One year ago, we were in the early stages of a nationwide real estate market cooling, and the Phoenix market was no exception. Buyers seemed to have had enough of the rapidly rising prices, frustrated in losing on multiple offer properties, and of course apprehensive about rising interest rates.
The second half of 2022 and the first couple months of this year saw rising inventory and a 10-12% reduction in home prices... But things have changed in the last few months. Buyers are back, driven by pent-up demand from 2-3 years of low inventory and a growing acceptance that interest rates are not heading down anytime soon.
Here are some current statistics / facts from The Cromford Report about the current state of the Phoenix area market.
- There were 7,665 closed transactions in June with a median sales price of $470,937
- Closings were down 19% from June 2022, and down 7.7% from May 2023
- The median sales price was down 3.3% from a year ago but up 1.6% from last month
- The median sales price has risen 5 months in a row and is now up 7.1% from the low point of January 2023.
- The resale median sales price was down 7.0% from last year but up 0.5% from last month
Some people drastically overstate the importance of interest rates in determining home prices. Interest rates are important but when they move higher they lower supply as well as demand. It is the balance between supply and demand that determines how prices move. At the moment, supply is much weaker than demand, so prices are increasing, as they have been since January. (Cromford, July 2023)
Sun Lakes inventory has dwindled to levels seen in the frenzy during the pandemic. Demand is normal for this time of year, but normal, healthy demand combined with extremely low inventory will lead to rising prices as we have already seen in the last 3 months.
It is HOT in Arizona in July and the real estate market is heating up as well. Whether buying or selling in this shifting market, The Kolb Team is here to help with all of your real estate needs.
The Kolb Team
SPDS - Seller Property Disclosure Statement
When in Doubt… Disclose!
Seller Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS) is designed to assist you, the seller!
The SPDS assists sellers in making legally required disclosures, helping to avoid inadvertent nondisclosure of material facts. Therefore, the seller’s obligation - by law - is to disclose all of the known important facts about the property. The SPDS is a 6-page document with 6 general sections.
The 6 Sections of the Seller Property Disclosure Statement
- Ownership and Property. General information such as location, ownership, and occupancy.
- Building and Safety Information. Chiefly, this is the physical aspects of the property. A seller will disclose any past or present problems with the property, any work improvements to the home, and also any current or past presence of termites and any treatment for them.
- Here you will identify whether the property receives specific utilities along with the providers / vendors. Also, you will disclose water source and any drinking water issues.
- Environmental Information for the Property. In this section, a variety of information needs disclosure, including issues relating to soil settlement and expansion; and likewise, with regard to soil, any issues with drainage, grade, or erosion. In this section, any problems with airport or traffic noise, odors, and other nuisances are disclosed as well. Notably, mold growth is an important aspect of the environmental information section. For instance, mold can be present where there has been water damage, excessive moisture, or flooding. So, consequently, all water leaks, water damage, and moisture must be disclosed.
- Sewer and Wastewater Treatment. Arizona’s Sun Lakes has a connection to a private wastewater plant (Pima Utilities). Many homes around the Phoenix area do not have a connection to sewer and are represented otherwise. Significantly, it is important to answer all questions regarding this issue.
- Other Conditions and Factors. This additional space is available for the disclosure of any other important information concerning the property.
What is not required to be disclosed?
By law, sellers are under no obligation to disclose that the property is or has been the site of a natural death, nor suicide, homicide, or any other crime classified as a felony that occurred in the home. There is no obligation to disclose that the homeowner is a person with exposure to HIV or has a diagnosis of AIDS, or that the home is in the vicinity of a sex offender. However, the law does not protect a seller who makes an intentional misrepresentation. If any of these are important to you, neighbors are always willing to talk and may be a good resource for your due diligence.
Disclosure is Your Friend
Your real estate agent cannot complete the form for you but can provide valuable assistance in answering your questions. Your real estate agent is required to disclose any item that may have a material impact on the buyer, whether or not you (the homeowner) disclose it. Avoid a potential lawsuit down the road and disclose, disclose, disclose!
Meet this month’s Pet of the Month
Congratulations, Cooper, for being our July 2023 Pet of the Month!
This is Cooper! He is such a loving, caring, and sensitive guy. He is a rescue and reminds us every single day how thankful he is. He really is the best dog! We are so lucky that we found him! Our hearts and home are full of love with him!
If you would like your pet to be featured in our Pet of The Month and win a Chewy gift card for your sweet family member, send a picture to info@thekolbteam.com and tell us why your furbaby makes you happy. We look forward to seeing all of your awesome pet pics!
As the temperature heats up, we’d like to remind Chaucer and all other pets and pet parents to keep those paws cool in Sun Lakes and beyond! When you want to take your furbaby for a walk, you can check the surface with your hand. If it feels very hot or is uncomfortable for you, it will definitely be unpleasant or even painful for your pet. Did you know that the temperature of concrete and asphalt when compared to the temperature outside can be as high as this chart shows? Yikes!
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp butter
- 2 tsp plain all-purpose flour
- ½ C whole milk
- ½ C finely grated Manchego cheese
- 12 wide flat field mushrooms
- ¼ tsp oak-smoked sweet Spanish paprika
Directions:
- Put butter in a saucepan and cook over high heat until melted.
- Add the flour to the pan and stir quickly to form a thick paste. Remove from heat and add a little of the milk, stirring constantly until thick and smooth.
- Return the pan to medium heat and add the remaining milk, whisking constantly until all the milk is incorporated and the mixture is smooth and thick.
- Add the cheese and stir until melted. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Spoon cheese sauce into mushroom caps and place in baking dish.
- Sprinkle the paprika over the top and bake for 20 minutes.
I’ll Take a Bottle of Medicinal Whiskey… And Here Is My Prescription
There are few things better on a hot summer day than a nice, cold drink… perhaps a beer, chilled wine, or spirit “on the rocks”. If you lived in the Roaring 20s or early Dirty 30s, you wouldn’t be able to do so legally! The 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, also known as the Volstead Act and more popular as Prohibition, was passed in 1919. United States citizens had the temperance movement, the leader of the Anti-Saloon League (Wayne Wheeler), and then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (Andrew Volstead), to thank for coming up with and being advocates of this quite unpopular legislation. How do we know it was disliked so much? Two words sum it up – speakeasies and gangsters.
Illegal establishments where people could go to drink alcohol and the organized crime businesses, bootleggers, and distillery operations that brought it to them made out like bandits between 1920 and 1933. Unfortunately, some of the spirits that were available were made of wood alcohol (methanol) and sometimes made drinkers sick or caused death – not really a surprise considering it is not meant for ingestion. Many people don’t know this, but during Prohibition, it was possible for people who qualified to get safe booze, usually whiskey or brandy, by way of a doctor’s prescription. In 1924, this individual in Pittsburgh was prescribed “vinum gallice”, commonly known as wine, to be ingested 3 times a day.
Throughout history, drinkable forms of alcohol have been used medicinally in addition to recreationally. Primates have been known to eat fermented fruit, and many who subscribe to Darwin’s theory of evolution think the ability for humans to metabolize alcohol probably came from that practice. Jars of wine made from fermented honey, rice, hawthorn berries, and grapes dating back to around 7000 BC were discovered in present-day China, and are thought to be the original indication of alcohol in the civilizations of homo sapiens. The drink was thought to have certain health advantages including revitalizing and warming the blood. Near Haifa in what is now known as Israel, the world’s first brewery was confirmed through the discovery of 13,000-year-old beer residue. Through testing, the alcohol was found to contain wheat and barley. Egyptian and Sumerian writings from around 2100 BC seem to be the first to state that drinkable alcohol actually had medicinal uses, and deemed wine a rejuvenating tonic. Proverbs 31:6-7 of the Hebrew Bible suggests giving an adult beverage to those who are down in the dumps or near death to help them stop thinking about their current state. Translated into English, this passage means “Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to him whose life is bitter.” In Greece, wine was given as a medicine to treat injuries, cancer, and even halitosis. The Roman Empire, most likely inspired by Talmudic medicine practices, created surgical anesthesia with a combination of wine and either frankincense or myrrh. The Middle Ages saw tons of beer brewing especially at monasteries. Citizens may have consumed up to a gallon per day, partly because water couldn’t always be trusted to be safe. Alchemist Arnaldus de Villanova stated that vodka – also known as the water of life (aqua vitae) – was a “cure for all ailments”. He also said alcohol can heal sores, ease the user’s heart, improve appetite and digestion, and protect against and treat numerous health conditions (like gout and bladder diseases). If you were in England in the 1700s and had stomach pain, gallstones, gout, or needed general health maintenance of several internal organs, you very well may have been given gin. Absinthe, believed to have been crafted first by a Swiss doctor in 1792 France, was used to relieve digestive issues like indigestion and intestinal parasites, rheumatic conditions, and pain from giving birth. At 120 proof, it sounds like it would pack a punch so hard that whatever is ailing you won’t be for long! Some monks in Buddhism believe mindful drinking can clear a cloudy mind and Christians use wine in the communion ritual.
There is a long history of ethanol being used as medicine as well as recreationally, and it seems that sometimes there is a crossover between the two reasons for drinking it. And even now, studies have been done that show many adults can safely drink alcohol in moderation and lower their risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases. Prohibition aimed to rid the United States of the overuse of alcohol and negative effects that can come with doing so, but the years between 1920 and 1933 rank among the highest levels of violence on American soil. By 1926, there were over 12,000 murders per year across the country between rival gangsters, bootleggers, distillers, police officers, and those who were somehow related to those groups or just in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught in the cross-fire. Thankfully, by 1933, enough was enough and Americans could once again imbibe if they wanted.
Searching for That Perfect Home?
When looking at pictures online, it can be tricky to figure out the layout of a home. We can help you with that! On our website, you can access the most popular floor plans in Sun Lakes, AZ. Just click the button below!
Buyers of the Month
We have buyers who are ready, willing, and able to purchase and can’t find homes. If you or someone you know is thinking of selling and can accommodate, get in touch with us.
We have your buyer!
- Buyer looking for a golf course lot home in Cottonwood with at least 2100 sq ft and 2.5-car garage.
- Buyers looking for a view lot with a full 3-car garage. 2300+ sq ft with 3 bedrooms.
- Buyers looking outside of Sun Lakes for a large property with at least 4 garages and RV garage.
- Buyers looking for a 2BR, 2BA, + den in one of the gated communities.
Recent Real Estate Sales in Sun Lakes
Wondering about your Neighbor’s Home Sales Price? Find out here to see what sold last month. The report is broken down by HOA, address, and floor plan (if the agent listed the model in MLS).
We Are Committed to Helping End Polio Now!
We will donate $100 in your name to end polio around the world, when you list your home for sale with us!
You may also donate directly here
Would You Like a Free Buyer Guide or a Seller Guide?
Get Insider Information
We live, work, play, and volunteer in Sun Lakes and we know the ins and outs of this community.
As always, if you or someone you know is considering buying or selling a home,
we are here year-round and would love to help! Visit us online at
TheKolbTeam.com or call 480-809-5759.
