To Buy or Not to Buy

If you are an investor or home buyer in Flagstaff and have weathered the storms and purchased a property within the past year, despite competing with multiple offers at relatively high prices, good for you! You probably had to waive or partially waive your appraisal contingency, possibly accept the property in its current condition without asking the seller to make any repairs, and maybe even “sweetened “ your purchase offer with a non-refundable earnest money deposit or more.

Regardless of whether you bought last year or even earlier this year, if a potential buyer or investor asked you if you had any regrets, I believe that response would be a resounding “No regrets,” despite feeling like you’ve been pummeled in a washing machine.

Life is filled with risks. No one has a crystal ball, but forecasters, using MLS, regional and local data, and bank grade data agree our local Flagstaff real estate market is positioned to continue its upward trajectory, at least in the near five-year future.

From 2020 to 2021, the median sales price for a home in the Flagstaff 86001 zip code has jumped another 22%, with “Days on Market,” or the time required to sell the property, reduced by 29%.

Absorption rate is a great tool to use to assess the pace of activity in any market. It describes how many months of inventory supply is available for sale at a specific price range. The more inventory available to purchase, the greater the number of months to “absorb” that home inventory. The shorter the time to absorb the inventory, the higher the activity in that price point. A “buyer’s market” is typically at or longer than six months of inventory absorption. For reference, only homes greater than $2.4 million have more than six months of inventory in Flagstaff.

Properties under $600,000 only have three weeks of inventory. Clearly, we are still firmly in a strong “seller’s market.” But, is it still a good time to buy? Like anything in life that involves risk, we can only use the data, both current and historic, to give us clues about the probability of a positive outcome.

Ask your trusted realtor for advice on the market and don’t be discouraged. Many buyers make offers on multiple properties in hopes of getting an acceptance. Your persistence will be rewarded. Most importantly, you need to decide what you want and where you want to be.

Flagstaff continues to be a “buy” because of where and what Flagstaff is all about. You just aren’t buying a property, you are investing in a four-season, outdoor, wooded wonderland, complete with Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff Medical Center, great restaurants, passionate non-profits, and both professional and amateur creative artists. And all within a couple hours drive of the fasting growing metropolis for a record 25 months. You are buying a lifestyle!

If you do decide to take the leap, congratulations and welcome to our community of Flagstaff! FBN

By Paula Mack

Paula Mack, SRES, is a REALTOR with Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty. She can be reached at 928-699-6837 or paula.mack@russlyon.com.