By Rodney Haas | Casa Grande Dispatch
Cathy Taylor has been selling real estate in the Casa Grande area since 1986.
During that time, Taylor has experienced first-hand the highs and lows of the housing market.
That’s why when she hears the news of an industry recovering from collapse and subsequent recession or the news of the construction of PhoenixMart — which is expected to create close to 3,000 jobs — she tends to be a bit skeptical.
“In the real estate industry we don’t count on it until you see the dirt being moved and stuff going up,” said Taylor, who is a Realtor for Coldwell Banker Rox Realty. “Because it seems to take a lot longer than what people think it will to get through the process. Until the actual building and the actual opening. I’ll wait and see.”
But with the addition of PhoenixMart, plus Elrus Aggregate Systems relocating to Eloy and other new plants in Casa Grande, everyone agrees there’s great potential for growth.
“Our location, especially here in Casa Grande, is so strategically located,” said Leila Demaree, senior planner and housing manager for the city of Casa Grande. “We have the best location for trade, as far as distribution. Our weather is perfect for that. We don’t have to deal with ice or snow and we have the two major interstates converging here with Interstate 8 and Interstate 10.”
It was that ideal location that caused many homebuyers in the boom years to buy houses in Pinal County and commute to either Tucson or Phoenix. Taylor said agents would bring prospective buyers to Casa Grande, where they could get the same house they were looking at in Chandler or Ahwatukee for $10,000 to $20,000 less.
“But then when the gas prices started going up, those young couples couldn’t afford to drive to their jobs in Tempe, Chandler and Mesa, and so it really hurt them in that respect,” Taylor said. “They had the house, but a sizable part of their income was spent to get to and from work. Some of them let their houses go because of that and they had to move back up to the Valley area.”
A recent report by the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University concluded that the median single-family home price rose to $190,000 in June for both Pinal and Maricopa counties — up by 27 percent from the previous June.
“We’ve seen some very strong rebound in the last two years. And Pinal County
has been affected as much as anybody,” said the report’s author, Mike Orr. “In fact, part of Pinal County was one of the first to move.”
Orr believes one of the reasons Arizona is recovering quicker compared to other states is the way the state handles foreclosures. As Orr put it, Arizona does them “quickly and efficiently.” When buyers sign loan papers they also give the right to sell the house to a third-party trustee. The trustee is already authorized to sell the house if the buyer doesn’t make the payments.
As a result, when the collapse occurred, a lot of bank-owned homes came on the market very early, which caused prices to go down. Because of this, many of those banked-owned homes have been cleared out and are off the books, compared to
other states that require judicial foreclosure, which is a slow process, according to Orr.
“You can’t really object to it unless you find a way to renegotiate your payments with the bank or you can sell the house in a short sale,” Orr said. “That foreclose is likely to go through in 120 to 150 days. That’s why it’s quick and efficient. It doesn’t involve any lawyers or judges. When you involve lawyers and judges, it tends to take a very long time.”
Orr’s report said foreclosure rates in Maricopa and Pinal counties have dropped by 64 percent from June 2012.
According to John Ellinwood, chief deputy with the Pinal County Assessor’s Office, home prices in the county saw a 25 percent increase over the first quarter of 2012.
“What we are seeing is a steady recovery and it seems to be sustainable,” Ellinwood said. “We don’t seem to have a dip in prices, which is good. We don’t have statistics for unsold inventory, but it looks like it’s a sustainable recovery.”
Taylor said the active listings available in Casa Grande total about 290 ranging between $16,000 and $699,000, but the availability in most buyers’ price range is tight.
“It’s a hope that more people who need to sell and have been in an underwater
situation will come to the market now because their house is worth at least what they purchased it for,” Taylor said. “That will bring more houses to the market. Or they may be in a position, if it was a smaller home, to move up to stay in the area.”
But, finding buyers could be a problem. According to Orr, first-time buyers who are getting an FHA loan will have to buy mortgage insurance, and conventional loans require a substantial down payment.
Because of this, Taylor has seen more cash transactions.
“It’s getting ready to turn the corner,” Taylor said.
