Fore Sale: Buy Me!!!

Fore sale: Buy me!, from the Arizona Republic, reports that the number of homes for sale in metro Phoenix has nearly tripled in the past year, based on December data from the Arizona Regional MLS. Listings are up and houses are taking more time to sell as buyers regain the upper hand in the Valley's volatile real estate market. Reasons given for the increase in listings include speculative investors who are leaving the market after realizing gains of 40 to 50 percent in the last year, rising mortgage rates, and prices that have excluded many buyers from the market. According to a local Realtor, "if it doesn't pick up, sellers might have to mark down homes more than they expected to get the attention of the few buyers that are out there. The market moved 50 percent in one year. This may be the morning after." Jay Butler, director of the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU says "people reach a point where they say, 'I can't afford this,' If prices and rates move up, we're in deep trouble."

http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0208morehouses08.html