PHOENIX --
Stanley Fosha is a realtor with the JD Samuelson Group and he has been finding a lot of deals lately.
There is a Phoenix home now going for $487,000; that's down from an original asking price of $2 million, according to Fosha.
He also said in the trendy Orpheum Lofts area of downtown Phoenix, “We’ve got one in this building for $108,000. It originally sold for $280,000" (and it used to go for $800,000, he said).
When it comes to downtown, Fosha thinks the deflated prices are the best thing that could have happened to the area.
That’s because previously it was too expensive, and for the price, people didn’t want to give up the space and convenience of a home.
The new prices, combined with the launch of light rail, means more people may consider urban living and the convenience of having work, food and entertainment within walking distance.
The drop in price at Orpheum Lofts is emblematic of a market that continues to struggle.
Fosha said he doesn’t think things will really get back to a steady increase in prices until banks get out of the business.
“The bank controls our market, they own the most real estate and they get to decide what it’s worth,” he said.
As the foreclosure crisis deepened, banks offered killer deals to shed their inventory, but Fosha said that in turn dropped property values, prompting even more people to walk away from their homes.
“We forget they went up to a point they shouldn’t have either," he added. "You can’t go back to 2005 and say 'my house was worth a million' and feel good about it because it really wasn’t.”
Fosha said while the market continues to correct itself there are some bright spots.
He believes, generally speaking, that the $100,000 - $400,000 market is healthy right now in most parts of the Valley while things are tough above $400,000 because there are not a lot of loan products in that range and not a lot of credit-worthy buyers.
When asked how low he believes prices will go, Fosha said, “it depends on where you are in the Valley. I can take you to places in Avondale and Tolleson where there is a very healthy market, it’s found its bottom and prices are actually going up a little bit."
But he added, "I can take you to far north Scottsdale and show you a market that’s still got a lot of risk of going down substantially lower.”
He said if you are looking at a home up to $400,000 it is important to know that it is still a buyer’s market and buying before rock bottom can be a very good investment.
