Blog
N. Mark Kramoltz, JD, GRI, CIPS writes blog articles on the metro Phoenix, Arizona, national and global real estate markets. Written from his perspective as a designated broker and real estate attorney, his articles avoid the inaccuracies and vacuous industry propaganda common to most real estate writings. He also blogs about animals (mostly dogs in the military) due to his love of pets and military history.
Commercial Construction Jobs Rise.
Construction cranes all over the Valley of the Sun are proof of the amount of commercial construction ongoing in the Phoenix metro area. State wide Arizona has added a whopping 23,800 jobs in nonresidential construction in January, 2020. Figures from the U.S. Labor...
How Long do People Stay in their Homes?
Compared to previous years, homeowners are opting to spend more time holding onto their homes, with the median tenure increasing by 3 years since 2008. As of 2018, the median duration of home ownership in the U.S. is 13 years. As should be expected, the...
King of the Foxhole.
In December 1967 U.S. soldiers were attacking a North Vietnamese base camp in Vietnam. As it began to get dark, they dug in anticipating a night counterattack. Lieutenant Morris settled into his foxhole when King, their German Shepard war dog, jumped into the hole on...
Housing Inventories Low.
According to a REALTOR.com study, housing inventories dropped 12% nationally from 2018 to 2019, the largest year over year decline in nearly 3 years. As a result, the U.S. market has a large housing inventory under supply. This is occurring just as 4.8 million...
Which State is the Biggest Loser?
Last blog I wrote about Arizona being a leader in population gain due to our job growth, housing market, and weather. So that raises the question - which state had the most outbound moves in 2019? For the second consecutive year New Jersey lost the most people....
Who’s Moving to Arizona?
The numbers show that Arizona continues to be popular with people from elsewhere, taking in 2.2 million new residents from other states since 2010 to 2018. Job growth, Arizona’s steady economy and lifestyle are the major reasons that people say they are attracted to...
2019 Market One of Best Ever.
2019 ended as the year with the 4th highest number of homes sold in metro Phoenix history. When disregarding the other 3, which were all considered abnormal markets, it was the best ever. Both the median as well as the average sales prices hit historic highs, both...
The Archeology Dog.
You’ve probably heard of cadaver dogs, which search for recently deceased victims of disasters. But what about deaths that happened 1000's of years ago? Enter Fabel, the archeology dog. Fabel is a German Shepard that is used to detect buried bones. Makes sense, as...
The “Death Room”.
In the mid to late 19th century, the front room or parlor of most homes was strictly formal. Funerals and wakes took place at home then, and because deceased family members were laid out to receive their final respects in the parlor, it became known as the “death...