Consumer borrowing increased by $21.3 billion for March to $2.54 trillion, which represented the largest monthly increase since November 2001. In addition, the bank loan officer survey showed an increased willingness to lend. Apparently, the feared credit contraction from consumers buckling down and doing some ‘extreme’ saving hasn’t happened, at least on a permanent basis. Despite a lack of confidence and continued economic fears, this isn’t entirely surprising, as it can take a long time to change economic and cultural behavior—assuming a change is what people are after in the first place. Americans are spenders.
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Sun Lakes AZ Home Prices…where are the now?
The Sun Lakes real estate market typically trails the real estate market of the surrounding non-active adult communities by about a year.
Why does this matter? Because the Phoenix Metro real estate market is exploding. Low inventory is creating a supply and demand issue. Multiple offers are received on properties listed for just a few hours with bidding wars driving prices up!
Here’s a chart that illustrates the average sales price per square foot in the Phoenix Metro area over the past couple years where it’s easy to see how quickly values are rising.
Prices started going up when inventory started going down. Here’s a snapshot of the inventory of homes for sale in the area over the last year. We are down to below half of the number of homes for sale this year as compared to last year at this time.
This is great news for Sun Lakes homeowners because we are starting to see the fall of the home inventory in Sun Lakes as well. Will it create a supply/demand issue in Sun Lakes? If history is any indicator, the answer to that question would be “most likely”.
The great news for buyers is that Sun Lakes is not seeing bidding wars at this time. So, if you’re in the market for a home, it’s a great time to be a buyer here. Prices are lower than they have been for years and if we’re really as close to the “bottom” of the real estate market, we’ve got nowhere to go but up. So, don’t wait to long or you’ll be just like buyers in the rest of the Valley saying…”we wish we would have bought sooner.”
Amy Jones Group – RE/Max Infinity
2450 S. Arizona Ave Chandler, AZ
Phone: 480-250-3857
Email: Amy@AmySellsAZ.com
Blog: http://www.sunlakesblog.com/
Top Producing Sun Lakes REALTORS Sun Lakes Residents
Scam Alert – Caller ID Name unknown 661-748-0244
I just received a call from an unidentified caller who said he was working for Smith Barney / Bank of America / Morgan Stanley and trying to get me some annuity information from the Tempe office to me. This fast talker rattled off his name (Michael), and the financial institutions like he was on his way to a fire. He told me he was verifying my address to send me a package and needed some more information. Catching you off-guard and spewing off several questions to create confusion are the tools of the scammer to extract information from the unsuspecting.
Do you know that identity theft is expensive? I have been told that identity theft can cost one $20,000 or more in legal fees to clean up the mess.
Be safe, if you did not initiate the call don’t give the caller any information, especially your social security, mother maiden name, local bank branch … If you are interested in the call, ask for a name and callback number. Then look it up.
Googling this callers number shows a number of scam complaints.
Economic Notes for the Week of May 7th
The April ISM rose somewhat unexpectedly in April (from 53.4 to 54.8—strongest since June of last year), and the composition was not bad either, as new orders, production and employment were all higher. The inventory portion of the index was down, which was an indirect positive as well. This was arguably the most important release of the week.
On the negative side, construction spending rose less than expected for March (up +0.1% versus consensus +0.5%), and a few prior months were revised downward. As for details, the private construction spending side was up almost a percent, while government outlays dropped by a bit more—causing the net difference. Read more
Economic Notes for the Week of April 30th
Another mixed, but not bad week for economic news.
The first of several estimates for first quarter 2012 GDP came out at +2.2%, which was slightly weaker than the +2.5% growth rate expected by consensus. The composition of the report was not especially robust, as inventory buildup contributed more to the growth number than expected, as compared to final sales, and business fixed investments and government expenditures (mostly defense spending) declined. However, consumer spending as a component of the report was solid and was much better than first thought, and residential investment increased dramatically. What does this mean? Not a lot yet. These numbers are early estimates, and subject to revision, but, at the same time, demonstrate that the economy is still in fragile footing but just plugging along fast enough to avoid the +2% ‘stall speed.’ The 2.0-3.0% is a wide but anticipated range for GDP for most of 2012 and we seem to be right within that band. Read more
USTA LEAGUE 7.0 SUPER SENIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
SURPRISE, ARIZ., (April 29, 2012) – The women’s team from Sun Lakes, Ariz. representing the USTA Southwest Section, captured the national title at the USTA League 7.0 Super Senior National Championships held at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, Arizona.
The Sun Lakes team defeated a team from Beverly, Mass., 3-0 in the Championship match. Earlier in the day, the Sun Lakes team defeated a team from San Juan, Puerto Rico,3-0 in the semifinals. They advanced this far by winning their round-robin flight contested Friday and Saturday.
The team is captained by John Radcliffe and features Judith Lamers, Randi Rex, Sharon Lee Feltus, Barbara Jean McManus, Jeri Schulz, Lola Bernadelli, Sue Garretson, Drena Radcliffe and Joan Anderson and plays at the Iron Oaks Tennis Club.
The top four teams in order of finish are: Southwest Section, New England Section, Eastern Section and Caribbean Section.
This year’s USTA League 7.0 Super Senior National Championship has drawn the top 33 teams (16 men’s and 17 women’s) from throughout the nation. Read more