Surprisingly home values went up in the last year 3.6% and up 4.4% in the second quarter over the last quarter. Unfortunately, jobs are still hard to find so that’s keeping many people out of the market. However, interest rates continue to be low and that’s convincing many who are secure in their jobs to buy. It’s a strange market we have out there.
Downtown Phoenix seems to be holding it’s own lately. Home values in the Downtown and MidTown areas have been holding steady. I’ve even seen a condo that didn’t sell in a short sale recently get foreclosed on and the bank raised the asking price of it. I’m not sure it will sell for the new price but there’s a Realtor and a bank out there that think so.
I also have a few investors that are looking for single family homes below $50k and I can tell you, there’s plenty to choose from all over the valley. Basically, if you can pay cash and keep the remodel to a minimum you can charge between $500 to $700 a month rent for these homes. Where can get that kind of return on your cash right now. Not to many places I’m sure. Check with your financial advisor to see if this is the right move for you. There are still risk in real estate as we all learned in the last few years.