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SECTION RE SUNDAY, 03.02.14 THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC MONEY.AZCENTRAL.COM
catherine reagor REAL ESTATE
Median home price dropped in January
Worth the work?
Fixer-uppers can be a real deal, but watch out for red flags By Kara G. Morrison |
The Republic | azcentral.com
R
eal-estate agents say many buyers have trouble seeing the potential in a fixer-upper. Those who can see the possibilities in a home that needs to be updated can fall in love with its potentially lower price tag. But buyers should make sure they know exactly what they’re getting into before buying a fixer-upper. See FIXER-UPPER, Page RE3
P
rospective buyers shopping for new houses in metro Phoenix likely will get a nice surprise when they ask about prices. After nearly two years of rapidly rising costs, prices fell in January. The median sales price dropped to $290,795 during the first month of the year compared with $301,904 in December 2013, according to real-estate analyst RL Brown Reports. A year ago, the median price of a new house in the Phoenix area was about $260,000. Fewer buyers have led to lower prices. New-home sales fell to 659 in January, compared with 847 in January 2013. February, March and April traditionally have been better months for sales in metro Phoenix as people from Canada, the Midwest and the East flock to the region to enjoy warm weather. Whether lower prices will help entice more of those visitors to buy isn’t clear yet. Based on the top communities for sales, Baby Boomers are still buying new houses in the area. The top four developments for new-home sales in January were active-adult developments. CantaMia in Goodyear’s Estrella drew 23 buyers in January, according to RL Brown. Next was Sunland Springs Village in Mesa, with 15 new-home permits issued. Sun City Festival, on the north end of the West Valley’s White Tank Mountains, reported 14 home sales. In Pinal County, the Trilogy community in Johnson Farms drew 12 buyers. The fifth-most-popular metro Phoenix new-home development in January was Buckeye’s affordable Blue Hills community, where 10 sales were recorded. See REAGOR, Page RE3
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REACH US:
Deb Van Tassel, AZ Real Estate editor, 602-444-NEWS or deb.vantassel@arizonarepublic.com
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