The Catalina Foothills

a new high for months of inventory (MOI)

When we started the year the Market Snapshot looked like this.

3 months later and here’s where we are;

Not a pretty picture.

Follow the Market Snapshot for the latest sales activity in the Catalina Foothills single family home market.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

spotlight on Shadow Hills

6284 N Camino De Michael went to contract today listed at $499,000 ($219/sf), the highest $/sf contract in SH in looong time. And it was quick too, just 23 days from listing to contract.

There’s one other home in contract at $479,000 ($159/sf) and 8 sold in the last 6 months.
Of the 8 sold the highest $/sf list price was $204/sf, and from there it drops to $186 > $182 > $168 > $162 > down to $127/sf with an average of $170/sf for that group.

And, interestingly, it’s also the highest $/sf, by $30 – $70/sf, of the 14 homes remaining for sale in Shadow Hills. But Cmo De Michael is nicely renovated and move-in ready.

Shadow Hills has always been very popular, and for good reason. It’s a great foothills location, the lots are larger – 2/3 to about 1 acre, with a variety of home sizes and styles and quiet meandering streets where kids and grownups feel safe walking, biking and gathering. And it’s in District 16.

That said, like much of the Catalina Foothills market, sales in Shadow Hills are slower and inventory is higher than last year.  They’re currently sitting on about 10.5 months inventory.
As recently as last August SH had less then 3 MOI  in Shadow Hills

6284 N Camino De Michael Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Long Realty) link will expire on 4/30/14

a roaring market in the Villages of La Paloma

Villages Two & Four & Five At Villages Of La Paloma are back to selling like they were in the roaring market of 2005 – 2006 – looking at the numbers it’s downright eerie how close they are.

in the last six months;
5 homes have sold for an average/median of $581,440 / $565,000 @ $257/sf

during the same six month period in 2005 –06;
7 homes sold for an average/median of $581,400 / $565,000 @ $265/sf
(links will expire on 4/28/2014)

Contrast those numbers with what wasn’t happening in there
during the same six month period in 2010 – 2011;
1 home sold for                                   $375,000  @ $206/sf

Currently there’s  just one home for sale in the Villages, a subdivision that is hugely popular with snowbirds & other 2nd home owners.

La Paloma, including the Villages, the Ridge Estates, and other subdivisions within the La Paloma community have been outselling the competition for some time now.
If you wish, review the numbers I posted earlier this month for foothills subdivisions and you will see that La P is amongst the top sellers with the lowest MOI.  
Catalina Foothills real estate activity by subdivision A prime example of  why it’s necessary to analyze the market by price and for the individual area or subdivision.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

update on Skyline Bel Air

Another home went to contract in Skyline Bel Air the other day - 6160 N Camino Almonte Tucson, AZ 85718 – listed at $389,000 ($181/sf) in 37 days. It started out at $424,900, dropped to $409,900 (and went contract but fell out) then to $389,000 and, BINGO!, in contract again. (listed by Long Realty)

Skyline Bel Air had a stellar year last year and is having another this year.

There are;
5 homes for sale
4 in contract (3 of them are Pending, so basically done deals)
7 sold in the last 6 months = about 4 months inventory (a sellers market)

And when the 3 Pending sales close, which should be any day now, we’ll be looking at 3 months inventory.

Last year 21 homes sold in Skyline Bel Air for an average/median of $421,062/$394,500
It’s still too early to start counting our chickens but I’ll wager that those numbers will be higher this year. Why, because buyers and buying up the older homes in need of renovation, renovating them, and reselling them for higher prices. Because SBA has a great location, location with older homes on some very good lots. see > the next hot spot for fixer uppers

To see all the homes for sale in Skyline Bel Air click HERE

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

big sale in the Mountain Estates at Ventana

6921 E Rock Ledge Place sold for $1,900,000 ($356/sf) after just 49 days from a $2,495,000 list price. So a big sale, but also a big, and quick, comedown from the list price. But these big buck homes are often priced with a shoot for the stars and see what the market will bear approach. And considering the market at around $2.0mil+, taking what they could get and moving on sure looks like the right move. They paid $2,200,000 in 2011, after it had slowly dropped to $2,395,000 from $4,500,000 when it debuted in 2008. Previously mentioned HERE

6921 E Rock Ledge Place  Tucson, AZ 85750
(listed by Long Realty)

Since Jan 1, 2013, for homes listed from $2.0 to $3.0mil, there’ve been a grand total of 3 sales.
1. started at $3,300,000 and sold 3 years later for $1,720,000  -48%
2. started at $4,199,000 and sold 3 years later at $2,500,000  -40%
3. is Rock Ledge,  the quickest but also the closest % to list price –24%

This drop in sales and prices at the upper-end has been with us since 08, and as this latest sale demonstrates, it ain’t over yet.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

in contract last week, 3/17– 3/23

From Monday March 17th through Sunday March 23rd 16 single family homes went to contract in the Catalina Foothills.

9 were priced from $219,900 to $599,000
3 from $640,000 to $745,000
and hubba-hubba, 4 from $1,089,000 to $2,495,000

During the same week last year there were 28 contracts

The numbers for the previous week are HERE

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

 

it looks like the upper-end is heating up

5969 N Camino Preciado in La Paloma Estates, listed at $1,100,000 - after years at $1,799,000 to $1,295,000 - has finally found a buyer - the sellers paid full list, $1,600,000, in 2006. I’m guessing the problem was both the steep price and the steep driveway. But the current listing agent (there’ve been a few) got the price to where it needed to be and, rather than hiding it, was savvy enough to make the driveway issue perfectly clear upfront.

5969 N Camino Preciado Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Tierra Antigua Realty)

Also today, 1001 E Magee Road , Tucson, AZ 85718 went to contract at $1,525,000, after starting at $2.9 in 2010.  Mentioned HERE

And in Hacienda del Sol Estates 5011 N Avenida De Castilla, listed at $1,295,000 ($290/sf), including an additional adjacent lot is in contract after 310 days. 5011 N Avenida De Castilla Tucson, AZ 85718 (listed by Long Realty)

And there’s 6381 E Miramist Place, listed at $1,288,888 that also went late last week, along with 6481 N 6481 N Ventana Canyon Drive Tucson, AZ 85750 listed for $1,089,000, by Long Realty

And last but not least, the two big deals (asking $2.2 & $2.495) that went down in the Mountain Estates of Ventana late last week – and mentioned HERE

That’s more upper-end action in just the last few days than in the last month or two.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

Stay tuned!

high-end foreclosure for a low-end price

4665 N Quartz Hill Place, a 2010 built contemporary, 4325 sf, 4 Beds/3.5 baths, 2 story with elevator, magnificent Catalina mountain views, listed for $649,000 ($150/sf), courtesy of BMO Harris Bank. Steep driveway and all. Unless there’s something I’m not seeing here, this won’t last, and I’ll be surprised if we don’t see a bidding war with an over-list sale price.

This is in Rockcliff, a smallish gated community just east of Sabino Canyon Rd and south of Snyder. I know Rockcliff well, I lived there for 6 years and also had a steep driveway. 

4665 N Quartz Hill Place  Tucson, AZ 85750
(listed by Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty 472203)

someone got a terrific deal in Cobo

1001 E Magee Road, on 6.5 acres in Cobo Catalina Hills, and listed at the bargain price of $1,525,000 ($226/sf) is in contract. I mentioned it HERE two weeks ago.

And while not everyone is looking for 6+ acres, but if you are, there’s almost nothing else to choose from in the foothills. And with a 2006 built, masonry constructed house, on one level, with incredible mountain views, once it got down to $1.6, maybe even $1.7, I couldn’t understand why it didn’t go. But now it has.

1001 E Magee Road , Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty 472203)

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

 

Open Houses today in the Catalina Foothills

Click Open Houses to see all that are scheduled and listed in the Tucson Association of Realtors® MLS from all Tucson area real estate brokers.

Or to check the upcoming Open Houses at any time, just go to my web site TheFoothillsToday.com , scroll down to the bottom of the page to Popular Searches to Open Houses – it updates continuously.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Catalina Foothills home

 

we’re still headed in the wrong direction

unless you’re a buyer, in which case, with more to choose from and less competition, good deals should be heading your way.

I updated the Market Snapshot and here are a few key numbers for today vs. this day last year.

March 23, 2014
523 homes for sale – 104 in contract – 54 sold (last 30 days) – 9.7 MOI overall

March 23, 2013
383 homes for sale – 148 in contract – 76 sold (previous 30 days) – 5 MOI overall

So today we have 36% more homes for sale – 30% fewer in contract & 29% fewer sold, and a big bump in MOI.

*the numbers are for single family homes in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, AZ.
No condos, no townhomes.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

2 sales in Pima Canyon

1993 E Quiet Canyon Drive Tucson, AZ 85718, a brand new spec home listed for $1,425,000 sold for $1,370,000 ($283/sf) in just 105 days. Previously mentioned HERE

7264 N Ancient Mesa Place Tucson, AZ 85718, listed for $1,395,000, sold for $1,275,000 ($239/sf) in 146 days. And previously mentioned HERE (both listed by Long Realty)

That leaves 9 for sale, 0 in contract, and 3 sold since Jan 1 -  about 8 months inventory at the current pace. Better than other high-end communities, but still a little slower than we’ve come to expect for PC.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

 

 

unprecedented

Two homes in Ventana Canyon Mountain Estates went to contract today - that hasn’t happened in (almost) forever.

First is 6755 N Hole in the Wall Way, now listed at $2,200,00 ($344/sf).

Hole in the Wall sold for $2,450,000 in 06, and sold again in 2010 for $2,200,000, and was listed in 2012 for $2,600,000 and after all this time it goes on the same day as >

6921 E Rock Ledge Place, listed at $2,495,000 ($468/sf)

which is in contract again. Earlier this year it went to contract twice and fell out both times.
But third time’s the charm. It last sold in 2011, also for the magic number of $2,200,000.

Last year there was one sale in the Mountain Estates for $1,375,000 ($277/sf) and one in 2012 for $1,700,000 ($439/sf). And just one sale in 2011, the aforementioned sale of Rock Ledge Place for $2,200,000.

Good things come in three’s, who’s next.

6755 N Hole in the Wall Way & 6921 E Rock Ledge Place Tucson, AZ 85750
(both listed by Long Realty) – link will expire on 4/20/2014

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

keeping score

Here’s a look at the number of single family homes sold in the Catalina Foothills from
January 1st thru March 15th for the years 2009 – 2014 – broken down by the number of homes sold from $0 to $999,999 and from $1,000,000 & UP

Year	# sold $0 to $999,999	# sold $1,000,000 & UP
2009	80	10
2010	108	10
2011	118	4
2012	133	10
2013	160	9
2014	121	6

Slow & Slower, but as mentioned the other day, there are signs the market is picking up.


And just for laughs, for the same period in 2005,

2005

206

19

And while sales fell sharply in 2006 for homes priced under $1.0mil, homes priced at $1.0mil+ had their best year ever

2006

133

27

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a $million home goes to contract

6381 E Miramist Place, listed at $1,288,888, is in contract after 358 days.

5753 sf, built 2001, 5 Beds/5.5 Baths, 1.45 acres, pool/spa, 3 car, 1 story, $224/sf.

and super convenient to Kolb Rd.

6381 E Miramist Place Tucson, AZ 85750  (link will expire on 4/18/14)
(listed by Andy Courtney Properties, Ltd. 2049)

This makes it 8 homes in contract at $1,000,000+, 6 sold since Jan 1, and 108 remaining for sale – which, at this pace, works out to about 45 months of inventory.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

another fast deal in Foothills Clusters

3451 E Nugget Canyon Place was listed 3 days ago for $326,000 ($180/sf) – a tad high, I thought, for what it is. But someone who was actually writing the check saw it differently, and it is on one of the nicest lots in the Clusters.

7 homes sold in the Clusters in the last 6 months in an average of 39 DOM.
Excluding the Clusters, but keeping to that same price range, 148 homes sold in the overall foothills market in an average of 85 days.

Clusters is pretty easy to comp and the overpriced homes, and there are some, are not selling.

3451 E Nugget Canyon Place Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty 472203) **link will expire on 4/17/14

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

in contract last week, 3/10 – 3/16

From Monday March 10th through Sunday March 16th  21 single family homes went to contract in the Catalina Foothills - more than we’ve seen since late January when the market took off like a shot but soon fizzled.

15 were priced from $215,000 to $585,000
4 from $645,000 to $950,000
1 at $1,050,000 & 1 at $1,395,000

The numbers for the previous week are HERE

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

2 fast contracts

3805 E Manzanita Ridge Place, listed at $640,000 ($204/sf) went to contract within moments of showing up in the MLS. It last sold in 2011 for $540,000.

And same for 6481 N Ventana Canyon Drive, in Ventana CC, listed at $1,089,000 ($214/sf).
(both listed by Long Realty)

It happens, even in a sluggish market. Though there are signs that things are picking up, finally.

See them both HERE

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

testing the waters in Pinnacle Ridge

In the ever popular Pinnacle Ridge a new listing showed up today asking $950,000 ($268/sf).

While the other listings in Pinnacle, and those in contract and sold recently, are between $182 to $222/sf. I guess we’ll see just how popular Pinnacle really is.

Here’s everything for sale, in contract and sold (last 6 mos) in Pinnacle, including this latest contender - 4303 E Pinnacle Ridge Place Tucson, AZ 85718 (listed by CNN Realty Services, LLC 3136)

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close to shopping

6520 N Campbell sold this week for $947,500 in an extremely brief 133 days.

Extremely brief given that it’s directly across from La Encantada, not a location, location that most buyers crave. That’s it with the  √

It  just goes to show, there really is a butt for every seat.

6520 N Campbell Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Long Realty)

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

Sunday

Click HERE to see all the Open Houses scheduled for today and listed in the Tucson MLS – from all real estate brokers.

I updated the Market Snapshot and it’s the same old thing – with a balanced market for homes priced up to about $600,000, and an increasingly unbalanced market the higher $$$ you go.

Beautiful day today, Enjoy It!

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

more homes to contract last week, 3/3 – 3/9

From Monday March 3rd through Sunday March 9th  18 single family homes went to contract in the Catalina Foothills. More than any of the last three weeks, but with most them still huddled at the bottom end, (link to listings will expire on 4/10/14)

15 were priced from $254,900 to $550,000
1 at $650,000 + 1 at $789,000
1 at $1,250,000 
  and that’s it!

508 still for sale, tick-tock

The numbers for the previous week are HERE 

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to find your Tucson Foothills home

another one down in Skyline Bel Air

where there are 6 for sale, now 3 in contract and 8 sold in the last 6 months. Though, like much of the foothills, more recent sales have lagged.

6160 N Camino Almonte  Tucson, AZ 85718 asking $409,900, is in contract today after 27 days.
(listed by Long Realty)

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

one of these days

In Cobo Catalina Hills, where there’s room to roam but still close to everything,
2006 built, masonry construction, 6755 sf including 1072 sf guest house, 6 Beds/5 Baths,
3 car, pool/spa, on 6.5 acres backing up to the Coronado National Forest.
Started at $2,900,000 in 2010, is now $1,525,000 ($226/sf)).

 

1001 E Magee Road , Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty)

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

price it right, sell it fast

In Pima Canyon, 7264 N Ancient Mesa Pl is in contract listed at $1,395,000 ($262/sf) after a relatively brief 146 days on market.

Ancient Mesa has an interesting past. It started out as a not-yet-completed spec home in August 2008 (OOOPS!) asking $2.5, but of course no one took the bait and by July 2009, work had stopped months ago and it still wasn’t completed, mr lender swooped in and took it back. And before you could say National Bank of Arizona they sold it directly to a buyer for the incredible bargain price of $750,000. That buyer finished it and sold in 2010 for $1,475,000. And, priced right, here it goes again.

Another tidbit - back in 08 –09, and before, the street name was Calle Sin Envidia (street without envy) and somewhere along the line it was changed to Ancient Mesa Pl.
I’m guessing because someone figured out that buyers would assume that Calle Sin Envidia was in Sin Vacas - the subdivision just east of PC, where everything is Calle or Camino Sin something or other, Sin Vacas (without cows) Camino Sin Muerta (road without death) Camino Sin Ruido (road without noise) - rather than behind the pearly gates of Pima Canyon.

7264 N Ancient Mesa Place Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Long Realty)

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

from dowdy to delightful

In Coronado Foothills Estates, 6500 N Longfellow Drive sold last year for $270,000 and looked like this;

 

 

It was relisted today for $499,000 and now looks like this:

 

And all through the house. listed as 2626 sf, 4 Beds/2.5 Baths, 2 car, pool.

I wish I had a buyer for it, in which case I’d be showing it instead of writing about it, but I don’t. Hurry! Yes, even in the slow market we’re in, homes like this GO.

6500 N Longfellow Drive Tucson, AZ 85718
(listed by Tierra Antigua Realty)

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

499 homes for sale in the Catalina Foothills

Update; Monday morning - now 504 for sale,
I just updated the Market Snapshot numbers and, yep, there’s plenty of supply to go around. 
More than we’ve had since the spring of 2010 – 2011. (376 for sale in March 2013, 350 in March 2012, 475 in March 2011, 496 in March 2010).

Also worth noting;
in addition to the 499 for sale, there are 98 in contract and 56 sold in the last 30 days for an overall 9 MOI.

For comparison, on March 9, 2013 there were;
376 for sale, 138 in contract and 63 sold in the prior 30 days for an overall 6 MOI

I suspect that at least part of the reason for the rise in inventory is due to sellers mistaken belief that this is a good time to sell because more homes are selling.
But that’s just not so.

YTD 2014 – 111 homes sold
same period 2013 – 145 homes sold
same period 2012 – 133 homes sold
same period 2011 – 107 homes sold
same period 2010 – 105 homes sold

So the number of homes for sale and sold is eerily close to where it was in March 2010 - 2011.

(*single family homes only)

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Catalina Foothills Open Houses – Sunday March 9

So far 58 are listed in the Tucson Association of Realtors® MLS -

See them all HERE

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

Catalina Foothills real estate activity by subdivision

We know the overall single family home market in the Catalina Foothills is weak this year. 
But how weak or strong it is varies a great deal from one subdivision to another.

So here’s a look at how the market’s doing in some of the more popular subdivisions in the foothills; along with the # of Single Family homes currently for sale, in contract, and the # sold from January 1st thru March 5th - with the resulting MOI (months of inventory).
A YTD snapshot of real estate activity by subdivision.

And if you’re shopping for a home you can click any of the subdivision names and see all the homes currently for sale, including single family and town homes.

Please Note: the number of homes shown from the links will differ from the #’s shown in the chart, because;
A) the links show both single family homes and townhomes & the figures in the chart are single family only. And, B) the links are continuously updated, and will therefore show all the homes for sale at the time you click them.

Area	# for sale	# in contract	# sold	MOI
Shadow Hills	10	1	3	6
Skyline Bel Air	8	1	1	16
Fairfield/Sunrise	9	3	1	18
Villages of Ventana	3	1	2	3
Las Alturas	2	1	1	4
Flecha Caida	14	3	2	14
Coronado Foothills	12	2	1	24
Foothills Clusters	7	1	1	14
Cimarron	9	4	2	9
Catalina Fthls Est 1-9	30	6	3	20
Sabino Mountain	11	2	3	7
Alta Vista	18	3	0	?
Cobo Catalina Hills	3	0	0	?
Bellas Catalinas	2	0	0	?
Cobblestone	5	1	0	?
Finisterra	6	1	0	?
the Canyons	5	0	1	10
Pima Canyon	9	1	1	18
La Puerta	0	0	1	0
Pontatoc Canyon	4	2	0	?
Pinnacle Ridge	2	0	0	?
Sin Vacas	10	2	1	20
Hacienda del Sol Est.	6	0	1	12
Bonita Ridge	6	1	1	12
Skyline CC	20	4	3	13
La Paloma CC	21	3	11	4
Ventana CC	38	3	4	19

The rule of thumb is 6 MOI = a balanced market. More than 6 and it veers into buyers market territory, less than 6 and it’s a sellers market, with demand outstripping supply. (I faintly recall what it feels like to be in sellers market)
A ? under MOI indicates that it is impossible to determine MOI, because there haven’t been any sales this year.

And also consider the # of  homes in contract. Because, while sales are where the rubber meets the road, they are based on deals that were made 30 – 45 days prior, while contracts show very recent activity.

In any case we can count on one hand the # of subdivisions with a balanced market, or, in a few cases, maybe even heading into a sellers market. But the vast majority are way deep into buyers market territory.

This chart, along with the Market Snapshot, which slices &  dices the market by price range –see tab at top of page – paint a pretty clear picture of a weak single family home market in the Catalina Foothills.

And of course here on the ground it’s slow. I hear listing agents complaining that showings are few and far between, and wondering what happened to the market, where are the buyers.

But it can change. There’ve been years where the season started slow and then kicked in in March. But this is March, and it still feels like a July market.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

don’t try this at home

6251 N Whaleback Place sold for $1,150,000 in 2006 and was listed for $1,200,000 in 2013. 
But no one rushed in, so the price was cut, and cut again and again. And eventually it became a short sale, and then, after still failing to attract a buyer, it fell into mr lenders cold-hearted hands. Recently reduced to $789,900, a patient and savvy buyer has finally come along and put it in contract. One more foreclosure out of the way and another reset for foothills home prices.

6251 N Whaleback Place Tucson, AZ 85750
(Keller Williams Southern Arizona)

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mountain retreat

get away from it all, and still just 12 minutes to your favorite Walgreen’s
1754 sf stone house, built 1981, 2 beds/1 bath, on just under 7 acres – $1,595,000

Very special, for someone who wants peace, quiet, spectacular views, without being out in the middle of nowhere, and without the headaches of a mega-mansion to care for. I can see it.

6701 N Thimble Pass Tucson, AZ 85750
(listed by Long Realty)

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to find your Catalina Foothills home

Tucson Foothills February Home Sales

Do we have to. Can’t we just play make-believe

how bad could it be. Sales are up a tad from January’s extremely dismal numbers. But they’re lower than last February – and just about every month since then - and lower than February 2012 too, and lower even than February 2011.

And sold price didn’t  do so good either.

 

But look at the brite side, think how easy it’ll be to beat this February’s numbers when next February rolls around.

The January report is HERE

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in contract last week, 2/24 – 3/2

From Monday February 24th through Sunday March 2nd  13 single family homes went to contract in the Catalina Foothills. (link will expire on 4/3/14)

9 were priced from $359,000 to $599,000
3 from $600,000 to $769,900
1 at $2,495,000

yet another weak week for contacts,

The numbers for the previous week are HERE

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to find your Tucson Foothills home

big changes in Skyline Country Club

I’d heard from various sources that the Country Club was having financial difficulties, but never wrote about it because my information was piecemeal and unofficial, and this is a pretty touchy issue. But a home owner that I helped buy in Skyline a few years ago sent me this article that was published yesterday in the AZ Daily Star - Plan to save Skyline Country Club relies on non-member homeowners  So the cat’s out of the bag.

Photo credit: Ron Medvescek / Arizona Daily Star

To me, the resolution doesn’t seem fair. The non-member home owners are shouldering a heavy load to rescue the club. And in return they get what they originally bargained for when they bought in Skyline – a home in an attractive and  functioning golf course community – plus a few crumbs - monthly dinners at the club and — after two years — one day a month of free tennis. And after three years, one free round of golf each month. Gee wiz.

But who am I to stir the pot, 80 percent of homeowners voted on the proposal, and 86 percent of those voted in favor. So everyone in Skyline now has a vested interest in the success of  the CC. Make it a better, more appealing and attractive club, and more home owners will join up, tee up and pay up.

I wish them the very best. Skyline is a very special place, nothing else like it in Tucson.

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to find your Tucson Foothills home

slower sales in Villages of Ventana

Last year 7 homes sold in the Villages, and they sold in an average of 15 days – amongst the very quickest sales in the Foothills.

So far this year there’ve been 2 sales, and 1 home has just gone to contract after 88 days, the longest market time in more than a year. Those 3 deals average 69 days on market. And there are 2 homes still for sale that have been at it an average of 103 days, and counting.

Aside from a generally slower market this year, I think at least part of this slowdown is attributable to sellers pushing the price envelope this year after seeing such quick sales last year. But it looks like that strategy is backfiring on two fronts. First it’s taking much longer to find a buyer, and, they’re all having to reduce their prices anyway in order to find one.

88 days to contract - 5280 N Ventana Vista Road  Tucson, AZ 85750 (listed by Long Realty)

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gee, I wonder if this also applies to real estate

From NYTimes.com

Rose-Colored Words, but Gray Outcomes

When all the words you hear about the economy are bullish, you may want to run in the other direction. This counterintuitive finding — that positive visions of the future precede downturns — appears to be the case both for people and the economy as a whole.

This bad news for unbridled optimism was laid out in a paper published in Psychological Science online in February. The study looked at the relationship between economic malaise and language in newspaper articles and presidential addresses. The finding was stark: Optimistic language was a predictor of poor performance.

“A cultural climate of positive thinking about the future, may have contributed to low economic achievement,” the article concludes.

The paper, by scholars from New York University and the University of Hamburg, speculates that widespread optimism could cause people to discount the risk of trouble ahead, make unwise investments, be less entrepreneurial and thus exacerbate or even create economic weakness.

Read all about it; Rose-Colored Words, but Gray Outcomes

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in contract last week, 2/17– 2/23

From Monday February 17th through Sunday February 23rd just  12 single family homes went to contract in the Catalina Foothills - the same skimpy number as the previous week. (link will expire on 3/31/14)

When I checked the contracts earlier this week and saw just 12, I assumed there were (had to be) others that hadn’t been turned in yet. So I waited, but, nope, just 12. What gives!

9 were priced $226,000 to $550,000
1 at $875,000
and 2 very lucky sellers priced at $1,150,000 & $1,425,000

The numbers for the previous week are HERE

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finally, a break from all that beautiful weather

And a rare opportunity to check out that house you’ve had your eye on, for leaks and drainage issues.
Click HERE for all single family foothills homes scheduled for an Open House this weekend.

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to find your Catalina Foothills home