Cromford Report:

November 12 – We have an interesting contrast between the monthly median sales price for all areas and types which is currently stuck around $112,000 having fallen back from the $115,00 of mid October, and the monthly average sales $/SF which has advanced from around $80.50 to about $82.50 over the same period.

November 11 – REOs no longer dominate the pending listings. In fact they are less than 29% of all pending listings in Greater Phoenix, having fallen sharply from over 39% just 3 months ago. Meanwhile short sales and pre-foreclosure have grown from 34.6% to 41.4% over the same period. Normal sales have also increased from 26% to almost 30% and now outnumber REOs.

From Cromford Report:

November 9 - When Maricopa County’s November 2011 foreclosure numbers are reported at the end of this month there is a strong probability that the number of homes foreclosed will be greater than in November 2010. This is despite the fact that foreclosure numbers are unmistakably trending lower. The reason: what Bank of America did not do last year and what they did this year. Bank of America in November 2010 issued a self-imposed moratorium, ceasing all foreclosure sales in Maricopa County. In August of this year, Bank of America’s new notices of foreclosure spiked by nearly 1000 homes over the previous month, only to die down again in September. Remember, the notice of trustee sale is a 90 day notice, so the notices filed in August will be eligible for foreclosure in November. When this November’s foreclosure numbers are reported the media headlines may make a fuss that “year over year foreclosures are up”. This is an unimportant temporary anomaly in a clear downward trend. Don’t be fooled.

From Cromford Report:

There were 2,914 trustee sales for single family homes in Maricopa County in the calendar month of August.

There were 2,701 similar sales in July.

You might think that this indicates trustee sales were increasing. However you would be wrong.

There were only 20 working days on which trustee sales could be held in July, while there were 23 in August. This means that we should have expected the August number to be 15% higher if the daily foreclosure rate was flat. In fact the daily rate of foreclosure fell by 6% from 135 per working day in July to 127 per working day in August, continuing the strong downward trend we have seen since March.

This indicates how overly-simplistic mathematical logic can send entirely the wrong message that foreclosures are increasing when they are not. Our calendar is a strange device that can distort our view of the market unless we take its idiosyncrasy into account. That’s why we measure 7-day, 30-day and 90-day moving averages rather than relying purely on calendar month totals.

As of September 12 we have seen only 912 trustee sales recorded for all property types since September 1. This is an exceptionally low number. If trustee sales continue at this rate throughout September (with its 21 working days), then the total for September will be close to the total last November (with only 19 working days) when we had several institutions including Bank of America doing no trustee sales at all while they addressed the national robo-signing controversy. September looks very likely to be a very weak month for foreclosures, measured on both a calendar month and daily rate basis. In fact the 90-day average for the daily rate of foreclosure is today at the lowest level since July 2008, over 3 years ago.

When correctly measured, the rate of foreclosures is currently falling fast. Do not let the stories in the media mislead you!

Instead please look here.

According to Cromford Report:   The median sales price for REOs (Phoenix Metro) is currently between $89,000 and $90,000. As recently as mid August it was only $80,000

According to the Cromford report, monthly sales of REOs in Greater Phoenix dropped below the number of normal sales for the first time since August 2008.

This Newsletter is full of interesting and useful information that I think you will enjoy whether you are a buyer, seller, homeowner, or renter.

Click here http://realtytimes.com/140/TedHarden

This month’s issue includes topics such as:

“How To Make Buyers Want Your Home”;
“Debunking Credit Score Myths”;
“Choosing The Best Home”;
“Home Warranty FAQs”;
“Should You Move Up?”;

Plus a roundup of June real estate activity as well as much more advice and information.

I hope you enjoy this monthly newsletter. If you have any comments, please e-mail them to me. Or, if you would like to see a certain topic covered in future months, let me know that too!

If you do not wish to receive this Newsletter each month, please reply to this e-mail with the word ‘REMOVE’ in the subject line.

Sincerely,
Theodore F. Harden, PLLC

Click here http://realtytimes.com/140/TedHarden

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