On May 4, the U.S. Census Bureau released their 2020 county population estimates.  According to their data, Maricopa County had the largest population increase out of all counties in the United States. Maricopa County’s population increased by 86,820 or 238 people per day.  This was the fifth consecutive year that Maricopa County has led all counties in the United States in population gain.  If Maricopa County was a state where would it rank for 2020 net population increase? It would rank #4. Only Texas, Florida and North Carolina gained more people.  As for counties in the U.S. the number two county for population increase was Clark County, Nevada at 40,079 and finishing third was Collin County, Texas with a gain of 36,997.  

When comparing Arizona Counties for the highest year-over-year percentage growth in population it was Pinal County growing by 4.2% or 19,188 people.  Maricopa County was second at 1.9% and Yavapai County was third at 1.8% or 4,164 people.  

Is there any wonder why listings are flying off the shelf faster then you can say active listing?  Maricopa County’s explosive population growth has fueled an oversupply of buyers.  This oversupply is not likely to end soon.

MARK YOUR CALENDER! On May 18th from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. will be THE CALL. THE CALL will be a zoom meeting on market trends, market strategies, how to be an influencer with Sellers and Buyers. There will be special guest speakers! To receive a link for the meeting email at Fwilcox@gcta.com and reference THE CALL.

Copyright 2021 by Fletcher R. Wilcox. Reprinted or Adapted with permission.

Fletcher is on the Board of Directors at the Scottsdale Association of REALTORS® (SAAR). In 2020 he started an Influencer Marketing series for real estate agents at SAAR. He is V.P. of Networking for the Arizona Mortgage Lenders Association. He is a member of the Arizona State Escrow Association and the Arizona Association of REALTORS.

Fletcher is the founder of The Wilcox Report. His market analysis on residential real estate in Greater Phoenix has been mentioned in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Bloomberg News, HousingWire.com, National Mortgage News, the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix Business Journal and AZ Big Media. He has been a guest speaker on both local and national TV and radio. He served on one of the three Arizona Association of REALTORS® subcommittees which made recommendations for changes to the 2017 AAR Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract.  He teaches residential contract law to both real estate agents and escrow officers.

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Join me and Allison Cahill as we discuss on her show first quarter results for the Greater Phoenix Residential market.

Thursday, April 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. a panel discussion with an appraiser, lender, REALTOR and escrow. Register https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuf-GgrDotHtQ08mCkYM-AD674-jyrcD60

Scottsdale March purchase price sets new record! Join me for a Scottsdale update on residential trends; then Martha (Andrighetti Designs) and Kathleen (Purple Cow Staging) will share staging tips and tricks that can even help showing owner-occupied homes! Registration link: https://lnkd.in/gGPGRsF

March 19, 2021

An extremely low supply of residential homes for sale, combined with an enormous oversupply of buyers, is driving many consumers to make contract concessions with the hope of increasing the odds that their offer will be accepted by a seller.

This year is even more competitive for buyers than last year. According to data compiled from ARMLS, the number of sellers listing single-family homes during the first two months of 2021 is down 11 percent compared to last year.

Greater Phoenix Monthly Listings | Single-Family Resale Homes

LISTINGS	2020	2021	Change	% Change
January	6,722	5,841	-881	-13%
February	6,520	5,980	-540	-8%
Total	13,242	11,821	-1,421	-11%

 On the other hand, sales for the first two months of 2021 are up 6 percent over last year.

Greater Phoenix Monthly Sales | Single-Family Resale Homes

SALES	2020	2021	Change	% Change
January	4,457	4,883	426	10%
February	5,166	5,298	132	3%
Total	9,623	10,181	558	6%

Competing Against Cash Offers

To compete against cash offers, some buyers who need a loan to purchase are waiving loan and appraisal contingencies found in the Arizona REALTORS® Residential Resale Real Estate Contract.

Some buyers are agreeing that the seller does not need to make any repairs and others are foregoing an inspection with language like “inspection period will be zero days.”

Some buyers are making their earnest money non-refundable by agreeing to terms like “if buyer cannot close the transaction for any reason, buyer forfeits earnest money to seller” or “earnest money is non-refundable after contract acceptance.”

Emotion Versus Logic

Often, emotions take over when writing an offer. But an agent should have a serious talk with all buyers as to the consequences of removing contingencies, waiving the inspection period, and/or making earnest money non-refundable.

What if during the transaction the buyer discovers they don’t like something about the property and wants out? What if the buyer made the earnest money non-refundable and now has a change in employment and cannot close?

Agents should ask their brokers about asking buyers to acknowledge such risks in writing.

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Fletcher Wilcox is VP of Business Development at Grand Canyon Title Agency. He is affiliate director at the Scottsdale Area Association of REALTORS® and has served on subcommittees for the Arizona REALTORS®.

🏜

Join me and Shannon Goldberg, Grand Canyon Title for Phoenix Real-Estate Trends & Networking – Clubhouse A discussion about the greater Phoenix, AZ real estate market trends, inventory issues, marketing strategies and buyer/seller strategies. Network with other top industry professionals.https://www.joinclubhouse.com/event/xka3gdq1

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WHEN: January 22 at 8:00 a.m.

REGISTER:

Fountain Hills RMS

Today, Wednesday, January 20 at 4:30 p.m. I will give a short overview on the Greater Phoenix and Scottsdale residential markets. You will get great talking points for your buyers and sellers. Must be a member of the Scottsdale Association of REALTORS. To register https://lnkd.in/gGPGRsF

Want more insight on residential real estate in Greater Phoenix? How did 2020 compare to 2019? What is the residential market likely to look like in 2021?

🍏 Apple Podcast 🍏

https://lnkd.in/e7Z4ZzT

Real estate agents join me via zoom Tuesday, January 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for Coffee Talk sponsored by Bliss Realty and Investments and My Title Gal Shannon Goldberg of Grand Canyon Title. 

To register email Shannon Ellsworth Goldberg | My Title Gal sgoldberg@gcta.com