Arizona Foreclosures - Arizona Real Estate Market

This table shows foreclosures for 4 counties in Arizona from 206-2008 and 12 months stats for 2009.

Since the housing bubble broke, Arizona foreclosures are up nearly 200% each year since 2006 in Maricopa County, with the largest per-county population in the state. Other counties have rising foreclosures since 2006, and the 12 month count as of September 2009 is above or on par with last year. This shows the number of houses that have been and still are on the market due to inability to keep up with mortgages. Many of these houses are still available and on the market through licensed realtors.

County

2006

2007

2008

12 month to 9/09

MARICOPA

8972

22426

60860

70114

PIMA

1875

3117

5095

4548

PINAL

na

na

5979

3710

YAVAPAI

na

na

1223

946

Here's a sample of cities in the Metro Phoenix area that have available foreclosures, compared to the state and the most populous county.

State of Arizona - 109,784 Foreclosure Homes | $139,784 Average Foreclosure Sales Price

Maricopa County - 81,141 Foreclosure Homes | $141,229 Average Foreclosure Sales Price

Phoenix - 27,549 Foreclosure Homes | $103,742 Average Foreclosure Sales Price
Scottsdale - 4,679 Foreclosure Homes | $304,657 Average Foreclosure Sales Price
Mesa - 8,349 Foreclosure Homes | $132,390 Average Foreclosure Sales Price
Tempe - 1,344 Foreclosure Homes | $158,228 Average Foreclosure Sales Price
Chandler - 3,790 Foreclosure Homes | $181,668 Average Foreclosure Sales Price

The housing market is in dire straits here in Arizona. Owners are doing anything to sell, other houses have already been abandoned and thousands of others are on the auction block or waiting quietly for banks to process them.

The problem is, and this has been a complaint by many residents for decades, that Phoenix and other areas in the state have been growing as fast as the land can be zoned and developers can build the neighborhoods. Expansion was out of control.

"But there's a demand to move here!" they said, and everyone wanted to get a piece of the action, instead of say, this is far enough, build somewhere else. Now that the housing bubble has burst, everything has stopped because developers aren't getting paid, and there's no demand to live further and further out on the periphery of the megalopolis. Buildings remain unfinished and now houses are lying around empty.

The businesses are still around, and business goes on as usual, but if more people move away or are forced out, then stores and other facilities will start leaving too. The malls have started to lose their smaller tenants, and corner strip centers are starting to clear out too. Bigger businesses are sticking around, and won't be intimidated by a downturn in the market. Still, a domino effect isn't impossible, and growth is the only way to combat recession. Not by making the city bigger, but by encouraging those who want to come to fill in the gaps, and bring the existing city back to a more normal state.

Arizona has a lot to offer, and has always been a draw for retirees, college students, outdoorspeople, and others who want to leave the expense of the west or east coast and find a great home with new experiences and a mix of city and country.

Check out Arizona. You may find the home of your dreams, at a big discount, ready to move in.

These are the hottest spots to move to by area:

Maricopa County:
Scottsdale
Tempe
Mesa
Phoenix

Coconino County
Flagstaff

Yavapai County
Prescott
Prescott Valley

Pinal County
Arizona City
Casa Grande

Pima County
Tucson
Oro Valley

Ask an Arizona Realtor for more information.

The fringe benefit of the housing bubble for some is that it has forced many small businesses to close. Space at corner strip malls and even the big name mega malls in the state is available as big companies go out of business and smaller businesses tighten their belts. This means much lower rates for store and office space across the state, especially in high traffic areas. Normally expensive per-square-foot locations in the Metro Phoenix area are going for much lower rates.

Normally, offices and strip malls aren't even available for sale, but due to the economy, there have been a rash of sales across the state for office space, storefronts and warehouses as owners lose the ability to maintain them. Even if you don't have your own business to move in, the opportunity to open commercial property in Arizona is huge, and rentals and leasing will be a big market when the economy turns around in the next 9-36 months.

These spaces have a lot of potential. Maybe you're ready to expand, or just want to move into a bigger place with a better location. Just as with the houses, now is the time to buy (or rent).

The new Home Buyer Tax Credit offers up to $8,000 for qualified first time home buyers and up to $6,500 to qualified repeat-home buyers.

This is a boon if the only reason you haven't bought a home yet is no down payment. You will want to put some money on top of it, but this is a big chunk of change that you can't afford to pass up. Once the market improves, this credit will probably go away.