Housing picture grim in Phoenix metro area

[Liberal_in_LA]

Housing picture grim in Phoenix metro area

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-17-obamahousing_N.htm?csp=24&RM_Exclude=Juno

For the past two decades, the Phoenix metropolitan area boomed, its population growing by more than 50%. But since late 2007, boom has turned to bust. Home prices have tumbled 40% in a year, figures from Arizona State University show, prompting investors to abandon their properties and leaving overextended homeowners to face foreclosure.

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"We still have some pretty high numbers to come," says Jay Butler, who directs the school's real estate center. "If you're struggling to keep your home and you see all this empty stuff around, then you lose incentive to stay."

Census numbers show that a record one in nine U.S. housing units are vacant, including about 3% of owned homes.

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Bill and Chris Pollock's neighbor has been trying to sell his home there for a year. The asking price started at $799,000. They say he'd take $525,000 today.

The Pollocks, both 65, built their dream house for about $360,000 five years ago. Its value more than doubled but has since dipped below $600,000. "We're sitting tight," says Chris, a seventh-grade language arts teacher.

That's more than can be said for their son Doug, a single father who couldn't keep up with his mortgage payments and is now renting. "He just got in way over his head," says Bill, a nurse.

A bit farther north in Mesa, Kenny Mayer, 32, is trying to sell his three-bedroom house because his wife is pregnant with their third child. He's competing with three homes around the corner that are foreclosures.

The Mayers bought their home for $119,000 in 2003 and watched its value double. They want out while they're still ahead. Asking price: $140,000.

[Wine and music]

1. Wow.

"The Pollocks, both 65, built their dream house for about $360,000 five years ago. Its value more than doubled but has since dipped below $600,000. "We're sitting tight," says Chris, a seventh-grade language arts teacher."

You know what, Chris Pollock? Go fuck yourself. I have nothing against someone making a profit, but if you're not satisfied with making over $200,000 on your house in this market, you can stuff it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. note. Article says they'd be happy to sell it for $525K. I think they are sitting tight

because they can't sell it in this market.

[Wine and music]

5. Ahhhh...

Ok, I missed that part of the article. I was pretty sure I read it all the way through, but I missed that... though, at the same time that is still a huge profit. In this market ANY profit is something to be thankful for. The housing prices were simply ridiculous and unsustainable, especially in the valley.

[girl gone mad]

9. There were a lot of people in this country..

who believed it was perfectly acceptable to fund their lavish retirement by selling the next generation into debt slavery. Bush's "ownership society" was the biggest Ponzi Scheme in history. People like the Pollocks were old enough to know better, but greed got the better of them.

[rufus dog]

3. Phoenix and the Valley have always had the bad habit of overbuilding

They just take a patch of desert and throw up houses at times providing basic infrastructure. Then when the bad times hit everything falls apart. It has been interesting to see two to three page ads in the LA times for Phx foreclosures. Some of the newer suburbs are doing a better job of planning for growth, others are still using the strike while it is hot mentality.

[SheilaT]

4. If it's their dream house,

why are they selling? And why can't the Mayer's live in a three bedroom house? There's no law that says each kid must have a separate bedroom.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. I wondered why 3 bedrooms wasn't enough also! Particularly for lil kids!

Yes, one bedroom each is nice but the economy is in the toilet. Maybe when the kids are teenagers
they can afford a bigger house. Until then... :nopity:

[spanone]

6. you could insert just about any cities name in that sentence

[StarryNite]

7. It's getting really bad here in the Phoenix area.

A few years ago they couldn't build houses fast enough. The asking price was just the beginning of bidding wars on houses. People would be waiting when new homes went up for sale. Prices went sky high. Now it's the complete opposite. There are many people upside down in their loans. It's a bleak situation.