Our July listings and solds say everything about the market. As soon as they were up, they were sold, with more to come.

As usual, keep an eye on our live listings page to see all updates.

Coming live this week is a four-bedroom, 2 bath 1,858sf investment property with a pool in Tempe, which was beautifully renovated just a few years ago.

Whether you are looking for an STR opportunity or a new home, this property is plug-and-play, with access to Tempe and South Scottsdale sports, dining and entertainment.

Since purchase, the owners have made over $58,000 in improvements, including new exterior siding, pool resurfacing, pool heater and automation, panel installation , replacement of old Orangeburg sewer line, new washer and dryer, new pool pump and back yard landscaping with high quality turf installation. They have also added over $55,000 worth of home furnishings and accessories.

We just listed this 900sf 2br/2ba condo last Friday, across from all the great restaurants at Montebello and 7th St. Even over the holiday weekend, it went under contract above list price. We feel good about this one closing smoothly (knock on wood). It is nearly impossible to find a property at this price in this market, located next to so many great uptown restaurants and shopping. This shady condo community is stable and well-managed. The property has been partially updated with new flooring and paint, so you can make it your own.

In the Under Contract category of our July Listings and Solds list is 805 S Sycamore, Unit 114 in Mesa. It is difficult to find any properties under $300,000 in this market, so this is a great opportunity as a starter home at $249,900. It is a 2br/2ba, 941sf condo built in 2001.

Unlike many properties built in recent years, this home has its own garage. The community has a pool and well maintained grounds.

The property is very close to Mesa Community College, Banner Desert Medical Center, shopping, entertainment, as well as easy access to SR 60 and the loop 101.

The second listing under contract is 3035 E John Cabot Dr in north Phoenix. This 3br/2ba, 1,477sf home was listed at $385,000.

With 7.6 kW of solar panels on the roof and a shady back yard, you will ride out the heat of the summer with ease. No solar lease. No solar loan. This solar system is ready to go and your electric bills will be low, low, low.

The kitchen and living room areas are open and well-lit, with a fireplace. There is plenty of storage in the garage. The property has convenient access to SR-51 and lots of shopping in the mile radius. Paradise Valley Community College and Paradise Valley Park are strolling distance.

If you have specific questions about the properties, please contact us at 602-456-9388.

Our list of July events may be even more important as so many options in the cooler areas of Arizona are restricted due to the wildfires that are raging across our fair state.

The Japanese Friendship Gardens is hosting the Tanabata or Star Festival, which has been celebrated for hundreds of years in Japan, usually on 7/7, the one day a year that the two lovers in the famous Tanabata myth can cross the Milky Way to meet. The Japanese Friendship Garden will be celebrating their beautiful story and the culture surrounding this tale with you during Tanabata Week from 7/5 to 7/10. Experience the songs, crafts and stories each day through a film created in the Garden all leading up to the 9th and 10th, when we invite guests who come to the Garden to write their wish on tanzaku paper and tie it to our bamboo Tanabata tree. Kids will also have the option to make a traditional origami paper decoration while supplies last! Free.

Daddy Long Legs, all month, at the Phoenix Theatre is a heartwarming Cinderella story about a witty young woman and her mysterious benefactor, this award-winning off-Broadway hit musical offers gorgeous, soaring melodies. It follows Jerusha Abbott, who has grown up in an orphanage but is sent to college by a mysterious benefactor so she may learn to be a writer. The benefactor requires just one thing – that she write to him monthly, even though he will not respond. Her letters to him paint a moving portrait of the development of her mind and spirit, and she emerges as a fiercely independent, intelligent woman, who is destined to find love where she least expects it. Hormel Theatre. $64 – $94.

The Arizona Science Center hosts #GIRLSINSTEM – Camp Innovation, starting July 12th. Each 5-day camp session introduces kids to STEM and builds skills for youth through high-energy challenges, building, and design opportunities, and concept exploration. Join for a camp where science, design, social media and engineering collide! During this 10-day session, connect with other like-minded leaders that share your passion and love for science. From a behind-the-scenes peek of various STEM careers to learning about science, technology, engineering, math, and art through making. $500.

The Duce is hosting weekly swing dance nights, every Wednesday. Don’t know how to swing dance? Neither do I and I’ve been procrastinating about getting out there to learn. I think it might be time to do it! It will be some hot swing dancing on hot summer nights. Can I just wear shorts, or do I have to wear a full zoot suit? Join the early free lesson and learn some moves to dance the night away. $10. Learn more on The Duce website.

While we are talking about The Duce, I noticed that they host a weekly Rock N’ Roll Burlesque night. I’ve not been to this show, but it is really hard to find burlesque shows that deliver everything they could -comedy, tricks and, er, scandal. 😊 I’ll be checking this out with friends soon.

The new outdoor Film Bar at the Pemberton is hosting What’s Good? with Anwar Newton and Randy Heflin Jr. I’ve met Anwar. He’s funny. Gotta say. This is a monthly comedy show hosted by two dudes that people willingly keep giving microphones to, featuring local and touring comedians telling jokes under the stars at Pemberton PHX! $16.

It’s gonna be a shortage for a while, although things seem to be getting better as more people throw listings on the market and demand is softening. So, for now, I’m still gonna call it the July Shortage Update. Here’s what the Cromford Report analysts are seeing this month:

• Active Listings (excluding UCB & CCBS): 5,699 versus 8,788 last year – down 35.2% – but up 15.9% from 4,917 last month
• Active Listings (including UCB & CCBS): 9,783 versus 14,279 last year – down 31.5% – but up 4.5% compared with 9,361 last month
• Monthly Median Sales Price: $397,000 versus $305,000 last year – up 30.2% – and up 1.8% from $390,000 last month

“Supply is now on a clear upward trend, growing almost 16% from last month, though it is still down over 35% from this time last year and a very long way below normal. This upward trend is thanks to a strong flow of new listings and a decline in the rate of listings going under contract.

Demand looks strong when we look at the closed sales numbers, up 5% from last year and 5.6% higher than last month. However June 2021 contained 22 working days, 10% more than May 2021, so the number of closings per day was actually down 4% compared with last month. Demand looks very weak when we look at the listings under contract, which is the forward-looking element of demand. This count is down over 15% compared with this time last year and down almost 8% from last month. This is a clear signal that the rapid rise in prices is having the expected dampening effect on demand.

We expect sales rates to slow in the second half of 2021. We forecast that prices will continue to rise but at a slower pace than during the first half. These means that dollar volume will remain very high compared with historical numbers.

The CMI looks likely to fall well below 400, but the rate of decline will depend very much on the rate of arrival of new listings. The first several days of the July shortage are of little use as a guide because of Independence Day, but we should have a clearer picture of supply patterns by the middle of July.

We anticipate a growing divergence between the supply patterns of 2021 and 2005, since there were many thousands of empty homes held by speculators in 2005 which were listing for sale during the third quarter of 2005. We see very few of these speculative empty homes in 2021. In July 2005, we got 12,580 new listings across Greater Phoenix, far above the monthly rate we are seeing in 2021. There have been 58,109 new listings across Greater Phoenix during the first 6 months of the year.”

Anecdotally, we are seeing some folks listing above market, hoping that they can grab some extra cash. We think this strategy can backfire even in this July shortage. While the market is hot it is also very fickle. When we have seen people list too far above market, they don’t get the feeding frenzy that people expect to see right now and then their property becomes stale very quickly. In other words, it is better to list where you are likely to get multiple offers and competition than list too high and people think there is some reason the property did not sell in the first week.

NOTE: The Cromford Index now below 400 since the first time last year. Watch that to continue to drop! See below. Now is the time to list.

Call us if you’d like to strategize your market entry at 602-456-9388.