All posts by Ben

Real Estate

7 in 10 Homes Sold in Less Than a Month in September

The numbers: Existing-home sales increased for the fourth consecutive month in September, as the U.S. housing market benefitted from low interest rates.

Total existing-home sales rose 9.4% from August to a seasonally-adjusted, annual rate of 6.54 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday. Compared with a year ago, home sales were up nearly 21%.

“Home sales traditionally taper off toward the end of the year, but in September they surged beyond what we normally see during this season,” Lawrence Yun, the trade group’s chief economist, said in the report. “I would attribute this jump to record-low interest rates and an abundance of buyers in the marketplace, including buyers of vacation homes given the greater flexibility to work from home.”

Economists polled by MarketWatch had projected existing-home sales to rise to a median rate of 6.36 million.

What happened: The fast pace of home sales has quickly dwindled the remaining supply of homes on the market, however. More than seven in 10 homes on the market in September sold in less than a month.

As a result, by month’s end the total inventory of homes for sale dropped to a 2.7 months’ supply, the lowest on record. A 6-month supply of homes is considered to be indicative of a balanced market.

Source: Existing-Home Sales Soared in September—7 in 10 Homes Sold in Less Than a Month | realtor.com®

Here in Mohave County sales are brisk with residential sales continuing in “boom” territory, and many sales are closed over the original asking price. It’s a feeding frenzy.

Land sales have picked up, and we’re seeing real appreciation for the first time in many years. Anything with a septic, or better yet a well is hot these days. Gotta go, there’s the phone again….Ben

Arizona

ADWR Hydrology Publishes Research Of Water-Supply Conditions In Western Arizona

The Hydrology division of the Arizona Department of Water Resources has published its research into water-supply conditions of a vast area of western Arizona known as the “Western Planning Areas.”

The Western Planning Area Hydrologic Monitoring Report summarizes water-level monitoring of the depth-to-groundwater within wells located throughout much of western Arizona as of December 2016. Hydrologic Monitoring Reports are used to provide the public with important information on conditions both within and outside Arizona’s Active Management Areas, or AMAs.

To the extent possible, given the available information, these reports present surface water, groundwater, water-use, precipitation, recharge, and well information that has been compiled or developed by ADWR.

AMAs are the five regions of the State where the uses of finite groundwater resources are governed by the Groundwater Management Act of 1980. The September 2020 report provides detailed analysis from five western Arizona groundwater basins: Butler Valley, Harquahala, McMullen Valley, Ranegras Plain, and Tiger Wash basins. Among the findings: Water levels are generally declining across the five basins and larger declines are seen where there is a large farming presence.

Groundwater levels in the five basins were collected extensively in November through December 2004 and December 2016. Water levels collected during these two time periods – technically, water years 2005 and 2017 — were then compared in order to observe water-level changes.

Source: ADWR Hydrology publishes research of water-supply conditions in western Arizona | Arizona Department of Water Resources

Click the article for more info. It’s been super dry since early Spring, and we’re anxiously awaiting some real rain.

Real Estate

Home Sales Stay Hot in August

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes remained brisk in August as low mortgage rates and demand for space in the suburbs sustained strength in a housing market that’s a bright spot for the economy.

Closing transactions increased 2.4% from the prior month to a 6 million annualized rate, the strongest pace since the end of 2006, according to National Association of Realtors data issued Tuesday. The figure matched the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Prices jumped 11.4% from a year earlier on an unadjusted basis to a record. While the increase in existing home sales in August was smaller than the record 24.7% jump a month earlier, the level is consistent with steady growth. The housing sector has been one of the strongest parts of the economic rebound, in part because of ultra-low mortgage rates, as well as cooped-up urbanites looking for homes and yards outside of city centers during the pandemic.

Source: U.S. Existing-Home Sales Increase to Fastest Pace Since 2006 – Bloomberg