Scottsdale AZ Real Estate & Lifestyle

Live Better in Scottsdale - eXp Realty

Blog

Best Holiday Flight at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport

By

I did a double take when I saw this flight posting at Gate A1 at Phoenix Sky Harbor. Then I started smiling…

 

US Airways North Pole Flight

In a time where travel has become more difficult, time-consuming, crowded and in many cases, more expensive, this magical “flight” was a perfect way to bring some joy back into the whole travel process.

I cannot tell you how many children saw it and then excitedly asked their folks if they could go on that flight and meet Santa in person. It was sweet to watch their eyes light up.

Kudos to US Airways for helping keep the holiday spirit alive and for making many travelers smile!

 

Pending US Home Sales Back to Historically Healthy Levels as of October 2012

By

– Pending US Home Sales Back to Historically Healthy Levels as of October 2012 –

I sat in on a webinar this week with Steve Harney of Keeping Current Matters as he talked about what we saw in the US real estate market in 2012 and what we can reasonably expect for 2013.

I wanted to share the slide below regarding pending home sales in the United States. It compares pending home sales in the October 2010 through October 2011 time frame with the same data in the October 2011 thorough October 2012 range.

The dotted index line of 100 indicates a “healthy” pending sales figure. As you can see, pending sales have reached the “healthy” range four times in 2012 and in October, went to the highest levels we have seen all year. This is good news for the United States real estate market, as the last several years have been quite rough in most areas.

2012 Pending Home Sales Chart from NAR

However, as the saying goes “all real estate is local,” so I wanted to look at home sales activity in Scottsdale to see if our local market saw increases in things like new sales contracts.

The interactive chart below maps new sales contracts in Scottsdale over the past five years. While you can easily see the peaks and valleys of the seasonal sales pattern, you can also see a definite strong trend line showing new contracts increasing year over year. This is good news and correlates with the national data from above.

SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA NEW SALES CONTRACTS – December 2007 through October 2012


Disclaimer: Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information for top chart from Keeping Current Matters and the National Association of Realtors. The second chart uses data from the Arizona Regional MLS and can change at any time. Information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.  This post represents the opinion of the author. No warranties express or implied.

Scottsdale AZ Luxury Home Market – November 2012

By

– Scottsdale AZ Luxury Home Market Performance Luxury homes Scottsdale Silverleafduring November 2012 –

Here are the November 2012 results for the luxury home market in Scottsdale, Arizona. This analysis looks at luxury homes with asking prices above $1 million and segments the performance into a group of price ranges.

Each price sub-segment of the luxury market contains the following information:
Active- How many homes were for sale the end of the month.
Pending – How many homes were in pending status at the end of the month.
Sold – How many homes sold during the month.

– November 2012 –
Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $1,000,000 – $1,499,999
– Active Scottsdale Homes on the Market:  Inventory increased again in November. It was up 8.5% over October. This increase has been going on since June.
– Pending Scottsdale Home Sales:Pending home sales fell of quite a bit in November. The 12 month average number of pending sales is 21. I would attribute some of the drop to seasonality, however.
– Scottsdale Homes Sold: Sales were up slightly to 18 for the month. However, it still lags behind the 12 month average of 21.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 89.5% – This is the lowest we have seen this figure since January 2012. This number typically hovers in the lower 90% range.

Scottsdale Luxury Homes for Sale between 1 and 1.5 million November 2012

 

Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $1,500,000 – $1,999,999
– Active Scottsdale Homes on the Market: The number of homes in this price segment increased again to 125. It has now surpassed the 12 month average of 123 homes.
– Pending Scottsdale Home Sales: Pending home sales were down slightly to 12 at the end of the month. This is right around where it has been for the last several months.
– Scottsdale Homes Sold: Eleven homes sold in November, making this the highest sales month of 2012.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 92.5% – Although this figure jumps around a lot for this price point, I would say this is just about what we would expect to see.

Scottsdale Luxury Home Sales between 1.5 and 2 million November 2012


Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $2,000,000 – $2,999,999
– Active Scottsdale Homes on the Market: There was a 7.9% jump in inventory between October and November. However, we are still not back to the high levels we saw in the first part of the year.
– Pending Scottsdale Home Sales: Pending sales rebounded over October and we closed the month out with 5. This is just slightly behind the 12 month average of 6.
– Scottsdale Homes Sold: Sales were very low in November. There were only two sales. However, this was to be expected due to the very low pending number we saw in October.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 91.2% – This is more or less on par with what we would expect to see.

Scottsdale Luxury Home Sales between 2 and 3 million November 2012

Scottsdale Homes Priced $3,000,000+
– Active Scottsdale Homes on the Market: The number of homes for sale over $3 million surpassed 100 by the end of the month. This is quite a bit ahead of the 12 month average of 90.
– Pending Scottsdale Home Sales: For the second month in a row, there was a single pending sale at the end of the month.
– Scottsdale Homes Sold:  For the second month in a row, there were two home sales. This is right on track with the 12 month average.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 84.5% – This is just a little bit lower than we have been seeing.

Scottsdale Luxury Home Sales over 3 million November 2012

November was an OK month for the Scottsdale luxury home market. Inventory continues to increase across the board and pending sales were lackluster in many cases. We did see some decent sales numbers in the lower price bands and the over $3 million categories though. Because of seasonality and the pending figures above, I would expect December to perform similarly.

To see more 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 deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 12/1/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family luxury resale homes 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. This blog represents the opinion of the author. No warranties implied or expressed.
Copyright © 2012 Heather Tawes Nelson

Scottsdale Charities: Operation Toy Ride – Scottsdale to Cave Creek

By

Phoeniz AZ Military Assistance Mission– Scottsdale Arizona Charities: Operation Toy Ride: A Motorcycle Ride from Scottsdale to Cave Creek –

Schumacher European Motors of Scottsdale sponsored a great heart-warming charity event in the valley last weekend. Operation Toy Ride benefits the Military Assistance Mission. The Military Assistance Mission is a non-profit that helps local needy active military families with one time payments for things like rent or a car payment or food.

Riders for Operation Toy Ride Participants brought their motorcycles and had the opportunity to take their favorite scenic route from the Schumacher dealership in North Scottsdale up to the finish point at The Hideaway Grill in Cave Creek, where food and entertainment awaited.

To help the charity, riders paid a ride fee and were asked to also bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the children of military families. As you can see, the generosity was overwhelming and there will be a lot of very happy children this Christmas morning.

Michael Schumacher was in evidence throughout the event making sure everyone was getting their coffee, donuts and having a great time. His entire family was there as well helping out whenever they could. According to Michael they had 150 biker entrants last year and this year it was over 200 rider participants.Michael Schumacher of Schumacher European Scottsdale

550 KFYI , a local radio station, was on hand to advertise the event and was one of the big sponsors. For those of you who can’t see beyond the “beard”, that was Marty Manning from KEZ 99.9 FM acting as Santa Claus. He did a great job!

For those of you who might not know, the Phoenix area is filled with recreational and serious motorcyclists who just love to ride! The riders and participants in this fund-raiser come from all different kinds of backgrounds and from all over the state. Besides their love for riding, they thoroughly enjoy participating in events like this.Marty Manning Santa Scottsdale Operation Toy Ride

As you can see from the pictures, most of the riders were retired military and happy to support Operation Toy Ride again this year. I overheard one of the riders giving directions to others to the National Cemetery. They were planning to go by and pay tribute to their honored comrades. It was a very touching and powerful scene.

I had such a good time visiting the kickoff of the ride, I’ve already got it on my calendar for next year. It is truly a worthwhile and fun event!

Phoenix and Scottsdale AZ Luxury Condo Sales – November 2012

By

Penthouse at Optima Camelview Village ScottsdaleNovember 2012’s luxury condo market in Scottsdale and Phoenix turned in some good results. Although sales were not huge, there were three new pending sales to add to the two that were already underway from previous months.

I an defining the luxury condo market in Scottsdale and Phoenix as those condos listed for $1 million or over. The chart below shows sales activity in a summary form and then for each of the cities.

Scottsdale Phoenix Luxury Condo Market 2012

 

PENDING LUXURY CONDO SALES IN SCOTTSDALE AND PHOENIX
By the end of November, five luxury condos were pending sale and all of them were located in Scottsdale. Three of these were new contracts and two were holdovers from previous months.

  • Two units were pending at Optima Camelview. The first was a holdover. It was a fifth floor condo with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and 1,906 square feet. The list price at the time of contract was $1,035,000. The second unit under contract was a penthouse with three bedrooms, two and one-half bathrooms and 3,354 square feet. The asking price was $1,399,999.
  • Another new pending sale was at the Scottsdale Waterfront Residences. This was a two bedroom, two and one-half bath unit on the 8th floor with 2,265 square feet. It had been listed for $1,295,000.
  • Safari Drive in downtown Scottsdale also had a pending sale at the end of November. With 2,610 square feet and three bedrooms and bathrooms, this unit was on the market for $1,050,000.
  • This final pending sale has been carried over for a few months at this point. It is a penthouse foreclosure the East Camelback Condominiums, adjacent to Scottsdale Fashion Square. The unit encompasses the top floor of the building and comes with 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms and 7,254 square feet.  The list price was $1,250,000 when it went pending, but the buyer will need to come up with additional funds to close.


NOVEMBER  2012 LUXURY CONDO SALES IN SCOTTSDALE AND PHOENIX
There was only a single sale of a luxury condo in November and it took place in Phoenix.

  • The sale was for a unit at the Esplanade Place community. It had 3,542 square feet and two bedrooms and bathrooms. It was a 6th floor condo and it sold in under two months. It has been listed for $1,200,000 and sold for $1,175,000 or 98% of the asking price.

 

So while sales activity was not very high in November, we saw a good number of new luxury condos go under contract. This bodes well for December sales as many of them should close by the end of the year.

Learn More About Phoenix and Scottsdale Luxury Condos
Search Phoenix and Scottsdale Luxury Condos for Sale

 

Disclaimer: Information herein deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 12/1/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at resale luxury condos in Scottsdale and Phoenix over the past 12 months. Information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.  There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes. This post represents the opinion of the author. No warranties express or implied.
Copyright © 2012  Heather Tawes Nelson

What Does UCB Mean on a Scottsdale Arizona MLS Listing?

By

A while back, I wrote a post about what “AWC” meant when you saw it on a Scottsdale MLS listing. Well, as of December 5, 2012, that status has been replaced with a new one called “UCB.”

UCB is short for “Under Contract – Backups” and means that the property in question has an accepted contract on it, but that the sellers have requested in writing that the home will continue to be marketed in hopes of getting backup offers.

Scottsdale Under Contract Backup Status

This new status will help clarify a lot of confusion regarding the former AWC (or “Active with Contingencies”) status, which became a catch-all for many situations and did not always mean that the seller was looking for backup offers.

Essentially, a large number of properties with outstanding contingencies due to various reasons were lumped under the AWC umbrella, making it very difficult to discern what the “real” status was on the property and if the seller was open to backup offers. By using UCB, agents and homebuyers will now know at a glance if backup offers are a possibility.

On the other hand, if the sellers do not request in writing that the property go into UCB status, the home will instead go into Pending status. This will occur whether there are any outstanding contingencies or not.

This is a positive step forward and should help in clearing up some of the confusion AWC was causing.

Scottsdale AZ Single-Family Homes for Sale – November 2012

By

Here are the Scottsdale Arizona home sales figures for the month of November 2012. This report looks at single-family homes only.

The home sales activity has been broken into three categories based on status and how things have been changing from month to month. It has been further broken down into the last 12 months of sales data:
– Scottsdale homes on the market at the end of November are shown in red.
– Pending homes sales at the end of November are shown in green.
– Completed Home sales for the month of November are shown in purple.

Below is a chart depicting active, pending and completed Scottsdale home sales over the past 12 months.

Home Sales in Scottsdale AZ November 2012

This first part of the chart below illustrates how levels of  inventory change month over month. As an example, the number of active homes on the market was up 5.7% over October.

The second part shows the sales price to list price ratio. This is a quick way to see what kind of discounts buyers got off of asking prices on average. For November, we came in at 4.6%.

Home Sales Activity Scottsdale AZ November 2012
November 2012 Highlights for Scottsdale AZ Homes for Sale:

  • Active Scottsdale Homes for Sale: Inventory was up again in November to 1,568 homes. This is about where we were in the Spring of 2012. I believe this increase is in response to the market picking up, inventory being down and sellers being more optimistic as we head into the high season. Price appreciation may have also allowed some sellers to gain back some equity that had been lost, making it an opportune time to list the home.
  • Pending Homes Sales in Scottsdale: Pending home sales were flat compared to October at 432.
  • Scottsdale Homes Sold: Sales of homes were off slightly (1%) to 386, which is where they were at the beginning of the year. Based on the pending number, I estimate sales will be about the same in December as well.
  • Sales Price to List Price Ratio: We have been hovering in this range for the entire year. So on average, buyers could expect to see a 4-5% discount off of the asking price of a home. However, this tends to vary by price point. Generally, on lower priced homes, you will see more competition and little to no discount, whereas you may  be able to get a larger discount on a luxury home.

In summary, November was an OK month for the Scottsdale AZ real estate market. Inventory increased which is a positive for buyers. Pending sales stayed on track and home sales were only down minimally. Based on what we would expect with seasonality, I anticipate it being somewhat quiet over the next month or two and then picking up as we move into the Spring.

Search Scottsdale AZ Homes for Sale

 

Disclaimer: Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 12/1/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes for sale and home sales in Scottsdale AZ over the last 12 months. information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes. This post represents the opinion of the author. No warranties express or implied.
Copyright © 2012 Heather Tawes Nelson

Where to Shop in Scottsdale AZ: Rustic Stuff

By

In July of last year I wrote about a fascinating home store called “Rustic Stuff”.  At that time it was located on Northsight Boulevard, just off of North Hayden Road. Paul, the owner, has been in this business for about 15 years and his store is full of unique and charming items for the home.

Recently I was driving into one of my favorite shopping areas on the Southeast corner of Frank Lloyd Wright and Scottsdale Road.  (Note: You will know you have arrived when you see the towering Frank Lloyd Wright spire on the corner.)

I was surprised to see a familiar sign “Rustic Stuff” emblazoned on the store front that was formerly a restaurant. This is great as this location is far more convenient to pop in for a hostess gift or an item to freshen up the home than the previous location.Scottsdale Winter Christmas Tree

Even more exciting was the fact that it was November – and that meant that Paul had transformed his beautiful home interior store into a Christmas tree fantasyland.  In order to create these masterpieces, he attends private buying shows and also imports a number of his items from Europe. Every year, as a kickoff to the holiday season, Rustic Stuff holds an Open House in early November and the newest versions of the trees are unveiled.

To give you a sense of what you can expect, I’ve put in some photos of the unique trees and decorations you will see when you enter through the beautiful wooden door, (which is also decked out for the holidays).

Each tree has a theme, and all carry a personalized note that says “Feel free to shop from the trees” and this is an experience that shouldn’t be missed. The trees are works of art that provide an opportunity to purchase unique pieces that will become family heirlooms.

Santa tree Scottsdale AZAfter entering  the store, you are immediately confronted with an astounding all white presentation. It is a white flocked tree with all white ornaments, surrounded by stuffed white tigers of all shapes and sizes.  It is absolutely visually stunning.

My second favorite is the tree covered with wine and cheeses — actual bottles of wine, although the cheeses are not real.  There was a Winter Garden Tree that was absolutely elegant with large glass ornaments and fruits and berries conjuring images of a wonderful Christmas garden.

Christmas Table for Kids ScottsdaleFor the kids,  I loved the table bedecked with gingerbread houses and treats for the little ones.  Another wonderful tree for children was the one I call the “Whimsy” –  topped by Santa in a very, very tall hat.

Hanging over the office counter was a beautiful iron chandelier that Paul had decorated with Santas and Elves and made it appear that everyone was having a wonderful time!

The holiday displays and trees at Rustic Stuff are not to be missed and children are very welcome.


More Information:
Rustic Stuff
16495 N Scottsdale Rd, Suite 106
Scottsdale AZ 85254
480 596 0345
https://www.rusticstuffhome.com/0

Malcare WordPress Security