buyers market, Holy Cow!

For a long time now, what almost two years, the real estate market across the country has been in decline. And there's been a constant barrage of news across all media about that decline. Sales are down, inventory is up, prices are skidding, how low can it go, foreclosures are rising, sellers can't sell, a ton of inventory to choose from, it's a buyers market, buyers market, buyers market.
For the Greater Tucson metro area we've recently passed the 10,000 mark in the number of homes listed for sale, an all time record. And so, it is a buyers market in Tucson.
And of course this is the stuff that gets batted around all over the place, 10,000 homes for sale in Tucson. Buyers market, Holy Cow!
So when people come to town looking to buy a home in the Foothills they have high expectations of having the pick of a very big litter, and of getting a really good deal once they choose the home they would like to buy. And that's because the state of the real estate market in the Foothills gets lumped in with the rest of Tucson and Tucson gets lumped in with Phoenix and the slowing market and growing inventory in all of Arizona. And that's what gets reported in all the media, and that's what people hear. But that's misleading. The Tucson Foothills is a niche market that traditionally accounts for only about 6% of all Tucson metro area home sales. And currently there are just 470 single family homes listed for sale in the Foothills, and for us, that's a  lot of homes for sale, it's a record for the Foothills. But it's not 10,000. And the price range for those 470 homes extends from $235,000 all the way up to about $8,000,000. Then from $8,000,000 the price takes a giant leap to $22,000,000 for one mega home that even has it's own name, Campbell Cliffs. Look out below! So those 470 homes that are for sale in the Foothills cover a lot of territory in terms of price, size, style, amenities, etc. And while sales in the Foothills are down, and inventory is up - and because of that it is a buyers market, I've reported that frequently right here - it's nothing like what's happening in the rest of Tucson and worlds away from the Phoenix market. Let's say you're looking for a home in what is the middle price range for the Foothills, somewhere between $600K and 1mil. Here's what you have to choose from; between $600,000 and $700,00- there are 44 homes for sale; $700,000 to $800,000, 34 homes for sale; $800,000 to $900,000, 29 for sale; $900,000 to $1,000,000, 27 for sale. Jumping to $1,400,000 to $1,5000, there are just 17 homes for sale. And that's everything - the good, the bad and the ugly, the old, the new, 1 story, 2 story, modern, Mediterranean, and medieval, all sizes and shapes, and with your favorite shade of avocado appliances. Now plug your personal criteria into any of those price ranges and I'll bet you don't end up with more than 8 or 9 homes that roughly meet that criteria, and that's on paper. Once you go out and look at those homes and start eliminating the ones that aren't what they seemed to be, or what you'd hoped they'd be, or that don't work for one reason or another, you're very likely down to one or two homes as possible contenders, if you're lucky. Home buyers from out of town turn to me with a 'that's it, that's all there is'. That's the reality of this market, slower sales, higher inventory, but really not that much to choose from once you start slicing it and dicing it.