Home builder: ‘We are having a lumpy recovery’

Home builder Andy Warren, president of Scottsdale-based Maracay Homes says regarding the housing market “We are having a lumpy recovery”.  These are true words.  The Phoenix housing market has had a big uptick and a slow down.  The predictions vary.  I need to get my crystal ball fixed. There are discussions about millennials, job market, people that had a short sale and are returning to the housing market.  All I know for sure is it is a good buyers market today. So if you are interested this is a good time to buy.

The housing market continues to zig-zag but unfortunately its latest zag is in slow motion, according to one of the region’s leading home builders.

Andy Warren, president of Scottsdale-based Maracay Homes, said the real estate picture has been ebbing and flowing a lot since the recession. Lately, it’s just been ebbing with prices, demand and sales activity having slowed.

“We are experiencing a sort of zig-zagging pendulum effect,” said Warren.

After the bottom fell out of the Arizona housing market during the recession, there were some gains with investors and flippers feeding on foreclosed and distressed properties.

That spurred some existing homeowners and home builders to jump back into the housing market.

“We had a supply situation that sort of flipped around,” said Warren.

But now the local housing market has slowed down and is expected to remain that way into next year, according to Warren and Arizona State University housing expert Michael Orr.

Arizona and Phoenix need more population growth, which has been slow since the recession, and better high-wage job gains to spur home buying.

Warren also wants to see banks ease up on very tight lending in a marketplace where many consumers still have poor credit after the slowdown and those foreclosed on have to wait seven years before again getting a home loan.

“It feels they just want to give mortgages to no-risk couples,” he said.

Mike Sunnucks writes about residential and commercial real estate, government, law, sports business and workplace issues.