Is Now the Time to Purchase Investment Real Estate? Real Estate Expert Says Yes

Phoenix, AZ (PRWeb) December 18, 2006 -- Since 2005, growth in home prices in Greater Phoenix, Arizona has slowed dramatically. And between the second and third quarters of this year, prices actually declined - for the first time in more than three years, according to data released by the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU Polytechnic.

But those numbers may be too benign, says Nick Lynum, CEO of US Property Wholesalers, a real estate acquisition company with offices in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Austin, and Philadelphia. "Looking at the number of houses that are being sold, the picture looks much grimmer," Lynum said. "We've seen close to a 35% decrease since 2005 in some real estate markets."

There's no question that the Greater Phoenix real estate market has been in a downturn; the question at the forefront of everyone's mind is: when will we hit bottom?

"I wish I had a crystal ball and knew exactly when real estate prices would hit bottom in our markets. But I don't. I do know that US Property Wholesalers has been wholesaling properties to investors at values 20-30% below last year's. And I know that discounts of 20-30% off of last year's prices are worth taking a serious look at," Lynum said.

"Our investors certainly feel that prices are near the bottom," he added.

The driving force behind the current buyer's market in Phoenix is an excess of homes in inventory. As homeowners and builders attempt to sell those excess homes, prices will stay down - but not for long.

"The fact is that people are continuing to move to Greater Phoenix - demand for homes here is still strong. And despite price increases during the real estate boom, Phoenix is quite affordable relative to cities in other major metropolitan areas," Lynum said. "As soon as the excess homes in Greater Phoenix are gone, the market will pick right back up - and so will prices."

In addition to buying and selling homes, US Property Wholesalers also buys and sells land. "Land prices in Phoenix have followed a similar trend as housing prices - especially where the land is slated for residential development," Lynum said.

In August, for example, the state of Arizona was set to auction a 325-acre parcel of land in Northeast Phoenix's Desert Ridge development for $150 million. But there were no bidders.

"As the market began to turn last summer, our investors simply weren't willing to buy at what we knew then was the market peak," said Lynum. "Now it seems that we've hit the bottom, and prices will start rising again - we've definitely seen an increase in the number of our investors who are now interested in buying."

About US Property Wholesalers

US Property Wholesalers is a full-service property acquisition company specializing in the acquisition and sale of all types of investment properties, including homes and land. The company is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona with offices in Las Vegas, Austin, and Philadelphia as well. Visit them on the web at www.USPropertyWholesalers.com

Contact

US Property Wholesalers
1-800-USA-LAND
www.USPropertyWholesalers.com

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