Join the community of Anthem as volunteers will go around and clean up blighted homes and areas around Anthem. Meet at the gazebo at 7am. A free lunch will be provided and some tools and gloves if you don’t have your own. This Saturday, May 5th.

Starting Friday, May 4th and the 11th, 18th and 25th Anthem will have Music in the Park form 7to 9pm. Come join us for a great time of fun at the Community Park!

In the May 2012 Issue of Phoenix Magazine, Robert Pela identifies Anthem as one of 3 “Family Friendly Hoods,” in the metropolitan Phoenix area. Another honor to our great community. As we continue to grow, we evolve and are always making strides to be better than the past and keep moving forward to meet our resident’s needs. Check out the community and you’ll see why It’s a great place.

On April 25, 2012 Anthem Community Council will announce plans to buy a Community Building at 3701 W Anthem Way. The building has 36,499 square feet and is currently housing a Sherriff’s substation, the community HOA office, and a title company. The building was built in 1999 by Del Webb, sold in 2000 and was foreclosed on in 2011.

This building will allow us to retain the Sheriff’s office, consolidate community offices into one central location, and provide meeting and classroom space for the community, possible teen and senior center, “quite meeting place, multi-purpose rooms, and a possible community welcome center.

This appears to be a great acquisition by the council! Anthem is making great strides in meeting the community needs as we continue to improve on the great community we have.

The Anthem Market as well as the Phoenix housing market has seen a big shift in the past few months and a very dramatic one this past month. It has now become a sellers market with a reduced inventory and prices moving up. See the attached sheet using the MLS facts for the past 6, 3, 2 and one month periods in Parkside and Club areas.

Current conditions in Anthem AZ as of March 26, 2012

 

The market is changing here in Arizona and Anthem is one which is seeing a bigger change than most areas at this time.  This is homes that have CLOSED.

Anthem Parkside Only

                  Sales Price                        Square footage          Price per square foot                        Days on Market

Last 6 months                                     283 homes closed

Low                  93,000                         1135                            46.17                           0

Average           193,113                       2306                            85.10                           76

High                 430,000                       4911                            133.49                         520

 

 

Last 3 months                                     136 homes closed

Low                  95,665                         1135                            46.17                           0

Average           192,511                       2394                            85.81                           85

High                 430,000                       4408                            123.49                         520

 

Last 2 months                                     90 homes closed

Low                  107,500                       1135                            57.13                           0

Average           196,391                       2328                            86.48                           83

High                 430,000                       4408                            123.49                         382

 

Past month                                          38 homes closed

Low                  126,000                       1135                            63.52                           1

Average           213,664                       2433                            89.85                           91

High                 430,000                       4408                            121.15                         382

 

Anthem Club Only

                  Sales Price                        Square footage          Price per square foot                        Days on Market

Last 6 months                                     97 homes closed

Low                  109,900                       1056                            85.25                           2

Average           292,716                       2595                            111.18                         115

High                 850,000                       4958                            171.44                         511

 

Last 3 months                                     47 homes closed

Low                  117,000                       1264                            85.57                           4

Average           299,021                       2654                            112.30                         140

High                 850,000                       4958                            171.44                         342

 

Last 2 months                                     33 homes closed

Low                  117,000                       1264                            85.83                           4

Average           306,558                       2620                            116.25                         139

High                 850,000                       4958                            171.44                         342

 

Past month                                          19 homes closed

Low                  146,500                       1264                            85.83                           4

Average           343,495                       2835                            118.39                         156

High                 850,000                       4958                            171.44                         342

The real estate market here in Anthem changed dramatically since late February. Homes here are receiving many showings, multiple offers, and moving off the active market fairly quick. As of today, March 18th there are 137 active homes, 105 with offers at the bank, 130 homes pending, and 60 homes closed last month. What a big change over the past few months. Will be interesting to see what happens over the next few months.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Prices Moving Up & Foreclosures Going Down
In Phoenix-area Housing Market

TEMPE, Ariz. (Feb. 23, 2012) — Several pieces of good news are trickling into the hard-hit Phoenix-area housing market. A new report from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University shows positive trends for struggling homeowners, as of January:

• Single-family home prices are moving higher.
• Fewer foreclosures are coming into the pipeline.
• The glut of underpriced homes on the market has ended, with a more balanced market now for houses under $300,000.

Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business, says things are shifting for the better in Maricopa and Pinal counties. He says the median price for all sales, including new-home sales, in the market was $120,500 in January 2012. That’s an increase from $113,166 (up about 6.5 percent) from January 2011. Realtors will note that the average price per-square-foot for single-family homes increased 3 percent from January 2011.

“Single-family home prices overall in the Phoenix area have been moving up since they reached a low point in September,” says Orr, the report’s author. “Also, looking forward, I expect a declining trend in foreclosures.”

A total of about 2,450 single-family home foreclosures happened in Maricopa and Pinal counties in January 2012. That’s significantly down from almost 4,200 in January 2011. The number of foreclosure starts – homeowners receiving notice that their lenders may foreclose in 90 days — is also down 49 percent from last January.

Orr also believes there is no longer an oversupply of homes for sale in the price range below $300,000. He says investors have bought up and eliminated the excess inventory. However, ample supply remains in the upper price ranges, which were less affected by foreclosures.

“Many people think there’s a glut of homes the banks are hiding somewhere, and that may be the case in other markets, but not here in the Phoenix area,” Orr says. “We’ve gone through so many foreclosures that the system has been working itself out for about five years. Everything is cyclical in housing. The market doesn’t go down forever, and it doesn’t stay up forever.”

Orr says the supply of homes listed for sale went down 42 percent from January 2011 to January 2012. As the supply dwindles, prices are likely to rise. Orr adds fewer homes are reverting back to the banks at auction, as investors snap up what bargains are left in the Phoenix area.

“Buyers from Canada, New Zealand and Australia, in particular, are taking advantage of the exchange rates to purchase investment and vacation homes,” Orr explains.

The market saw about 8,000 new- and existing-home sales in January 2012, up from fewer than 7,500 last January. The peak buying season normally starts in February, so more activity is expected.

Orr’s full report, including statistics, charts and a breakdown by different areas of the Valley, can be viewed at http://wpcarey.asu.edu/finance/real-estate/upload/FullReport_Jan-1202.pdf. More analysis is also available from knowWPCarey, the business school’s online resource and newsletter, at http://knowwpcarey.com.

W. P. CAREY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
The W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University is one of the top-ranked and largest business schools in the United States. The school is internationally regarded for its research productivity and its distinguished faculty members, including a Nobel Prize winner. Students come from 99 countries and include 60 National Merit Scholars. For more information, please visit wpcarey.asu.edu andhttp://knowwpcarey.com.

You are considering purchasing a home in Anthem and I believe the community is a special place.  Why do I believe so?  Let me share with you some reasons.  No community is immune from tragedy, and Anthem is no exception.  However, the reaction of its citizens really makes a place a HOME!  Here is a recent example of a recent tragic event and how the community came together.  On January 8^th, a sheriff Deputy was shot and killed when responding to a call at the local medical center.  Since then, the Anthem Community has had several activities to support the surviving family members.  This link will contain samples of what the community did and is doing. http://www.onlineatanthem.com/content/events-honoring-mcso-officer-william-coleman

This was not the first time the community has banded together to help a resident.  There were several community events to help a young girl who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer a few months ago when it was discovered the family just lost their health insurance due to the economy. 

This link will give you updates on community events and the overall community:

http://www.onlineatanthem.com/

 If you’d like you can also sign up for the community watch email too:

anthemwatch@yahoo.com

 Those are some of the many reasons Anthem is a very nice place to live. Please let me know if you have questions or would like more information on anything about the area.