensive with everything from soups and salads, to sandwiches, pasta, pizzas and entrees. While the majority of the items are Italian, you can also find some more mainstream dishes like turkey sandwiches and BLT’s. Some suggestions include the Stracciatella soup, which is a chicken broth with spinach and egg, the Greek Salad, which is out of this world, and the Chicken Pesto sub.

Dinner has many of the same options from lunch, but has expanded entree and pasta offerings. Some of our favorites from the dinner menu are the garlic bread, (also available at lunch,) Penne Alla Campagna, Chicken and Spinach Tortellini in pink sauce, Linguini and Clams, Veal Piccata and Chicken Parmesan. And these are just a few of the large number of items Nick’s serves.

If you would prefer dining at home, Nick’s has take-out service as well as delivery via Delicious Deliveries.

>More Information:
Nick’s Italian Restaurants
Three Scottsdale Locations
– Pinnacle Peak – 23417 N. Pima Road, 480.515.0096
– Grayhawk – 20831 N. Scottsdale Road, 480.473.1972
– Frank Lloyd Wright – 13910 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., 480.314.9445
Phoenix/PV Location
– Tatum/Shea – 10810 N. Tatum Blvd., 602.953.1110
Website and Menu Information: https://www.nicks-italian.com/

Flikr photo courtesy of www.BlueWaikiki.com.

Disclaimer:
Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2010 Heather Tawes Nelson

 

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