Another round of heat will build in the desert in the Southwest and Southern California by midweek. Temperatures will once again be in the 90s for parts of southern California while triple digits will be likely in the desert from Palm Springs to Las Vegas to Phoenix. Daily record highs are likely on Wednesday and Thursday for portions of the region.
Source: Record breaking heat in continues in parts of the Southwest – ABC News
It’s springtime at the ranch, and every day is dawning earlier, the flowers are bursting forth everywhere, and it’s my favorite time of the year. (Allergies not withstanding.)
Here’s a few from past years. The Joshua trees didn’t flower this year. I’m not sure what the cycle is, but some years the flowers are fabulous, other years they are sparse to non existent.
Many businesses in major metropolitan areas in Arizona have closed their doors for the foreseeable future, but medical cannabis patients don’t have to worry about dispensaries closing.
Since cannabis is a medicine, it is an essential service, and dispensaries will continue to sell products as usual, said Sam Richard, executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association. But “everyone’s doing things a little differently,” he said.
Several dispensaries have posted notices on their websites detailing their response to COVID-19 emphasizing patient and employee safety and following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Common precautions include limiting the number of patients inside the dispensary, only allowing people in the waiting room, and frequently wiping down surfaces. Dispensaries have encouraged employees who feel sick to use their paid time off.
Many dispensaries also have changed their hours, opening late, closing early or both.
Source: Arizona Medical Marijuana Dispensaries to Stay Open, With Changes | Phoenix New Times
Equal time for the other vices, after all, the casinos are all closed.
With the coronavirus pandemic bringing the U.S., and much of the world, to a screeching halt, only just over half of Americans think it’s still a good time to sell a home.
Only 52% of homeowners believe it’s still an opportune moment to put their place on the market—a steep month-over-month net decrease of 29 percentage points in March, according to Fannie Mae’s monthly Home Purchase Sentiment Index. The index measures buyer and seller attitudes about the housing market.
Meanwhile, the net share of Americans who think it’s a good time to buy a home, 56%, is down 7 percentage points from February to March.
“This is the tip of the iceberg,” says Javier Vivas, realtor.com®’s director of economic research. “We have yet to see the full extent of the impact of the virus on housing.”
Source: Why Home Sellers Are Losing Hope in the Housing Market | realtor.com®
We’re not seeing a huge slowdown in either pending sales, or closed sales, however anecdotally the Title Companies are seeing a slowdown, and their offices are closed to the public with many working from home. As long as the County can record deeds, we’ll probably muddle along just fine – Ben
Busy is the word, with daily calls and emails. This is truly our busiest season, and we’re thrilled to welcome new neighbors to growing Mohave County!
That’s all to report, off to another showing…
Living on a fixed income, retirees are looking for ways to make their budgets stretch—and New Jersey’s high home prices and property taxes don’t make it an attractive place to stay.
The Garden State’s median home list price of $389,050 in November was about 21% more than the national list price of $309,000. It’s also a lot more than Arizona’s median price of $350,050 and Florida’s median price of $335,050.
But the high cost of living isn’t dissuading millennials from moving in. The state offers plenty of high-paying jobs, as well as many towns within commuting distance to New York City that are attractive to those just starting out and establishing their careers. There were still more folks aged 34 and under moving into New Jersey than out of the state, according to United.
Top states folks are fleeing
- New Jersey
2. Illinois
3. New York
4. Connecticut
5. Kansas
6. Ohio
7. California
8. Michigan
9. North Dakota
10. Iowa
Source: The State That Americans Are Fleeing—and Where They’re Winding Up | realtor.com®
The article says that Arizona is the #3 destination overall. Anecdotally, many Californians are buying residential in Mohave County. According to the Title Company, the vast majority are from California.
This year is off to a good start. Activity has picked up after a somewhat slower fall season. Like clockwork, our sales are best in the first quarter of the year. I’m not sure if it’s end of year bonuses, New Years’ resolutions, snowbirds or what, but it’s always welcome to be busy again.
The discouraging part is the sales prices. We’re still seeing what I consider “vulture pricing.” The sales today are often at depressed prices. The hope is that these will finally sell, (and the truth is that there are less in the basement price-wise now,) and we’ll be able to see an uptick.
Meanwhile, in the cities, the prices have continued to rise in Mohave County as we experience an exodus from California. At some point, the purchase of raw land will make more and more economic sense and the prices should rise. One can always hope anyway…
Officials from the Arizona Game and Fish Department say that multiple mountain lions have been killed after they ate human remains, KGUN-TV reports.
Officials say that three mountain lions were killed by the department after they reportedly ate human remains in the Santa Catalina Mountains.
The remains were found on the Pima Canyon Trail and had shown signs of being disturbed by wildlife. The mountain lions involved had also reportedly showed signs of “interacting with humans” in the area.
Officials say that the animals were killed due to their proximity to residences and an apparent lack of fear of humans
Brrr… It’s cold! It was just a couple of weeks ago that we were basking in above normal temperatures in the mid-80s. This morning, it was only 34F degrees here.
Above is a picture of yesterday’s lingering storm including snow in the mountains. We even heard thunder once!
Today dawned mostly clear. We need the power after several mostly cloudy days. It should get up into the low 50s.
Arizona, Nevada and Mexico will be required to take less water from the Colorado River for the first time next year under a set of agreements that aim to keep enough water in Lake Mead to reduce the risk of a crash.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation activated the mandatory reductions in water deliveries on Thursday when it released projections showing that as of Jan. 1, the level of Lake Mead will sit just below a threshold that triggers the cuts.
Arizona and Nevada agreed to leave a portion of their water allotments in the reservoir under a landmark deal with California called the Lower Basin Drought Contingency Plan, which the states’ representatives signed at Hoover Dam in May.
Source: Colorado River water: Arizona, Nevada and Mexico face first-ever cuts
