In the time between our last newsletter and this one, our 2br/2ba, 976sf cute bungalow in Central Phoenix went under contract.

Sorry, folks. We can usually time these listings so that I can tell you about them in the newsletter.

Next time, Maybe.

For now, I’d still like to tell you about this one.

I get people all the time telling me they are holding out for that historic bungalow downtown. For the first time home buyer, this is a great option. It’s small inside, but the 7,200sf lot is big enough to add to the home or add an additional structure.

With city ordinances likely to loosen up around second dwelling units, this is a good time to jump on a property like this.

In this case, the huge back yard has already been landscaped, so it’s ready for entertaining and relaxing. The home is in great condition.

It has a cute claw foot tub in the bathroom, and the historic gas fireplace.

The shady front landscaping is easy to maintain and set up perfectly for relaxing on the front porch.

Seriously, if we had more homes with this kind of landscaping in the front, we would not have that oppressive heat island quite so badly in Phoenix.

The property went under contract in about a week, but we are leaving it available for showings. The closing date is coming soon, so watch our listings page for more.

Hint: We’ve also been contacted by a party representing owners of a similar bungalow on the street who is thinking to sell. So, stay tuned for more!

Donna Reiner has written many articles over the years for the Arizona Republic and others about Phoenix history and memorials.  She is a regular contributor to our newsletter. This month Donna tells us about Jo E. Rickards’ role in the early entertainment industry in Phoenix, and his connection to the still-operating Orpheum Theater.

Few people in the small town of Falls City, Nebraska could have predicted the colorful and varied life that Joseph Elmer Rickards would eventually live when he was born in 1871, the eldest child of Charles and Philena Rickards. Jo, for that seems to be his preferred first name, began that colorful life by running away to join the circus at rather young age and quickly grew to love the entertainment business.

Rickards was quite the promoter during his career, so much of his early history is based on stories that he and others may very well have spun. But what we do know is this.

Somewhere along the way, Rickards developed the love of the racetrack and horse racing. When pouring through newspapers in the early part of the 20^th century, one must be careful to not focus on the gelding racehorse, “Art Rick.” You might wonder how that name connects to Jo E. Rickards. In fact, that was the name Rickards used when writing a newspaper horse racing column for many years and the horse was named for him.

Rickards arrived in Phoenix around 1914 as the publicity agent of a musical comedy company which performed in the Savoy. By that time, he had been a circus performer, a theatrical agent in Denver, and was a veteran newspaper man and a promoter. Today it’s hard to imagine how he accomplished all this with what might have been limited formal education, but he did.

Rickards apparently liked what he saw in Phoenix and soon he was writing articles for the Arizona Republican, doing publicity for the Savoy and being a promoter of a large auto show. In no time, he became the manager of the Columbia Theatre.

Teaming up with Harry Nace, another avid movie theater owner, in 1918, the two men began a theater empire (Rickards & Nace) throughout the state. The first theater they built together was The Strand. Others included the Rialto in Phoenix and Tucson, and the Nile in Mesa. At the height of their business, they owned over 20 theaters in Arizona.

Both Rickards and Nace were true sports fans. So, it must have been natural for them to have taken over the management of Riverside Park, both the amusement side and also the baseball venue, by the early 1920s. And they even provided free movies at the park.

On January 5, 1929, the palatial Orpheum Theater opened. Unfortunately, the Orpheum Theater is the only one of Rickards and Nace’s holdings in Phoenix that still exists and still functions as an entertainment venue. A 1929 newspaper article captured the essence of what Rickards & Nace built: “History of Rickards and Nace Reads Like Chapter From Childhood Fairy Tale.”

Not long after the Depression started, Rickards retired to the Los Angeles area where he took up golf and fishing. Ever the showman for all his friends, Rickards passed away April 1, 1943, and is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Donna Reiner is the co-author of three books on Phoenix history.

We are entering the hot months. Compared to February through June or September through November of any given year in any type of market, you will see fewer sellers and fewer buyers.

And it makes sense, right? So many people are escaping the heat by leaving town, cooling off in pools that are barely cold anymore, or hiding inside their dark homes with the AC on and cold drinks in their hands.

So, as the Cromford Report folks look back at the first six months, we are still seeing fewer listings than last year and prices that are pretty much the same.

In our experienced opinions, you might want to brave the heat to find a deal over the summer, rather than waiting until more people come back as the nights begin to cool in October.

“Here are the basics – the ARMLS numbers for July 1, 2023 compared with July 1, 2022 for all areas & types:

• Active Listings (excluding UCB & CCBS): 11,545 versus 14,406 last year – down 20% – and down 1.6% from 11,730 last month
• Active Listings (including UCB & CCBS): 14,406 versus 17,261 last year – down 16% – and down 4.4% compared with 15,062 last month
• Monthly Sales: 7,377 versus 8,113 last year – down 9.1% – and down 9.0% from 8,110 last month
• Monthly Average Sales Price per Sq. Ft.: $287.76 versus $300.43 last year – down 4.2% – but up 1.5% from $283.71 last month

Comparisons with this time last year are getting easier, as a year ago the market was deteriorating as demand from institutional investors and iBuyers collapsed. A steep rise in interest rates had spooked the market and ordinary buyers were holding their breath too.

A year later we have a market which is seeing very low demand and even lower supply. With the 30 year fixed interest rate stuck around 7%, most homeowners do not want to sell and buyers are struggling to qualify and afford a home. Buyers are unimpressed with the low inventory of re-sale homes and are increasingly turning to new built homes. Developers are enjoying strong orders, firmer prices and healthy margins, but have relatively low inventory of homes for sale and a weak pipeline of new permits to build. The strongest sector in the housing market is single-family new construction.

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 since January.

For homeowners, rising prices are reassuring, but for agents, the low volume is a huge problem. There are remarkably few new listings and closings are declining as we enter the summer doldrums. Title companies, lenders, warranty providers, inspectors and appraisers are all suffering from a prolonged weakness in transaction volume. While interest rates remain at 6.75% or higher, we appear unlikely to see much improvement. In fact rising prices will make it even harder for buyers to close on a home. However if interest rates were to fall to 6% or below, we could see a sharp increase in demand and an improvement in supply too.

We will shortly see the average $/SF for closings overtake the figure from a year ago. At the moment the gap is 4.2%, but last year’s prices were falling fast and this year we are seeing a rise of almost 3% in just 2 months. The third quarter is notorious for weakness in average pricing, but even if closed prices stay flat for the next 3 months, annual appreciation will have turned positive by the end of the quarter.”

So, what’s the take-away from all of this? Inventory is not great, but prices continue to climb and will climb further at the end of the summer.

If you are a buyer, get out there now. If you are a seller, start preparing your property over the summer to list in September.