And the Good News Is...

November 20, 2008

It's getting to be more and more difficult to find good news on TV. Reporters seem to be reveling in stirring up as much "doom and gloom" news as they can – after all it's been proven that bad news sells better than good. Our addiction to news tickers and 24 hour coverage was solidified during horrific news events of the last decade. But there IS positive news to be found if you dig hard enough.

28 Metropolitan areas showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from the same quarter in 2007. Areas such as Elmira NY, Tulsa OK, Wichita KS and Urbana IL.

But even in areas where average home sales have dropped drastically, there is good news. Buyers who have been shut out of the home ownership market, are now finding that they can afford to buy. And they ARE buying. Three states where the ‘housing bubble' has burst are seeing some of the highest increases in sales. The largest sales gain during the third quarter was in Arizona, up 28.3 percent from the second quarter, followed by California which rose 28.1 percent and Nevada, up 26.2 percent. These areas have seen some of the strongest sales gains with some reports of multiple bidding.

And there's also good news for sellers. The typical seller purchased their home six years ago and is still experiencing net equity gains, even in today's depressed markets. The national increase in value since the third quarter of 2002 is 18.3 percent, which is a median gain of $31,000. Even with the current downward price distortion, 90 percent of metro areas are showing six-year price gains.

So while we are definitely in turbulent economic times, there is GOOD NEWS to be found if you look for it. Hopefully, some home buying incentives will be passed soon to stimulate even more home ownership. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said that, "A pattern of sharply higher sales in areas with large price declines is well established," Yun said. "Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales. Historically during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives and it's important for government to keep that in the forefront of stimulus decisions."

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Local Information for Mesa, AZ

Latitude: 33.411199 -- Longitude: -111.746438

Other Area Cities: Chandler Apache Junction Mesa Gilbert Scottsdale Tempe Higley Paradise Valley

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Mesa is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona and part of the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale Metropolitan Area. It is the third-largest city in Arizona, after Phoenix and Tucson. Mesa is one of the United States' fastest-growing cities, and currently ranks as the 41st-largest. In 2005 the mid-decade Census survey estimated the city's population to be 448,096. Though a suburban city, Mesa actually has a larger population than better-known cities such as St. Louis, Missouri, Miami, Florida and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Despite its large population, Mesa has a decidedly bedroom-community, sprawl-like character. Its downtown is minimal, and there are very few buildings in Mesa with more than two stories. Nevertheless, the recently completed Mesa Arts Center may help invigorate downtown Mesa. The city is also home to many gated retirement communities, which may explain the large percentage of senior citizens in the population. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Arizona 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Mesa	Arizona	United States
Population	396,375	5,130,632	281,421,906
Median age	32	34.2	35.3
Median age for Male	30.7	32.9	34
Median age for Female	33.6	35.5	36.5
Households	146,643	1,901,327	105,480,101
Household population	392,426	5,020,782	273,643,273
Average household size	2.68	2.64	2.59
Families	99,856	1,287,367	71,787,347
Average family size	3.2	3.18	3.14
Housing units	175,701	2,189,189	115,904,641
Occupied units	146,643	1,901,327	105,480,101
Vacant units	29,058	287,862	10,424,540

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