Today Michael and Petra Fahey, Broker/Owners of Country Ranch Realty were quoted in the local newspaper regarding local the local real estate market in Bullhead City, Fort Mohave and Mohave Valley. I have added the full article for you to read!
By DANIEL CALLAHAN/The Daily News
Sunday, December 20, 2009 11:58 PM CST
BULLHEAD CITY - We are not out of the woods yet, but Bullhead City has seen an unusual spike in residential property sales going into December this year along with steady business in October and November. Median home prices, however, have not necessarily followed the upward trend.
With statistics going back to 2005, "November is never a busier time than October," said Evan Fuchs, National Association of Realtors board of director's member and owner/broker at Bullhead/Laughlin Realty, and yet the number of single family residential homes sold in Bullhead City this November was higher than October.
Bearing in mind seasonal trends - that the number of homes under contract to be sold would dip down from the third quarter into the fourth then rise again in the first and second quarter of the year - the year-over-year increase in residential sales from November 2008 to November 2009 shows a jump from just 48 homes sold in November 2008 to 71 homes sold in the same month in 2009.
"There's not that many people buying houses in the fourth quarter," typically, said Fuchs, which makes the rise in sales this year notable. "That's a big deal."
Michael and Petra Fahey, broker and Realtor respectively and co-owners of Country Ranch GMAC Real Estate in Bullhead City, attribute some of the influx of buyers to a federal tax credit, which helps first-time and return homebuyers get into houses.
"We have seen more buyers entering the market than we usually see during the holiday season," the Faheys said in a statement.
Unfortunately, the median home price has not followed the sales into the higher realm. Local Realtors are in agreement about the positive signs of increased sales, but some would like to see the median sale price increase as well.
According to Petra Fahey, the median sales prices saw some gains over the course of the year, but November numbers indicate a return to lower numbers.
"Even though median sales price dropped dramatically over last month," she said, "we're still not too far below where we were in January 2009.
"Inventory is down. ... Unfortunately, we're getting killed on the sales price."
"The movement of inventory is the important factor," said Fuchs. As long as homes are moving on and off the market the possibility for increased prices is present. "Supply drives price in my opinion."
Foreclosures are still playing a role in prices and home sales in the area.
According to Fahey, foreclosures accounted for around 60 percent of the homes sold in Bullhead City, Fort Mohave and Mohave Valley in November 2009. This number has, however, come down from 78 percent in January 2009.
"The greater the number (of foreclosures) the greater the price pressure is downward," said Fuchs. When the inventory of foreclosed homes can be easily moved out of the real estate market there are fewer homes pulling prices down.
December has already given many signs of continuing the atypical trend. As of Dec. 18, 38 residential homes had been sold in Bullhead City. The entire month of December 2008 showed 47 comparable homes sold while December 2007 - which Fuchs considers the bottom of the barrel in terms of number of home selling - sported only 32.
"Those are not banner numbers on their own," said Fuchs of this months sales, "but compared to the last couple of years and compared to last month, that is big."
There are, however, a number of factors that may inject dynamic change into the market. The number of foreclosed homes for sale could change, which would hinder growth in prices and possibly increase inventory, which could also slow prices. Additionally, federal and state programs - tax credits and purchase assistance in many cases - designed to get people into homes will likely end in the first half of 2010.