Local historic preservation advocate Jim McPherson brought to my attention that there have been some increases in the Arizona State budget related to preservation. You can learn more about applying for these grants here.

Heritage Fund

In fiscal year 2023, $2.5 million was appropriated to fund the Arizona State Parks Heritage Fund. The Heritage Fund provides grant opportunities for trail projects, outdoor environmental education programs, local, regional, and state parks, as well as historic preservation projects through legislatively appropriated funds.

• Available Funds: $2.5 million
• Eligible Applicants: Include non-profits, governmental entities: cities, towns, counties, tribal governments, and state and federal agencies. Organizations and clubs may enter into a cooperative agreement with an eligible applicant, (e.g. forest land manager).
• Eligible Projects: The Heritage Fund provides grant opportunities for trail projects, outdoor environmental education programs, local, regional, and state parks, as well as historic preservation projects through legislatively appropriated funds.

Local, Regional, and State Parks (LRSP)
Funds Available : $10,000 to $250,000 per project
Eligible Applicants: State, County, Local, Tribal
Eligible Projects: LRSP projects address construction, maintenance and development of public outdoor recreation facilities.

Historic Preservation

Funds Available : $5,000 to $150,000 per project

Eligible Applicants: State, Local, County, Tribal, Schools, Non-Profits

Eligible Projects: Projects must directly involve the resources listed in the Arizona or National Register of Historic Places or determined eligible for listing by the State Historic Preservation Office.

Trails

Funds Available : Up to $50,000 per project

Eligible Applicants: State, County, Local, Tribal, Non-Profit

Eligible Projects: The Trails Program provides funds to develop and maintain trails and trail related facilities for non-motorized trail uses.

Outdoor Environmental Education

Funds Available : $5,000 to $50,000 per project

Eligible Applicants: State, Local, Schools, County, Tribal, Non-Profits

Eligible Projects: Promote outdoor and environmental protection programs related to outdoor recreation.

So, we are about to be officially in a buyer’s market. Look at this chart from the Cromford Report showing where the Cromford Index sits. It’s right on the crucial 100 mark.

Remember, when the index drops below 100 it is a buyers market. We’ve not seen this since 2010!

That buyer’s market is why you are seeing so many price drops and opportunities to negotiate.

Prices have definitely dropped. Not nearly as far as they did 15 years ago (30%, and that is not remotely likely).

More along the lines of 1% to 3%, and that varies depending on the market sector.

We know why this happened. Interest rates doubled over the last year. People are holding off, hoping that prices continue to drop.

But the problem with that approach is that, if they wait too long and the Federal Reserve increases interest rates again, they will erase any savings that they might have seen from price drops with higher interest rates. I detailed that in this blog post last month.

We are seeing some efforts by lenders to adapt, finally. They are recommending a thing called a 2-1 Buydown, in which you get a lower interest rate for the first two years, before the rate goes up to the higher level permanently.

Our friend Jeff Ohm is doing weekly educational webinars on those starting the first week of October. ….

One market analyst told me that she felt that lenders were in denial over the last few months that interest rates were going to go up again, and so they did not educate buyers about these options when they could. I can’t speak to whether that is true, but I can tell you that buyers are now in an odd position.

We know that the long-term demand is not going to go away. We’ve addressed previously about how Arizona can expect to need to build about 270,000 living units (apartments or homes) over the next decade. Even if we can address the scourge of short term rentals and investment buyers shrinking inventory so home prices are unattainable for many, we will still need more homes.

In other words, if you buy now, your long-term prospects for selling higher are still good. Believe it or not.

If you are listing, don’t kid yourself. It’s a buyer’s market. You won’t get multiple offers, you need to spruce up your property and you will have to price aggressively. This has basically been true since about March, but many sellers were in denial and have paid the price.