By Catherine Reagor | Arizona Republic
Metro Phoenix is the “hottest” housing market in the U.S., according to a respected national real estate expert.
But the new “hot” definition for housing is much different than during the boom when Valley prices climbed a crazy 50% in a year and new homes shot up at triple the pace they are going up now.
Real estate analyst John Burns is calling metro Phoenix hot now because prices aren’t expected to drop like they are in other big U.S. cities. He said that is due to the area’s sturdy job and population growth and shortage of new homes.
“Metro Phoenix is the Goldilocks of U.S. housing,” Burns said at the Land Advisors Organization’s annual real estate forecast in December. “It’s not too hot, and it’s not too cold.”
Why Phoenix is hot
- Valley home prices are forecasted to climb about 4% during 2020, while they have peaked or are falling in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Houston, New York, Dallas, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Washington D.C., according to Burns Real Estate Consulting [link added].
- Metro Phoenix ranks No. 4 for the most investors — about 28% of homebuyers. Those buyers include ibuyers like Offerpad, flippers and big single-family rental firms such as VIP Homes that pay cash for houses.
- Despite the high ranking for investors, the Valley still has 8% fewer buyers who don’t plan to live in homes than it did during the boom of 2004-06 when speculators put little to nothing down on houses and then walked away when prices fell…
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