Chilly winters days prevail (this week at least) and our cold winds tend to keep the buyers at bay.\u00a0 Our cold snaps are temporary… as is our temporary slowdown in Sedona real estate buying.\u00a0 The good news (for the market in general and for sellers) is that the number of available homes and vacant land is at a 6 year low.\u00a0 We currently have only 363 residential units on the market (of which 62 are already tied up in escrow with other buyers) and 336 vacant parcels available (11 of these are in escrow too!).\u00a0\u00a0 I say that this is good for the market and for sellers, because when availability decreases, prices tend to rise (thus, not as good for buyers)<\/p>\n
The great news for everyone is that the short sales and foreclosures are fading quickly.\u00a0 These lower priced properties were the scourge of neighborhoods for the last few years, comprising as much as 17% of inventory and 40% of sales.\u00a0 In 2012, these distressed residential sales made up only 22% of sales – and currently represent 11% of the available homes.\u00a0 Looking forward by examining the number of current short sales listings (pre-foreclosure homes) is even lower.\u00a0 Short sales are down by 65% over last year…\u00a0 This should indicate that future foreclosures will be down by the same percentage one year from today.\u00a0 Just like that… poof – the Sedona foreclosure market will dry up and go away (maybe!).<\/p>\n