Banks Are Making Headway

The reality is we do have more challenge to go through, we do have more property that will be returned to our Banks here and more write offs will occur. The good news is, there are investors out there purchasing property, homes, land, our transactions are WAY up over the first quarter of 09 as compared to 08. The Banks that get in front of this, that get a strong property distribution partner, either through a qualified Realtor base or Asset Management firm, will be able to get to the bottom and through the bad news, and start to move the needle north again faster. The longer Financial institutions wait, or don’t react to the market, the longer the challenge and pain will be.

For More Information On Banks Making Headway Read Today's AZ Central Article: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2009/05/28/20090528biz-AZBanking0528.html

Steve de Laveaga
SVP Sales and Marketing FNT Maricopa
www.fntarizona.com

Networking Tips!

• Avoid hard sells or pitches that come across as desperate.
• Be ready with referrals and recommendations to improve credibility.
• Try to build personal rapport and trust.
• Offer mutual benefits.
• Don't expect an immediate sale or employment opportunity from first meetings.
  
• Stay positive and upbeat.
• Recognize the venue and attendees, and determine how best to pitch yourself or your product.

Source: Phoenix Business Journal research, May 15, 2009

How Green is TransactionPoint?

Statistics:

Based on about 27,000 pages per day faxed to TransactionPoint and 255 business days per year, that's 6,885,000 pages or 13,770 reams of paper (68,850 pounds) per year saved if just one user looks at every document without printing it. In the printing world, it is estimated that one ream of paper uses about 6% of a tree. That adds up to 826 trees - a virtual TransactionPoint forest!

There are many estimates of the results of not using paper. Besides the tree itself, the manufacturing process generates greenhouse gases, as do the trucks that move the paper from factory to suppliers and to the end user.

The 'Global Cooling Campaign' estimates that planting one tree compensates for the effect of driving (or flying) 2,000 miles or using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Based on their figures, 826 trees is the equivalent of not driving 1,652,000 miles or saving 826,000 kilowatt hours of electricity - enough to power 184 homes in San Francisco for an entire year.

Fidelity will soon be launching its Transaction Connect Services utilizing the TransactionPoint system. By utilizing these services along with TransactionPoint you will be saving your time, your files and the planet.

For more information contact info-fntarizona@fnf.com

The Road To Recovery
by Jeff Lucas, Hunt Real Estate ERA

For an accurate assessment, the "health" of Phoenix residential real estate market must be analyzed in price-point "segments".

The data indicates that the residential market at FHA loan levels ($326, 250) and below is moving into balance with active inventories from 3-6 months throughout most of metropolitan Phoenix- a balanced market is 3-5 months inventory. FHA loans, which enable a buyer to buy with as little as 3.5% down payment and allow a seller contribution of up to 6% of purchase price toward buyer's loan and closing costs, are largely responsible for dramatically reducing inventory at the $350,000 price point and below from more than 20 months two years ago to the current 3-5 month levels.

The stringent underwriting requirements of commercial banks for conforming conventional loans, under $417,000., and Jumbo loans, above $417,000., have stymied inventory absorption above FHA loan limits. The result is that inventory of unsold homes increases as the price of homes increases. Economics 101 teaches us that when supply exceeds demand, prices will continue to decline.

Therefore, based on the data below, the Phoenix residential Market will recover from the bottom up. Properly priced homes at the $350,000 level and below have "bottomed out" and are approaching "bottom".

Mid-Market homes priced above $350,000 to $500,000 have substantially higher unsold inventories and likely will continue to experience price declines for the next 18-24 months, unless commercial banks relax underwriting guidelines substantially.

Homes priced from $500,000 and higher into the "luxury market" currently have unsold inventories ranging from 27 months to more than five years. Absent greater mortgage liquidity for "Jumbo" loan programs, the prices for homes priced in these ranges face further substantial declines and the inventory is not likely to move into balance for three or more years.


Price Range of Homes/ Months Inventory Supply
(active inventory divided by monthly sales)
$00-$350,000/ 3.6
$350,001-$500,000 /16.6
$500,001-$750,000/ 27.6
$750,001-$$1,000,000/ 51.4
$1,000,0001 +/ 64.7

Hunt Real Estate ERA
480-603-3310
http://www.huntrealestate.com/