10 minute read
Business
Housing supply tilting upward – but so are prices
BY PAUL MARYNIAK
Executive Editor
The supply of homes for sale across the valley is starting to increase significantly but that may not be something to cheer about for either sellers or buyers, the Cromford Report said earlier this month.
In several reports of the last few weeks, the Cromford Report, a daily analyst of the Valley’s housing market, offered little encouraging news for buyers.
It noted that fewer listed homes are going under contact and warned, “Ordinary owner-occupier home buyers are hitting real trouble.”
Blame spiraling home prices and increasing mortgage rates, it said.
“The very significant rise in mortgage interest rates over the past few months is keeping many sellers out of the market - they do not want to let go of their cheap fixed rate loans,” it said. “However, it is also taking the wind from the sails of the normal owner occupiers, especially the first-time home buyer.
“Not only are they suffering sticker-shock from the asking prices of the homes they would like to buy, and crazy competition from cash buyers, the higher interest rates mean their monthly mortgage payment has increased alarmingly. In some cases, it has increased so much it is no longer deemed to be affordable by their lender and their loan application is denied.
Comparing April 1 of this year with the same date last year, Cromford said active listings are up 23.6%, excluding those that are under contract but still taking offers and those sales contingent on the seller finding a new home.
That percentage shrinks to less than 1% year-over-year when those two categories are included, it said, though they dropped 4.3% between March 1 and April 1.
Moreover, under-contract listings that include those two categories and pending sales are down 7.6% year-overyear and down 3.6% from what they were on March 1.
Sales for March were down 2.6% year-over-year on April 1 but up 26.6% from February, according to the report.
Meanwhile, Cromford reported that in March, the median square-foot price soared 25.5% from what it was in March 2021 and 2.3% from February 2022.
At the same time, the median home sale price in March was $456 – up 27.3% from the $358,250 median price in March 2021 and up 2.5% from the February 2022 median of $445,000.
Last month also saw the highest monthly dollar volume in sales ever recorded, it said, with $5.8 billion.
“This might lead you to think that demand remains very strong, but you would be wrong,” Cromford said. “The falling number of listings under contract show a negative story –down almost 8% from this time last year and even down 3.6% compared to the beginning of March. As we said - fewer active listings are going under contract.”
Cromford also said investors – not homebuyers look for a place to live in – continue to drive home prices upward.
“In this way an expensive market reduces demand and prices start to climb less steeply – at least they would if it were not for the investor demand,” it said. “Many investors are flush with cash and to them, residential real-estate looks like a safe haven. A hedge against inflation, revenue producing (unlike many stocks, cryptocurrency, commodities and gold) and very tangible – it looks extremely attractive when
This home on East Cedar Waxwing Drive in Sun Lakes recently sold for $749,000. The 1,937-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath home was built in 2005 and boasted a complete remodel with 24-inch Italian matte marble tile floors, a spacious great room with custyom-built Marantz theater system and a master suite with bay windows capturing
stunning views. (Special to SanTan Sun News
See MARKET on page 28
Chandler mom sees opportunity in ‘macro counting’
Chandler resident Shannon Dougherty says it’s easy to see why people don’t always stick to diets.
“When I started down my own personal path of macro tracking, I realized all the things that I was depriving myself of in the past, and struggling with those restrictive diet plans that most of us, women especially, feel like excess cardio, under eating and restrict ourselves, a whole new world opened up.”
In macro counting, people count carbohydrates, proteins and fats instead of calories. Dougherty said that helped her finally keep off the same 10 or so pounds she would gain, then lose, then gain, then lose.
She said what she likes about counting macros, is there are no good or bad foods. You can eat what you want, you just have to limit it to the macro daily goals.
Dougherty has always been interested in health.
She’s been a fitness trainer for years but after having success with macro counting in her own life, decided to make the switch and become a macro counting coach.
“It’s a really hard concept for a lot of people to grasp,” Dougherty said. “They think, shoot, I’m going to add more food, and the panic sets in, ‘I’m going to gain weight, I’m adding more food.’ There’s no magic pill, everyone’s searching for the quick fix, and they want results yesterday.”
Dougherty said the best way to think about macro counting is like a race car. If there’s no fuel in the tank, it’s not going anywhere. She said denying the body nutrition leads to binge eating.
By instead of counting calories and instead counting how macros, you’re not denying the body the fuel it needs and you can stick to the types of food that will allow you to still lose weight.
Dougherty started her online coaching in 2019 and currently has clients as far away as Europe and Canada. Because she’s online, the pandemic hasn’t hurt her business.
“It used to be that they wanted to lose their baby weight, now they want to lose their COVID weight,” Dougherty said.
Dougherty said she studied sports medicine at San Diego State University before starting work as a personal trainer.
She said with her experience as a mom, and a business owner and a person who tries to stay fit herself, she can help other busy moms find the balance they need to care for their families and still find time to invest in themselves. Dougherty said first her clients have to make the decision to buy in. Then, she starts by setting small goals to make the changes sustainable. While exercise will definitely help with that journey, it’s not the priority.
“I always like to say you can’t outtrain a bad diet,” Dougherty said. “Nutrition is 85 percent of the equation, I like to say exercising is the icing on the cake.”
She said she limits the number of one-on-one clients she takes so that she can maintain a high level of service. She also offers group classes.
“I just want women and moms to know that they’re not alone in struggling, and there is a way that they can feel good about themselves and see results and not give up on their goals.”
Information: Sign up for service at FitMomLiving.com. Learn more on Instagram at FitMomLiving.
Chandler resident Shannon Dougherty runs Fit Mom Living and has clients from Europe
to Canada. (Photo by Stephanie Slezak)
MARKET from page 27
coupled with rapidly rising rents.”
Looking at the fi rst quarter of this year, Cromford said, “home prices are still rising at amazing speed” and said the per-foot increase for the fi rst three months of 2022 rose 8.9% “and is likely to continue rising until June at least.”
“ The third quarter is always a slower period and it is likely we will get some respite from the rising prices between June and September,” it added. “What happens in the fourth quarter will largely depend on how long investors retain their current euphoria in the face of increasing risks. “
Cromford developed an index that measures whether home prices in sub-markets involving 17 Valley municipalities are trending more in favor of sellers or buyers.
It said last week that “over the last month, two of the 17 cities have improved for sellers while 15 have deteriorated. The market strongly favors sellers, but the trend is now moving slowly towards a more balanced market.
But “deteriorated” does not necessarily hold much hope for Valley buyers in the short-term, since the lowest number on the chart was Buckeye with 239. Chandler had an index of 453 – more than four times the threshold for a “balanced” market in Cromford Report’s eyes.
“The cooling of the market continues to accelerate, but it will take several months before reaching normal at the current rate of change,” it added.
This 2,559-square-foot house on South Tanglewood Drive, Sun Lakes, recently sold for $706,000. Built in 1996, the three-bedroom, three-bath house includes a $40,000 addition that provided the opportunity to create a casita with separate entrance.
(Special to SanTan Sun News)
Biotech helped setting up shop in Price Corridor
SANTAN SUN NEWS STAFF
A Massachusetts company that provides procurement and some fi nancial services for emerging biotech companies has picked Chandler for the start of its western footprint.
BioProcure was expected to be in operation this month in Workpliciti, a fl exible offi ce space on the Price Corridor, and initially employ 35 people with the hope of adding 150 more works over the next three years, according to the city. The Chandler location will include procurement, operations, and administrative positions.
Saying Chandler’s selection “is the result of a great team of managers, supervisors, and executives traveling and researching for months to pinpoint the best possible city and state for our expansion,” BioProcure Ceo/co-founder Vincent Bologna explained his company’s expansion. “Our goal was to establish a presence in the Southwest to better serve our clients in the Western time zones, but equally important to us was that our new offi ce be located in a vibrant, up-and-coming city with a thriving science and technology sector,” he said. Chandler, Arizona, was the perfect fi t.”
Founded in Massachusetts in 2007, BioProcure offi cials also said they want
Kathleen A. Nielsen
ATTORNEY AT LAW
to be closç
“BioProcure’s expansion highlights Arizona’s reputation as a national bioscience leader,” said Sandra Watson, president and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “The company’s Chandler offi ce will bring dozens of skilled jobs to Arizona, contributing to Chandler’s vibrant technology and innovation landscape.
“We are grateful to BioProcure for their commitment to Arizona, and we look forward to supporting their operations now and in the future when they establish their permanent offi ce.”
Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke said, ““Chandler’s business-friendly environment and well-protected employment corridors continue to put us on the short list for companies looking to expand their headcount. It is exciting to see a company supporting the country’s entire biosciences industry select Price Corridor.
BioProcure’s expansion highlights Arizona’s growing presence in the bioscience industry.
According to a recent CBRE study, metro Phoenix was fi rst in the nation for growth in life sciences employment between 2019 and 2020, growing 8.5%, the highest of all markets studied.
BioProcure was founded by a former Biogen purchasing manager to address the growing pains of startup and emerging biotech companies.
He saw “a need for outsourced procurement in situations where space, staff , and funding are limited, stakes are high, and timing is everything,” the city said in a release, saying its services “proved to be a valuable service for researchers, fi nance departments, and venture capital fi rms alike.”
The company described BioProcure as “the best relief for many of the pain points in the frenetic biotech world” and said its “new software and an old-school approach to customer service” has contributed to its reputation and growth.
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