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Things to Do in Scottsdale AZ: May 2012

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Downtown Scottsdale AZ GalleriesWith the Scottsdale, Arizona season officially winding down for 2012 and temperatures starting to rise, don’t despair there are still plenty of things to do in and around Scottsdale.

Here is a sampling of some upcoming events in Scottsdale and the surrounding areas that might be of interest.

Scottsdale AZ – Upcoming Events for May 2012

  • May 4-5 –  If you’re looking for a little comedy, the famous performer Dana Carvey will be in town in early May at StandUpLive in Phoenix.
  • May 4-25 on Friday evenings – From a musical perspective, the Desert Botanical Garden’s “Music in the Garden” weekly concerts are going on during the month of May. They take place from 7-9PM and are for adults, 21 and over.
  • May 4-13  on select dates – Another musical offering involves the Musical Instrument Museum in North Phoenix. They have a series of concerts going on as well as many other excellent events throughout the month.
  • May 5 & 6- Looking for a way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo? If you’re feeling a little adventurous on May 5th, head up to Sedona for the Sedona Chili Cookoff.  It will be taking place at the Tlacquepaque shopping complex. On May 6th, go ahead and head on up to the El Pedregal Shopping Center at The Boulders in North Scottsdale. They are having a “Cinco de Salsa“ competition that includes live music all day.
  • May 11 – The Gainey Ranch Golf Club is hosting a benefit for Horses Help. This tournament supports Horses Help, a program that uses equine therapy to assist people with special needs. In addition to the golf tournament, there will be games and a raffle.
  • May 12 & 13 and 19 & -20 – Another fun event is to head down south to Queen Creek and go to the Schnepf Farms Peach Festival happening over the weekends of May 12th and May 19th.  It’s a great way to go pick some peaches, enjoy some peach dishes and have some fun. It is a very family-friendly event so bring your kids or grandkids and admission is free.
  • Looking a little further in the future starting in June, Cirque du Soleil is bringing a new production to town called Kooza. It runs from June 8 to July 1 over at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. It should be a very entertaining performance as Cirque rarely disappoints.

This list is certainly not exhaustive as Scottsdale and the surrounding areas always have lots of things going on, but I thought it was a good cross-section of events. If you have any events you would like to add to the list, please feel free to do so in the comment section.

Scottsdale AZ Q1 2012 Home Sales By Type – Includes Foreclosures & Short Sales

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Q1 2012 – Scottsdale Home Sales

Here is a look at first quarter 2012 performance for the  Scottsdale Arizona single-family home market. I have broken this information into three categories based on sales type so that you can see how each of the segments is performing.
Scottsdale Luxury Homes for Sale
Below are the three categories of home sales and their definitions:

– Non-Distressed Sales – I often refer to these as “regular” sales. These are what we think of when we think of a “traditional” home sale. In this case, the buyer and seller come to terms and the home is sold without any third party approvals necessary.
– Short Sales – Short sales are now quite common as a home sale type. In this scenario, the owner of the home needs to sell the home for less than what is owed on it. Therefore, the lender or lenders need to approve the terms of the home sale before it can be completed. This can be considered a “distressed” category.
– Foreclosures – These are homes where the lender has foreclosed and the home ownership has now reverted back to the lender. You will also hear these called “Lender-Owned” homes, “REO”  homes and/or “Bank-Owned” homes. This also can be considered a “distressed” category.

Overall Findings for the Q1 2012 Scottsdale Single-Family Home Market – Data As of  March 31, 2012

  • Scottsdale Homes for Sale: If you look at the allocation of homes on the market, the vast majority of them (91%) were regular home sales. Only about 10% of the market was distressed inventory.
  • Scottsdale Pending Home Sales: As we look at pending home sales, distressed inventory took over a larger percentage with short sales at 22% of pending sales and foreclosures at 12% of pending sales.
  • Q1 2012 Scottsdale Home Sales: The distribution of home sales was almost identical to the pending sales. Regular sales made up about 2/3 of the homes sold .
  • Home Prices: As to be expected, regular home sales’ average sold price as well as average price per square foot sold were quite a bit higher than the distressed average sales prices, even though the sizes of the homes sold were comparable.
  • Days on Market: Lender owned homes had the shortest average days on market at 101. This is not surprising as there is high demand for foreclosures. Regular sales came in next with 114 average days on market and short sales trailed with 171.
  • Discounts Off of List Price: As we have been seeing over the last several quarters, discounts are getting smaller or holding the same pace.  Buyers of regular priced homes saw an average of 6% off of the asking price. This had been closer to 10%. And distressed homes were only being sold at an average of 2-3% off of asking. This had been closer to 5%.

Scottsdale AZ First Quarter 2012 Home Sales by Type includes short sales foreclosures

Scottsdale AZ Home Sales 2011
For comparison, here is a snapshot of 2011 home sales by type for Scottsdale.
Quarterly Home Sales Scottsdale AZ 2011 Short Sales Foreclosures

 

If you are interested, you can browse through the previous reports for Scottsdale home sales:
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for Q4 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for Q3 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for Q2 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for Q1 2011
View Scottsdale Home Sales by Type for 2010

 

Disclaimer: Due to rounding issues, not all columns will add up to a perfect 100%.  Data and information were pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 3/31/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes for sale and sales in Scottsdale AZ on a quarterly basis. 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.
Copyright © 2012 Heather Tawes Nelson

Desert Mountain Scottsdale AZ – First Quarter 2012 Home Sales and Real Estate Update

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Desert Mountain Golf Homes Scottsdale AZDesert Mountain is a golf lover’s dream community. It features six Jack Nicklaus golf courses and six clubhouses. Even if you are not a golfer, there is plenty going to to keep you active such as the miles of trails, a fitness center and spa, a tennis  and pool complex, a packed social event calendar and more. Desert Mountain is the farthest north golf community in Scottsdale and lies adjacent to the Town of Carefree and National Forest Land.

Below is a chart showing first quarter 2012 home sales in Desert Mountain as well as homes currently for sale and pending home sales.

Desert Mountain Scottsdale AZ Q1 2012 Homes for Sale

Sales are off to a decent start for 2012. The lowest priced sale at $427,500 was a cash sale and it was for a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 2,088 square foot Sonoran Cottage. It has been priced at $475,000. The Sonoran Cottages are are smaller, located steps away from the Sonoran Clubhouse and Fitness Center and are perfect for people looking for the “lock and leave” lifestyle.

The highest priced sale for Q1 2012 was a Bing Hu designed home with amazing views of the Geronimo Golf Course. It had 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and had 5,544 square feet. The asking price was $2,675,000 and it sold for $2,375,000.

What is interesting to note is the large number of pending home sales in the pipeline. If a large number of these were to close in April, it would be a great sales month for Desert Mountain.

If you would like a little historical sales information, here is a Desert Mountain Home Sales update from November 2011.

About Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona:
Desert Mountain is one of Scottsdale’s top golf communities. Take advantage of the 8,000 acres Desert Mountain encompasses as well as Scottsdale’s wonderful weather and experience the miles of trails that wind throughout the community. As mentioned previously, there are six golf courses that offer a variety of challenges for golfers as well as a tennis complex with multiple court surfaces, a pool complex including lap and play pools and a state-of-the-art fitness center. The six clubhouses have offerings that range from the more formal to the more casual and service is exceptional.

Search Desert Mountain Homes For Sale
Search Desert Mountain Homes Under $1 Million
Search Desert Mountain Homes Between $1 and $2 Million
Search Desert Mountain Homes Over $2 Million
Search Desert Mountain Short Sales
Search Desert Mountain Foreclosures

 

Disclaimer: Data and information was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) as of 4/20/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at single-family resale homes for sale and home sales in Desert Mountain Scottsdale AZ.
Copyright © 2012 Heather Tawes Nelson

City Center Phoenix Market Festival – Bread, Cupcakes and Kettle Corn, Oh My!

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Here is a Guest Post from Wendy Kendall, from Farmers’ Insurance and Phoenix resident.
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City North Phoenix Events 2012On Sunday, my family and I went to City Center of City North’s final Market Festival of the season. The weather was just perfect so it was a great day to enjoy the sunshine and be outdoors at the Market Festival.  They have great vendors with very healthy vegetables, salsas, Honey Bear’s BBQ you name it—but what does my family buy?  Of course, bread, cupcakes and Kettle Corn.

It starts off with the location.  The first booth we hit was Arizona Bread Company where we sampled the Cranberry Orange Bread—I have to say it was quite good and even my 5 year old liked it.  We decided to get a loaf to bring home.  In the booth next door, we met Nicki from Cupcake Café. My husband was determined to buy some of their cupcakes, so we ended up with mini cupcakes for $10. The flavors included wedding cake, which was white with almond frosting, chocolate with chocolate frosting and red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  There were 4 mini cupcakes of each- or should I just say bites because that is what they were! Needless to say, my husband was happy with his purchase.

We passed all sorts of cute things as we browsed through the stalls- tutus and accessories for girls, fun train rides for the kids, jewelry, cookies, vegetable booths, and more. It was all good stuff and it is so important to support your local businesses!

The last stop was my favorite as I’m a sucker for kettle corn and it was being served just the way I like it – hot right out of the kettle.  I’ll take one of those please!!  As I knew it would be, it was delicious. After a fruitful stroll, all were happy at the Market Festival.

Sadly, this was the final one of the season. But, the good news is starting in May on Saturday nights, City North will have free concerts mostly in front of Kona Grill.  These concerts are a lot of fun- dancing and fun time.  Even the kids have fun—so we will look forward to that.

The first City North concert for 2012 is May 12th at 7PM. The group playing that night is called Vinyl Station.  They play indie folk  ranging from Ryan Adams and Coldplay to Mumford and Sons!  Sounds like a fun time to me and the best thing is the event is FREE!

 

P.S. The cupcakes, bread and kettle corn were gone by Sunday night!!

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Guest Blog Post Courtesy of Wendy Kendall – Farmers Insurance

Where to Shop in Scottsdale AZ: The Potato Barn – Unique Home Furnishings

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Potato Barn Scottsdale AZ Furnishings
The Original Potato Barn Location in Gilbert, AZ

UPDATE: The Scottsdale store has relocated a little further north. The new location is 7000 E. Mayo Boulevard in Scottsdale at the 101 and Scottsdale Road.

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For those of you who drive the 101 on the east side in Scottsdale , I’m sure you’ve all seen the new store at Indian Bend with “Potato Barn” painted building that used to house a large electronics store.  I was taken aback when I first saw “Potato Barn” painted in huge letters on the side the building facing the freeway and wondered, what in the world is the Potato Barn??

Last week I had a few extra minutes before an appointment and stopped in to see what was going on. This was on a Tuesday, a day they are typically closed. However, Lindsey was there to catch up oPotato Barn Home Furnishings Scottsdale AZn paperwork and left the front doors open for those of us who couldn’t resist checking out the store.

I must admit it was rather daunting to enter a huge open warehouse with furniture of all shapes and sizes, accent pieces, oversized mirrors …. all totally unique.  But, once I got over the initial size of the place, I had a great time walking around.  As you can see by the attached photos the items are diverse in style and many are one-of-a-kind.

IPotato Barn Living Room Furniture asked Lindsey to give me a little history of the store, and specifically the unusual name.  She said the Potato Barn is family owned and operated and they have brought over 30 years experience in the furniture business to this endeavor.  They opened their first store in Gilbert on Power Road in 2002 in an old farm’s potato barn – thus the unique and unusual name.  Them about four months ago they opened their second store here on Indian Bend in Scottsdale.

The family imports items from all over the world and specialize in a wide array of styles – from “olde world” and rustic to shabby chic and industrial.  I saw some pieces that I’ve heard described as “French warehouse” style.  My favorite pieces were the industrial styling, and especially a bench with a “tin roof” for the back and distressed wood for the seating.

Potato Barn Dining Table Scottsdale AZPotato Barn offers a large variety of items for the the home – sofas, sideboards, dining tables, beds, tables, unique benches and a huge assortment of pillows, art and accessories.  Their inventory is eclectic with touches of heavily distressed finishes and reclaimed wood.

Since their items are one of a kind, they have everything displayed in the huge warehouse setting.  If you like it – buy it and take home. Or, you can have it delivered.

 

 

More Information:
Potato Barn – 2 Locations
– 9190 E Indian Bend Road, Scottsdale, AZ  (480) 745-3240 – LOCATION CLOSED –
– New Location: 7000 E. Mayo Boulevard, Scottsdale AZ (480) 745-3240
– 4900 S Power Road, Gilbert, AZ  (480) 279-5500
https://www.potato-barn.com/

Hours:
They are open Wednesday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

Where to Eat in Scottsdale AZ: Sol Cocina

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Sol Cocina Mexican Scottsdale AZA couple of weeks ago, my friends and I made plans to try Sol Cocina, the new restaurant at Scottsdale Quarter in the Kierland area. Sol Cocina was inspired by the tastes and flavors of Baja California and does not disappoint in terms of the menu items being offered.

Even on an early in the week night, Sol Cocina was full. The folks at the reception desk were genuinely friendly and enthusiastic as they greeted us.  Luckily, we had a reservation and were seated promptly.

I had eaten a few times in the restaurant that had been there previously and was looking forward to seeing the design changes Sol Cocina had made. The general layout of the space is still similar, but the feel and design is quite different. They did some creative and visually appealing things with wood beams throughout.

We all decided to start with a cocktail. On our server’s recommendation, two of us tried the Cucumber Jalapeno Margarita. It was a nice blend of sweet with a bit of “burn.” Our other companion tried the Watermelon Margarita and really liked it. In addition to the more playful takes on margaritas and cocktails, there are a few versions of traditional margaritas. And, if you have ever had a Paloma or Michelada in Mexico, these two drinks also made the menu.

For dinner, we decided to try and share a variety of the smaller plates versus ordering entrees. We had the “Naked “Guacamole which was excellent and fresh. Rather than the tortilla chips you usually see, Sol Cocina serves tostadas for salsa and guacamole dipping.  There are a few other twists on guacamole that are offered. The next time, we decided we will try the Guacamole Sol, which comes with the addition of mango, goat cheese and pepitas.

Another item we ordered was the Grilled Sweet Corn. It was another hit at the table. There was a generous portion of the corn, which was covered in a tasty sauce that included butter, lime, chile and more.

I really wanted to try one of the many Ceviches offered, but there were no other takers, so we opted to try some of the tacos. We each had a Garlic Mescal Chicken Street Taco and liked them a lot. On our server’s recommendation, we also tried the Sweet Potato Black Bean Taco which was excellent.

The final thing we ordered were the Chicken Enmoladas, which were served enchilada-style with a mole sauce. Larger plates come with a choice of two sides. Options include black beans, rice, quinoa salad and spicy slaw.

Overall, we had a great meal at Sol Cocina and look forward to returning. Our service was nice and attentive and the food was tasty. Plus, its location in Scottsdale Quarter means you can make a day or night out of it.

More Information:
Sol Cocina at Scottsdale Quarter
15323 North Scottsdale Road, Ste 195
Scottsdale Arizona 85254
(480) 245-6708
https://www.solcocina.com/scottsdale

 

 

Scottsdale AZ Luxury Home Market – March 2012

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Scottsdale AZ Luxury Home Whisper Rock Golf ClubBelow are the March 2012 statistics for the Scottsdale luxury home market. This report looks at homes on the market with list prices of above $1 million and then breaks the data down into four distinct price segments for more detail.

In each price band, a year’s worth of data and three key pieces of information are included. They are:
– Luxury homes for sale in Scottsdale
– Pending home sales
– Actual Scottsdale luxury homes sales

– March 2012 –

Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $1,000,000 – $1,499,999
– Active Scottsdale Homes on the Market: Inventory was up by 5 homes at the end of March to 205. This is above the 12 month average of 205.
– Pending Scottsdale Home Sales: We saw a healthy rebound in pending sales to 33. This is well ahead of the 12 month average of 23.
– Scottsdale Homes Sold: Home sales doubled over the month of February to 24. This is also ahead of the 12 month average.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 90.0% – This is pretty typical for this price segment, although it is quite a bit lower than we saw in February.

Scottsdale Luxury Homes for Sale March 2012 Between 1 and 1.5 million


Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $1,500,000 – $1,999,999
– Active Scottsdale Homes on the Market: The number of homes on the market decreased 9.4% to 135. This is just under the 12 month average.
– Pending Scottsdale Home Sales: Again, we see pending sales experience a nice jump. At the end of March, there were 14 pending home sales.
– Scottsdale Homes Sold: March home sales were pretty much on par with what we have been seeing over the last few months.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 88.7% –  Although lower than the last couple of months, this ratio is pretty common for this price range.

Scottsdale Luxury Homes for Sale March 2012 Between 1.5 and 2 million


Scottsdale Homes Priced Between $2,000,000 – $2,999,999
– Active Scottsdale Homes on the Market: The number of homes in this price range were up 3.6% over February to 144. This is well ahead of the 12 month average of 127.
– Pending Scottsdale Home Sales: Pending sales dropped in March to 6. Although this is still slightly ahead of the 12 month average.
– Scottsdale Homes Sold: Eleven homes sold in March. This is the highest we have seen in the last year and is more than double the 12 month average number of sales.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 90.2% – This is lower than it has been in the last several months.

Scottsdale Luxury Homes for Sale March 2012 Between 2 and 3 million

Scottsdale Homes Priced $3,000,000+
– Active Scottsdale Homes on the Market: Inventory dropped 4.9% by the end of March to 97.
– Pending Scottsdale Home Sales: Pending sales were the same as February with 3.  This is also on par with the 12 month average.
– Scottsdale Homes Sold: There were three home sales in March. which was a great improvement over the last couple of months’ performances.
– Sales Price to Listed Price: 54.7% – This number is a bit misleading. There was a luxury estate that went to auction and sold for about 1/3 of the posted asking price. So, this huge discount is having an effect of this figure.
Scottsdale Luxury Homes for Sale March 2012 Over 3 Million

We saw another month of mixed results in the Scottsdale AZ luxury home market. One thing to continue tracking is inventory. In most cases, it went up in March. Additionally, we saw larger discounts off of asking price in all of the various price bands. Sales and pending sales for the most part were quite good or flat, which is nice to see.

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 3/31/2012 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

Phoenix and Scottsdale AZ Luxury Condo Sales – March 2012

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Phoenix Scottsdale AZ Luxury Condo PoolHere are the Phoenix and Scottsdale luxury condo sales for March 2012. This report considers luxury condos as those with list prices of $1 million or above. The data is broken into the current inventory for sale, pending sales as well as actual sales. You can see the summary information as well as individual sales information for Scottsdale and Phoenix.

Pending Luxury Condo Sales – By the end of March, there were three pending luxury condominium sales. All three of them were in Scottsdale and were at three different communities.

– The first pending sale was found at Safari Drive in Downtown Scottsdale. It was a 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom unit with 2,610 square feet. The asking price was $1,075,000.
– The second pending sale was at The Landmark at Kierland. This unit was a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 2,688 square foot condo with a list price of $1,082,000.
– The final pending sale was a sixth floor unit at Scottsdale Waterfront Residences. This one was a 3 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom condo with 3,884 square feet and an asking price of $1,649,000.

 

March 2012 Luxury Condo Sales – In all, three luxury condos sold in March. Two of them were in Phoenix, which were the first luxury condo sales of the year. The final sale was in Scottsdale.

– The first sale was at 2 Biltmore Estates. This ground-floor luxury condo had 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and 4,877 square feet. It had been on the market for $1,658,000 and ultimately sold for $1,510,000.
– The next sale was at The Residences at 2211 Camelback. This unit had 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and 3,673 square feet. It sold after only being on the market 12 days at above asking price. It had been listed for $1,290,000 and sold for $1,300,000.
– The third sale in March was the largest sale of the year so far. It was at the Scottsdale Waterfront Residences and was a penthouse condo. It had 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and 3,940 square feet. The asking price was $2,499,000 and it sold for $2,400,000.

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Scottsdale Phoenix Luxury Condo Sales March 2012

SCOTTSDALE AND PHOENIX LUXURY CONDO SALES – FIRST QUARTER 2012

Here are the results for the first quarter of 2012. There were 9 luxury condo sales in all. Of those, 7 were in Scottsdale and the remaining 2 were in Phoenix. This is a good pace as it is almost one half of all of 2011’s luxury condo sales of 20. In Q1 2011, 6 luxury condos sold.

The communities these sales took place in include:
– Optima Camelview Village (Scottsdale)
– Scottsdale Waterfront Residences (Scottsdale)
– The Residences at 2211 Camelback (Phoenix)
– Kierland Plaza Lofts (Scottsdale)
– Two Biltmore Estates (Phoenix)
– The Landmark (Scottsdale)

Phoenix Scottsdale AZ Luxury Condo Sales 1st Quarter 2012

Overall, March 2012 was a strong month for the luxury condo segment. Sales were brisk and there are three more sales in the pipeline. Inventory was down slightly as well. Looking forward to April, it should be interesting to see if any other quick sales pop up. For instance, at the beginning of March, there were no pending sales, but we ended up seeing three sales take place.

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 3/31/2012 and can change at any time. The analysis looks at resale luxury condos in Scottsdale and Phoenix over the past 12 months. There may be new home inventory in these figures if the developer is using the MLS to market its homes.
Copyright © 2012  Heather Tawes Nelson

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