Arizona one of the few states in recession

I'm on a mini vacation in the California wine country and haven't been on the blog for a few days, but I just saw an interesting report on Good Morning America and felt the need to write a quick entry about it. According to a January report by Moody's Economy.com, only five states are actually in a recession, and Arizona is one of them.

While 30 states are showing signs of economic expansion, 15 are at risk for sliding into a recession and the other five, California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Michigan, are already in a recession. The five states in recession saw huge increases in home appreciation between 2004-2006, and are now dealing with the collapse of the housing market. The states showing continued economic growth were able to avoid the run up in home prices.

Economy booms in these US hot spots

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Tucson Real Estate sales statistics for February

I'm a little late with Tucson's real estate sales stats for February, but here you go. Looks like the average sales prices was up from February of 2007 but down from January 2008. Pending contracts and new listings were up from the same time last year, while home sales, active listings and the medium price were all down.


- Tucson's average sale's price for February was $262,155, a 1.6% decrease from January 2008's average sales price of $266,450. Still it's a 1% increase from February 2007's average of $259,516.

Tucson Average Sales Price for February 2008

- Tucson's median sales price for February '08 was $199,900 a 1.76% decrease from January's median price of $203,500, and a 8.92% decrease from February 2007's median price of $219,500.

- There were 1,137 Pending contracts in February 2008, an increase of 22% over the number of Pending's in January (1,079). It's also a 20% increase over the number of Pending contracts in February 2007 (1,094).

- The average days on market dropped to 81 in February 2008, a 2.4% decrease from January and a 28.5% increase over January 2007.

Tucson Average Days on Market February 2008

- Tucson had 9,168 Active listings in February, exactly the same number as January 2008. That's still a 6.89% decrease from the number of active listings in February 2007 (9,847).

- Tucson saw 2,432 New listings in February 2008, a huge decrease (35%) from January 2008, but a 2.35% increase from February 2007 (2,376).

- The number of units sold in February 2008 increased by 20% over January's number of 594. It's still a 29% decrease from February 2007.

Spring's a popular time for real estate in Tucson. Our city plays host to a number of large events that bring thousands of visitors here during the nicest part of the year. Many of these visitors fall in love with Tucson once the spend some time here, so they purchase property during the Spring months. That drives up average sales price and pending contracts and lowers the days on market. It's starting to warm up here but it's still nicer then the rest of the country, so I expect that sales will be a little stronger then the rest of the nation for at least another month or two. It's difficult to predict what's going to happen next since the economy is such a mess. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed; as foreclosures continue to increase we can't expect to see much improvement in the resale market.

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Two Tucson hospitals make top 100 list

Two Tucson hospitals made the 2007 list of 100 Top Hospitals; National Benchmarks for Success, a study performed by Thomson Healthcare in Ann Arbor Michigan. This is a very prestigious award for hospitals nationwide and it really puts these Tucson hospitals in the spotlight.


University Medical Center in Tucson was named one of the top major teaching hospitals, while NW Medical Center was named one of the top large community hospitals in the nation. The analysis is based on data from Medicare Provider Analysis and Review data for 2005 and 2006 and Medicare cost reports from 2006. Hospitals were evaluated on eight measures of clinical quality, operating efficiency and financial performance. Those hospitals that made the top 100 list scored higher then their peers on these eight measures.

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Tucson weather can be surprising

Tucson's weather never ceases to amaze me. Just when we think the cold temperatures are over and Spring is here, we get another little surprise.

It's March 16th and we just had a "little" storm roll through the area, dropping rain and even hail. Always happens right after I trim and fertilize my plants in preparation for Spring. Just as long as nothing freezes.....

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It's a great day for a race!

Today is the Arizona Distance Classic half marathon, and the weather is perfect. Partly cloudy and a little bit cool; about 40 degrees at the start time. I left for my run early because my running path coincides with the race route and I didn't want to get in the way of any of the participants.

I did get home in time to grab the camera and head back out to get a picture of the first runners to come up the hill at about mile 6. The race began at 7 am, so these two appear to be running just under a six minute mile. The had quite a lead on the next group of runners ( they looked young so they still have the energy!)

The Arizona Distance Classic is a great run although it's a little rough because the route is pretty hilly. Still running is Oro Valley is beautiful because runners have views of the Catalina and Tortolita mountains to distract them. If you're an avid runner Tucson is a great place to live. There's an endless number of routes all over the Tucson area, and all of them have beautiful scenic distractions to help runners get make it through some of the long distance races held here every year.

Check out the Southern Arizona Roadrunners website to see a list of Tucson races as well as great running routes

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Please help these puppies!

Everyone that knows me knows that I love animals. My kitties always come before my husband, and he's fine with that. Nothing brings tears to my eyes like seeing animals being mistreated or abandon. That's why it mad me sick to see Tucson made national headlines because some crazies decided to hoard 752 dogs in a home in Avra Valley, just outside of Tucson.

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona is trying to take care of all these pups and prepare them for adoption, but most of the animals need a lot of medical attention before they can be taken to thier new homes. The Tucson community has been great in making donations but a lot more is needed. After watching the news report I called the donations hotline sobbing. Please donate anything you can to these poor animals and the HSSA who is caring for them!

Read about the animals rescued by the HSSA

Donate to the HSSA

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Arizona foreclosure stats for January

I'm a little late with January's foreclosure statistics, so here goes... RealtyTrac reported that foreclosures were on the rise again in January; the nation saw on an 8% increase in foreclosures from December 2007, and a 57% increase from January 2007. Once again Arizona ranks in the top ten of highest foreclosures rates, coming in at number 4.

Arizona saw a 19% increase in foreclosure filings for January, but it's down from December 2007's increase of almost 32%. The state reported foreclosure filings for 9,059 Arizona properties during January. Although there were 1000 more Notice of Trustee sales (NTS) then in December, there were fewer Notice of Defaults (NOD) and Real Estate Owned (REO) properties.

First American CoreLogic released it's quarterly forecast and reported that the Foreclosure Index rose by 22% from a year ago and is currently at it's highest level in six years due to delinquency and default of home loans originating during 2005-2007.

According to the Corelogic forecast home prices have declined more then 5% nationaly, and are down 2.4% from a year ago. Home price declines are gaining momentum; and some cities are seeing double digit declines. Pheonix saw a decline of almost 11.5% in home price appreciation.

There is a strong inventory of homes available in Tucson. I've been contacted by a lot of people that are looking for great deals right now because of all the media hype about our sluggish real estate market. It's a great time to buy if you're looking for an investment and don't need to sell. Buyers are having more difficulty obtaining loans so the competition is not as strong as it was a few years ago. Still anyone interested in buying has got to have their finances in order before they start their search. If a home is in great condition and listed at a great priced then it will sell quickly, even in today's market. That's why it's better to have all your ducks in a row; then you're ready to buy when you find the home that's right for you.

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No extra sunshine for Arizona

While everyone else in the nation had to remember to move their clocks forward an hour last night, we here in Arizona got to relax and sleep in as usual...

Arizona along with Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands doesn't observe Daylight Savings time (the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona does observe DST because of their large size and location in three states). Because these states are located closer to the equator then the rest of the nation, the length of their days are more consistent throughout the year so there's really no need for us to adjust their clocks. If you've ever been to Arizona in the summer you know that with our extreme heat we really don't need an extra hour of sunlight!

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Tucson wildflowers in bloom

Just wanted to post a few pictures of some of the beautiful wild flowers that have been popping up all over Tucson...

Tucson had a really wet winter this past year, and those rains brought on an incredible display of wild flowers. Right now you can find golden poppies and penstimons blooming along the Tucson sidewalks and roadways; it's really a site to behold. Unfortunately the wildflowers will only bloom for a few more weeks unless Tucson sees more rain, which isn't in the forecast. There are some great areas around Tucson to check out wild flowers displays. Visit the DesertUSA wildflower report for locations and incredible photos.

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What will they think of next?

Fresh out of today's Tucson headlines, check out the latest foreclosures in the comfort of a chauffeured bus! Creative minds hard at work.....

A local Tucson real estate group figured it's time to kick this sluggish housing market in the butt by starting their own "Foreclosure Home Tour". The Pepper Group Diversified Real Estate Co. is hoping that the tours will motivate buyers by showing them some of the great deals that are available. The tour provides a real mix of properties, from major fixer uppers to move in ready upscale homes.

According to the news article these types of tours are popping up all over the nation in an attempt to jump start the stalled real estate market.

Read more about the foreclosure bus tour

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Maybe this is how you sell a house...

Everybody knows that the housing market is struggling right now, so it's entertaining to hear about some of the bright ideas people have to get their home sold. There are some creative minds out there.....

The Sinclairs, who live in Oregon, were finding it impossible to sell their beach house. Tired and frustrated, the decided to get creative and hold an essay contest. Entrants are charged a $200 application fee to submit an essay on why they deserve to win the house. The Sinclairs need to get 3000 entries to cover the value of the house and the fees associated with the contest. So far they only have about 360 essays, but they're hoping to reach their goal by the end of April. Considering the weather has been pretty miserable in that part of the country over the last few months, I can't imagine there are a lot of buyers eager to purchase up there right now. I'm not expecting the Sinclairs to reach their goal, but I do wish them luck and give them kudos for using their imagination!

Read about the Sinclair's essay contest

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