articles @ sedonainformation.com

January Real Estate Update

Joel Gilgoff, associate broker, president - RE/MAX Sedona

Real Estate News:

The Sedona market has slowed from its peak in 2004 – 2005 but the market is far from dead (and there is no bubble in sight). Sales of higher priced homes (over $1 million) remain strong here in Sedona as well as most other areas of Arizona. The best buys continue to be homes priced under $500,000. There is far more inventory of home and vacant lots available than this time last year. Most prices have not dropped, but there are some great buys – and sellers are more negotiable in many cases. Sedona tourism remains strong – with people now booking up to a year ahead (a great sign of recovery). Fall & winter bookings were about the same as last year. Tourism drives everything in Sedona and an increase in tourism may be the precursor to another run-up in home sales – so if you plan on a purchase in the Sedona area this may be your best buying opportunity.

As I said in my last couple of newsletters – there are still a few new and resale Verde Santa Fe units available to be purchased now starting at under $250,000 (we just sold one for $239,000). The new community of Mountain Gate, located about 20 miles south of Sedona in Clarkdale (30 minutes) has both town homes and regular estate homes available with prices starting under $200,000. These are the two most affordable areas at the current time. There are many new condo projects coming on the market in Sedona & Cottonwood with prices starting at under $200,000 to over $800,000.

A brand new subdivsion is being marketed by our office. The Highlands, located in Clarkdale (about 25 minutes south of Sedona) has homesites starting at only about $110,000. Come enjoy a sanctuary of 240 residential parcels resting in the foothills above the Verde Valley. The Highlands will be a planned community, which will include: 3 parks, a community center, shopping, and scenic trails in an unspoiled environment. Call us for more information and directions.

We have three Bed and Breakfasts for sale:

The Lodge at Sedona (www.lodgeatsedona.com), Saddle Rock Ranch (www.saddlerockranch.com) and Cozy Cactus Bed & Breakfast (www.cozycactus.com). If you have interest in a Sedona B & B – these are 3 great properties – priced from about $1.3 million to $3.99 million. Please just give us a call for an information package or see our web-site listings page for virtual tours of both inns (www.sedona-real-estate.com/property1.htm). The Lodge at Sedona just had a significant price reduction and can now be purchased with an adjoining .8 acre lot.

For those of you who like statistics and numbers, here are the final numbers for the year of 2006 (1/1/06 to 12/28/06):

Number of listed homes & condos in all of the Sedona market:

477 (was 483 - 60 days ago).
Number of homes & condos listed below $400,000:

63 (was 69 - 60 days ago)
Number of homes listed over $1 million:

105 (was 92, 60 days ago).
Median listed price:

$649,000 (was $629,000 60 days ago).
Number of homes & condos sold year to date:

462 (62 home sales in the past 60 days) (55 sold for over $1 million – 7 in the past 60 days)
Median sales price of all homes and condos sold:

$551,900 (was $530,000 through May 10, 2006)
Number of listed home-sites in all areas of the Sedona market:

359 (was 360 – 60 days ago)
Number of lots listed below $300,000:

61 (was 62 - 60 days ago)
Number of lots listed above $1,000,000:

32 (was 31 – 60 days ago)
Median listed price:

$475,000 (was $449,900 – 60 days ago)
Number of home-sites sold year to date in 2006:

114 (average of 10 per month over last 12 months).
Median sales price for 2006:

$519,500 (was $520,000 120 days ago – median holding)

Real Estate Listings:

Click on the links below to see our listings or our office listings as they appear in Realtor.com or all of the Northern Arizona listings as they appear in the Northern Arizona Multiple Listing System (NAMLS) (including photos). You can also see virtual tours of the B & B’s we have listed on our web-site listings page. Please call or email (ljestewart@commspeed.net) if you would like additional information on any of our listings.

Lori, Skip & My Listings:

http://realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListings.asp?frm=byagt&rid=19978163&rid=19978163&lnksrc=00038&poe=realtor

To Search our full MLS (this includes all listings in the Verde Valley & Sedona (includes Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Clarkdale, Cornville & Lake Montezuma):

http://www.sedona-real-estate.com/property1.htm

Click where it says: “Click here to search the current Sedona Verde Valley MLS (Multiple listing system) database to see active homes and land”. You can also sign up to be notified when new listings meeting your search criteria come on the market.

Southwest Inn at Sedona:

We have some rooms left for most dates this month and next –with mid-week rates starting at only $99 per night through 2/7/07. We feel that our inn represents a great value to our guests – and our guests rave about us! You can check rates and availability – and book your room at: http://www.webervations.com/magicscripts/resbook.asp?memberid=swinn
or check out our property at: http://www.swinn.com

Hello again – December is here and 2006 is almost over. December and January are great months to be in Sedona with usually good weather and far fewer people. Sedona is decked out for the holidays – with our traditional “Red Rock Fantasy” at Los Abrigados Resort with over 1 million lights. This year uptown Sedona is also ablaze with holiday lighting.

The uptown “enhancement project” is almost complete and it really is worth seeing the new pedestrian friendly areas as well as the new “street art.”

Saturday December 9th marks the 33rd anniversary of the lighting of the luminarias at Tlaquepaque known as “Festival of Lights.” Over 6000 luminarias will be placed thought the grounds of the arts and crafts village and the 47 stores and galleries.

Also a sight to be seen is John Soderberg’s “Merlin”, a 12’ sculpture of the wizard which has a new home at the Old Marketplace Center in West Sedona.

The Southwest Inn has great rates for December and January with mid-week rates stating at only $99 (except for the Christmas holiday period). For more information see www.swinn.com.

Two items of local news that will affect Sedona’s future have occurred this week. The City Council has approved a community plan amendment to allow the new owners of the Sedona Cultural Park to live on. The developers were given the changes necessary to create a small commercial village surrounding the amphitheater area and also provide land for an indoor performing arts center.

ILX Corporation had their request approved to build The Village at Heritage Park, a mixed use time-share, retail and public facilities. Both developers still have a long road ahead of them to get approval to construct their specific site-plans.

Here is a link to my “December Real Estate Update”:

http://realtytimes.com/97/JoelGilgoff

This Newsletter is full of interesting and useful information that I think you will enjoy whether you are a buyer, seller, homeowner, or renter. I hope you enjoy this monthly newsletter. If you have any comments, please e-mail them to me. Or, if you would like to see a certain topic covered in future months, let me know that too!

We wish you and your family a great holiday - and a sucessful, happpy and healthy new year!

From: Joel Gilgoff Associate Broker/President, jg@sedona.net
Lori Stewart, Associate, ljestewart@commspeed.net
Skip Stewart, Associate, skipstewart@commspeed.net
RE/MAX Sedona 800-282-4166
Web-site: www.sedona-real-estate.com

Joel Gilgoff’s Real Estate Newsletter - November/December 2006
Joel Gilgoff, associate broker, president - RE/MAX Sedona

Real Estate News: The Sedona market has slowed considerably. Sales of higher priced homes (over $1 million) remain strong here in Sedona as well as most other areas of Arizona. Sales of vacant lots and homes under $600,000 remain very slow. The best buys now are homes priced under $500,000. There is far more inventory of home and vacant lots available than this time last year. Most prices have not dropped, but there are some great buys – and sellers are open to offers in many cases. Sedona tourism remains strong – but people are booking much closer in than in previous years. Fall bookings were about the same as last year. Tourism drives everything in Sedona and an increase in tourism may be the precursor to another run-up in home sales – so if you plan on a purchase in the Sedona area this may be your best buying opportunity.

As I said in my last newsletter – there are still some new and resale Verde Santa Fe units available to be purchased now starting at under $250,000 (we just sold one for $239,000). The new community of Mountain Gate, located about 20 miles south of Sedona in Clarkdale (30 minutes) has both town homes and regular estate homes available with prices starting under $200,000. These are the two most affordable areas at the current time. There are many new condo projects coming on the market in Sedona with prices starting at under $200,000 to over $800,000.

We now have three Bed and Breakfasts for sale:
The Lodge at Sedona (www.lodgeatsedona.com), Saddle Rock Ranch (www.saddlerockranch.com), and Cozy Cactus Bed & Breakfast (www.cozycactus.com). If you have interest in a Sedona B & B – these are 3 great properties – priced from about $1.3 million to $3.99 million. Please just give us a call for an information package or see our web-site listings page for virtual tours of both inns (www.sedona-real-estate.com/property1.htm). The Lodge at Sedona just had a significant price reduction and can now be purchased with an adjoining .8 acre lot.

For those of you who like statistics and numbers,
here are some numbers as of November 10, 2006 (1/1/06 to 11/10/06):

Number of listed homes & condos in the entire Sedona market:
483 (was 482 - 60 days ago).

Number of homes & condos listed below $400,000:
69 (was 53 - 60 days ago)

Number of homes listed over $1 million:
92 (was 87, 60 days ago).

Median listed price:
$629,000 (was $629,900 60 days ago).

Number of homes & condos sold year to date:
400 (55 home sales in the past 60 days) (48 sold for over $1 million)

Median sales price of all homes and condos sold:
$552,250 (was $530,000 through May 10, 2006)

Number of listed home-sites in all areas of the Sedona market:
360 (was 313 – 60 days ago)

Number of lots listed below $300,000:
62 (was 50 - 60 days ago)

Number of lots listed above $1,000,000:

31 (was 30 – 60 days ago)

Median listed price:
$449,900 (was $469,000 – 60 days ago)

Number of home-sites sold year to date:
107 (10 per month over last 10 months).

Median sales price:
$520,000 (was $510,000 120 days ago – median keeps increasing)

Real Estate Listings: Click on the links below to see our listings or our office listings as they appear in Realtor.com or all of the Northern Arizona listings as they appear in the Northern Arizona Multiple Listing System (NAMLS) (including photos). You can also see virtual tours of the B & B’s we have listed on our web-site listings page. Please call or email (ljestewart@commspeed.net) if you would like additional information on any of our listings.

Lori, Skip & My Listings:
http://www.realtor.com/FindReal/ViewInventory.asp?mls=sedonaverde&aid=50088891

To Search our full MLS (this includes all listings in the Verde Valley & Sedona (includes Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Clarkdale, Cornville & Lake Montezuma):
http://www.sedona-real-estate.com/property1.htm

Click where it says: “Click here to search the current Sedona Verde Valley MLS (Multiple listing system) database to see active homes and land”. You can also sign up to be notified when new listings meeting your search criteria come on the market.

Southwest Inn at Sedona: As I mentioned above this has been the busiest tourism year ever in Sedona. We suggest booking early for your choice of dates and rooms. The Southwest Inn has not raised its rates! We have some rooms left for most dates this month and next –with rates starting at $119 per night through 11/22 & $99 per night 11/26 – 12/21 . We feel that our inn represents a great value to our guests – and our guests rave about us!
You can check rates and availability – and book your room at:
http://www.webervations.com/magic-scripts/resbook.asp?memberid=swinn
or check out our property at: http://www.swinn.com