It's been a while since we've posted information about the real estate happenings in Phoenix zip code 85004. For those who don't know, 85004 is a downtown Phoenix zip code bounded by Thomas (N), the Salt River (S), Central Ave (W) and 7th St. (E).
85004 is home to much of what makes downtown so exciting and fun including the ASU Downtown Campus, Chase Field, US Airways Center, The Phoenix Convention Center, Phoenix Art Museum, CityScape, The Herburger and more. Some of our favorite "eats" spots are here to including: Matt's Big Breakfast, Pizzaria Bianco, Majerle's, Switch, Hanny's and Sen's. It is the heart of soul of First Friday, home to a bevy of local events and on the light rail line. It is no wonder a lot of people love this area.
Real Estate in the region is a mix of single family homes, condos and lofts. Prices are all over the place with multi-million dollars homes in Los Olivos & Alvarado and sub-100K places in the southern region. Condo/Townhouses dominate the sales and inventory with projects such as Artisan, Tapestry, and Summit at Copper Square.
The Summit at Copper Square has been in the news lately as a notice of foreclosure was recently filed. According to a July 13,2009 article in the Phoenix Business Journal, only 55% of the 165 units have been sold and a sizable mechanics lien, 3.1 million dollars, has been filed against the property and individual condo owners. Since mechanics liens are generally not forgiven with a foreclosure and follow the property, sales in the development could be both difficult and perilous.
There is both good and bad news on the real estate front; let's start with the good. Bank owned homes do not dominate the single family home inventory. The past few months sales have gobbled up many of the REO homes. Of the current active single family homes, none are bank owned or short sales. In addition, the notices of default are very low for this area of town.
The condo/townhouse/loft market is not in such good shape. We see a number of bank-owned units on the market and a lot of short sales. Prices have fallen considerably making the likelihood of more foreclosures probable in the coming months. However, the lower prices have made the region much more affordable and we are seeing condo sales on the rise, especially in Artisan Village.
Most of the closed transactions for June & July 2009 were in the sub-$200K range. Higher priced properties still have not found a market and we do not expect much change during Q3 and probably Q4.
The Bottom Line: We expect sales in the under $250,000 range to dominate all sales. The single family home market looks pretty stable and homes in the bottom end may see some valuation in the next 6-8 months. We believe the condo/townhouse/loft market will continue to be soft with more price reductions, especially in the more expensive units. We strongly advise caution if you are exploring a purchase in the Summit at Copper Square. If I were buying there, I'd hire an attorney to review documents and offer counsel... that comes from a full-time Realtor.
I believe the region has huge upside potential. ASU is expanding their campus and enrollment; Despite a tough market, CityScape looks to have substantial leases in place; The new convention center is booking larger groups than ever possible, thus bringing out-of-state dollars to the City. In addition, Light Rail provides easy access to the city-core and ridership numbers are far above projection. We like the long term potential of downtown Phoenix!
Thanks for being a loyal reader of Urban Life and we hope this information has been helpful. If you need specific information about the downtown real estate market, please feel free to contact us.
Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777
Click Here to Read Past Commentary on 85004
Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Data was collected from ARMLS. Although we like to think ourselves knowledgable, our opinions are just that, opinions and may or may not be prove correct.
