Sabino Mountain 2008 Review of Sales

Sabino Mountain sales in 2008 proved to be an interesting year. The Monerey and Pepper-Viner resales were hit hard. There was only one non-custom home sold this year and it was sold by the Long Foothills office. It was located on 4299 N Ocotillo Canyon and sold for $424,900. Of course there was one foreclosure that was also a Pepper-Viner home that was located at 4338 N Ocotillo Canyon Drive that ultimately sold for $250,000; being that it was a large two- story home with 5 bedrooms and 3 baths; this was a steel! There were 3 mid-range custom homes that sold for 660K, 795K , 825K and 938K; I sold the two houses priced at 795K and 825K. Three high -end custom homes sold for $1,449,000, $1,625,000 and $2,250,000. The first two were sold by my Long Realty Foothills office. I sold a home in November that is under contract and will close escrow the middle of January; it was listed at $1,365,000; after it closes I will let you know the final sales price.

So, all and all, it was not a bad year for the mid and high end custom homes at Sabino Mountain, but a poor year for all the non-custom homes.

The mortgage crisis has hit the Foothills housing market. Conforming loan limits have not gone up from the 417K ceiling they have been for some time and to get a loan up to that point you need 10% down and an excellent credit score with very stable work history. This is particulary difficult for those who are self-employed unless they have a long and stable work history. For loans over 417K you usually have to put 20% and also have to have excellent credit and a stable work history. FHA loans only require 3.5% down but the loan ceiling is $271,050, so almost all homes in Sabino Mt. are over this price range.

In the high price ranges more Buyers can either pay cash or have a very large down payment, so mid and high-end custom homes are less affected. However, it is not a walk in the park in any price range since Jumbo Loans (over 417K) are the most stringent to obtain.

Hopefully when Obama gets in things will change and the lenders will loosen credit so more people will be able to purchase.

If you are planning to stay in your home and loan rates fall again it will be a good idea to refinance. For a short period in December many people refinanced and were able to get a low, 30 year fixed mortgage rate of 4.75% with 0 points.

If you need specifics on Sabino Mountain Sales, need a Market Study, or a need a referral to an excellent Loan Officer, give me a call at 520-918-2410.

This entry was posted on January 4, 2009 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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