Ladies and Gentlemen of the Board, I submit the following report for your consideration.

When I started Phoestivus in December of 2010, we had about 20 vendors and three food trucks. Attendees numbered in the hundreds. (Please see our video from last year.)

This year, we expect to see over 10,000 attendees over two nights. We have booked over 200 vendors. We have 18 food trucks.

The feats of strength is a regular event, and it changes every year.

The Airing of Grievances has become an annual story telling tradition.

The seasonal Phoestivus Ale continues to be a hit and is distributed around the state.

The Phoestivus Pole has been re-built and is still the tallest one, as far as we know.

Phreddy the Yeti is more popular than ever, and you can see him all around town this time of year.

People line up down the street to get a photo with the Hipster Santa.

In other words, the market is evolving, we raise more money than ever for the Phoenix Farmer’s Market and we are proud as punch.

In the last couple years, we’ve built a strategic partnership with the International Rescue Committee to help refugee-vendors to build their local businesses.

We have not lost our connection to our roots. The goal was always to support small and new businesses. Even as we moved to a flat fee for vendors (still lower than most markets), we created a grant program for first time vendors so that new business owners can have a crack at the market.

And, of course, we can’t thank Sara Matlin enough, the industrious and determined Market Director for the Phoenix Farmer’s Market. Every year she adds more to her plate, while still juggling my crazy “what if we do this?!” idea machine.

So, what do we see for the next ten years?

We are considering moving to two days back to back, rather than on successive Thursdays. This will save us a great deal of money in set-up and break-down.

We want to improve our sustainability score by doing a better job collecting recyclable materials, compostables and using more renewable energy.

As we grow, we may have to close down even more streets. But, from my standpoint, that’s fine. It is becoming more and more like the German Christmas markets which inspired me in the very beginning.

We are certain that when you buy a gift from the local craftsman who made it, you will have a richer story to tell and a more meaningful holiday experience.

So, I humbly submit to you, good people of the Board, that Phoestivus represents all the best creative and artistic bassasery that Phoenix has to offer.

Shall we take a vote now?

Unsurprisingly, the market is still strong. Prices, valley-wide, are inching upward, ever upward.

According to our friends at the Cromford Report, “For the monthly period ending November 15, we are currently recording a sales $/SF of $175.52 averaged for all areas and types across the ARMLS database. This is up 2.5% or $4.22 from the $171.30 we now measure for October 15.”

The number of active listings, valley-wide has been dropping dramatically since the middle of the year, even going as far back as the end of 2018 if you look at just the CenPho zip codes.

I like to look at the CenPho zip codes, because those are dominated by historic neighborhoods, density and urban living.

Even the Cromford Index has started moving upward again, after a slight stall in October.

For those of you who don’t know, the Cromford Index is a measure of whether it is a seller’s market or a buyer’s market, and by how much. Everything over 100 is a seller’s market. Under 100 is a buyer’s market.

The Cromford Index is a strong predictor of where the market is going. If it takes a tumble, be ready for price drops in the next couple months, even if prices are going up at the time the index begins to drop.

So, what does this mean?

First, we need more owner-occupied construction, generally, but particularly in Central Phoenix. The massive push under the last two mayors for downtown in-fill resulted in lots of apartments, but hardly any new owner-occupied construction. This was a major failure.

I’m not one of those realtors who thinks everybody needs to buy a house. But, there needs to be a healthy mix in any area so that people feel an attachment to a neighborhood.

I predict this lack of attachment to downtown will become a problem for Phoenix in the next 10 years.

Second, because there is such a shortage of inventory, seller’s who want to sell should take action. You will get top price for your listing.

Third, if you are a buyer on a tight budget, you are probably going to have to look a little further out of downtown.

There are many of us who believe that this shortage has been caused by large companies purchasing homes for short-term or long-term rental, thus taking them out of regular circulation.

This is a huge problem and will continue to be until there is some change to the dynamic.

Watch for the beginning of 2020 to bring more of the same.

If you need help building a strategy to buy or sell a home, contact us at 602-456-9388.