Some luxury Scottsdale homes and condos have seen a 30 per cent price decrease in price since 2009. This is especially true in the luxury condo market where many times, a second owner now markets a previously foreclosed property. One does need to be careful with these, however, since a condo property that is currently only 35 per cent occupied, for example, can be a source of problems in the future. Be sure to consult legal counsel before any risky decisions are made.

Michael Castleman is the CEO of Metrostudy. That firm researches the new homes market every quarter. In a recent article in the Austin American-Statesman, Scott Burns explained that Castleman thoroughly believes that there is extreme pent up demand for new homes. If there is ever a true increase in consumer demand for housing, Castleman feels that the housing market will take off. The problem now, however, is that mortgages are difficult to obtain. Lenders are demanding higher credit scores, while consumer credit ratings have plunged. If this situation ever evens out, Castleman is looking for a big rebound.

Those interested in luxury homes in Scottsdale would be wise to heed Castleman’s prediction and move into the market now. Those who don’t may miss a great buying opportunity.

According to Carmen Brodeur, these are the hot trends in Scottsdale luxury homes today:

Luxury buyers are looking for separate offices for both the husband and wife.

They need four to six car garages.

They prefer separate bathrooms in the master suite.

Luxury buyers want two separate family rooms–one for kids and one for adults.

They also want a bathroom attached to every bedroom.

Things that are no longer on the priority list are sports courts, home theaters, and excessive square footage.

Scottsdale is highly desirable and those who wish to relocate there can now take advantage of the historic housing price implosion that began in 2007. Even in the luxury market, foreclosures, short sales and bank owned properties lead the way. Look for a 30 to 35 percent price decrease from the peak years and begin there.

There is good inventory supply and most buyers are repeat buyers. Craigslist shows a plethora of Summerlin properties available from $100,000 to over $3.8 million.

Summerlin is the largest master planned housing community in Las Vegas. Developed by Howard Hughes, over 90,000 residents now occupy Summerlin and the large area encompasses five different zip codes. Summerlin is made up of nine villages and all commercial development is strictly controlled.

As students of real estate know, the Las Vegas area was hit hard by the crash of 2008. Along with the Miami and Phoenix areas, Las Vegas properties are still losing value. While Summerlin is a unique and a great place to live, property values are still declining there.

Foreclosures, short sales and bank owned real estate are the best places to begin the search for a Summerlin home. With distressed properties that comprise 25 per cent of all listings, great deals can be found. For example, 8912 Signal Terrace Drive is an MLS property listed at $111,000 which boasts an 8250 square foot lot.

Regardless of what some professional real estate agents claim, multiple offers are not the norm. Competition between buyers is generally not occurring as there is more supply than demand and that fact obviously puts pressure on prices.

Those who wish to live in a seriously planned and unique residential area would be advised to check Summerlin homes for sale today. The summer selling season is now past and bargains are plentiful.

Will home prices continue to fall? Should a potential buyer wait?

Good stock market investors realize that the bottom of any given market is almost impossible to call. If one purchases a Summerlin property for $150,000 today, it is possible that it could be purchased for $145,000 next year. However, 10 years from now, when real estate does recover, that $5000 savings may be dwarfed by a huge gain. Yes, prices may continue to fall a little while longer, but potential buyers should look at this market now, since the bottom may be very near.

There are great deals to be found in Phoenix. While many real estate brokers talk and blog about multiple offers and quickly turned over properties, most of this is nonsense. Foreclosures, according to The Arizona Republic, are not really stalling. Actually, banks are holding back foreclosures to avoid flooding the market with even more distressed properties.

Realtor Sean Bonini believes that while distressed property additions to the market have slowed, there are many more to come. The robo-signing controversy sent the foreclosure process into disarray. Banks are under great pressure to perform mortgage modifications and that is one reason that distressed properties are not entering the market at a greater rate.

According to sources like Trulia and Realtytrac, almost 64 percent of all Phoenix sales were distressed properties. This is an amazingly high number. Good investors usually do not even look at standard listed properties until they have exhausted the search for foreclosures, short sales and REOs.

The median price per square foot in Phoenix dipped below $65 last month according to Phoenix real estate experts Nuwire. $120,000 was the median home and condo sales price. Cash buyers represented over 40 per cent of all sales in Phoenix last month–an unbelievable number. Foreclosures themselves represented almost 50 per cent of housing real estate transactions last month.

The latest jobs numbers do not bode well for the Phoenix real estate market. No job growth equals negative real estate price growth as the tentacles of the 2008 recession show few signs of relaxation.

Those who have cash benefit most in this market as they can quickly make deals. Those who have large down payments and who possess superior credit can also make things happen. Those with good credit and access to FHA financing can also participate in this market. Anyone else may have serious difficulties, however, and would be advised to wait until things improve, although that scenario may be years in the future.

One glaringly important statistic from the Orlando Regional Realtor Association concerns “condos sold in July in a certain price category.” 162 condos changed hands in the very low one dollar to $50,000 bracket. The fact that there actually is a bracket that begins at one dollar speaks for itself.

The single family home median price was $117,000 in July and the distressed property median price was $80,000. Obviously, if 60 per cent of sales were of distressed origin, the overall median price would be under $100,000.

Even amidst this doom and gloom, real estate professionals continue to find hope. Any upward movement and any wisp of an upward trend are jumped upon. Many agents have called or are calling this the bottom of this historic slide. Even if the bottom is here or near, one can be certain that a classic v-shaped recovery is not in the offing. Banks are still sitting upon mountains of distressed property which they are carefully controlling. If all distressed property found its way to the Orlando market tomorrow, the consequences of the crash would be even more severe.

As with many crises, there is always good news and bad news. The bad news has been explained above. The good news is that if one has cash, good credit and financing (or some combination of the three), great deals can be made. An all cash offer carries serious weight as does an 800 credit score. If one can qualify for an FHA loan, good deals can be made. Those with marginalized credit and low down payment resources may have to wait this one out.

Orlando, along with many other Florida locales still severely suffers form the financial crisis which began in 2008. Those who wish to find three bedroom $100,000 homes which were unheard of pre-2008 will find lots to choose from now. Likewise, the proverbial $50,000 three bedroom condo is out there also. These market conditions are rare and will probably not be seen in the future. Is the bottom here? No one knows; but those in the market for low priced property should probably start looking in Orlando now.

These South American buyers are usually wealthy and frequently make all cash deals. Ralph De Martino, a Miami real estate broker, explains that many foreign buyers would rather have their money in American properties than in American banks. He also mentions that there is sometimes unrest in South American countries and his clients want to escape that. Venezuelans are especially sensitive to the changes that are occurring with the regime of Hugo Chavez. Even middle class citizens of Venezuela look to the Miami market for great deals, since relocation may be in the near future.

Condos in the Bal Harbour area have been very popular with these buyers. Many South Americans are buying in the newly renovated and now highly popular Brickell downtown district. Mr. De Martino has also noted that while Ecuadorians have previously liked the Orlando market, many of them are now considering Miami.

South American buyers are busy but Latin American investors and developers are also beginning to make things happen in Miami. “Condo King” Jorge Perez is targeting the Hollywood area for a new condo project aimed at Latin Americans. Hollywood is located just north of Miami and is a traditionally older and upscale area. The Miami Herald reports that at least three new 250 to 400 unit condo projects are in the planning or pre-construction stages in Miami. These units are being developed by Latin Americans as foreign dollars continue to flow into the Miami area.

The Miami housing market is not totally controlled by South Americans, however. Although they are a serious force in the condo market, Americans are beginning to return to the familiar online sites like craigslist and trulia to search for great deals. This situation will cause prices to rise as American and South American dollars begin to chase condos and homes in Miami.

Most observers like Mr. De Martino and Jorge Perez truly believe that the bottom of this great housing recession has been seen and they are moving quickly to develop untapped areas. This is definitely a sign that the Miami housing market is starting to wake up.

Buyers should include not only future homeowners, but also investors. Why invest in Las Vegas real estate now? Obviously, the days of property flipping are long gone. The simple answer is that there are lots of renters in the market now. When a house is foreclosed, the occupants have to go somewhere and most will have to find a home to rent. This situation has driven rental rates and a good investor can receive decent cash flow from a distressed purchase. Buy a four bedroom $150,000 home with $30,000 down, finance $120,000 at a conservative rate of five per cent, and the payment will be around $650. Add property taxes and insurance and the investor will have a monthly payment of less than $1200. With an easily attainable rent of $1500, this property could cash flow $300 per month–a great monthly return. Remember that the tenants basically pay the mortgage and property taxes in addition to the monthly cash flow they generate. With this scenario, investors can afford to hold on to properties. After 10 years, the original mortgage note amount will be around $97,000, so it’s obvious to see the great opportunity here.

All buyers should look to distressed properties first. Foreclosures, short sales, and bank owned properties, or REOs, should be considered first. Do not rule out a clean standard listing, however. Distressed proprieties have greatly driven down the cost of all Las Vegas real estate and most sellers are quite motivated. In a past-crash market like this one, any offer is often times considered, so potential buyers should not be shy.

A simple craigslist search will produce mind-boggling real estate opportunities. Plenty of $150,000 three and even four bedroom homes are listed. One word of caution–due diligence and thoroughness are extremely important. Any buyer should prepared to spend lots of time both studying and analyzing the Las Vegas market.

Also, in these unique times, cash is again king. Don’t begin the offer process unless financing is in place. Even distressed sellers do not want to waste their time with unqualified buyers.

Investors who can navigate through these interesting times can reap great rewards. Many experts are convinced that this market affords once in a lifetime buying opportunities. As of Labor Day, 2011, this view does seem quite correct.

All homes are worth something, but if the sale of the property will not produce enough dollars to cover the mortgage owed, alternatives must be explored. There are a few different strategies that can be employed if one needs to quit making mortgage payments and each has its own problems.

A loan modification can be applied for. With this scenario, the lender actually changes the terms of the loan and lessens the amount of the monthly payments. This can be a long and arduous process.

An offer of the deed in lieu of foreclosure can be made by the homeowner to the lender. In this case, the homeowner basically gives back the keys and leaves. The lender agrees not to formally foreclose and receives title to the property.

A homeowner can merely stop making payments and let the foreclosure process begin. The home eventually will be sold and the occupant loses everything.

Instead of the above plans, many homeowners decide to employ a short sale strategy. Basically, they sell the house for less than it is worth and convince the bank to take the money in lieu of any further legal action. The homeowner loses the home, but the lender gets something. The injury to the homeowner’s credit score may be less than the damage caused by a foreclosure or a deed in lieu of foreclosure. Indeed, this is the only advantage of a short sale.

To accomplish a short sale, the homeowner must actually put the home up for sale, receive an offer and accept the offer. Then the fun begins. All lien holders must agree to the sale. The homeowner must contact the lender’s short sale department which may or may not cooperate. Many times, these sales take months to complete and would-be buyers become frustrated and drop out of the process. If second mortgages and unpaid taxes exist, things can become even more complicated since again, all parties with liens must agree to accept less money.

Short sales do close, but the process can be long and difficult. Distressed homeowners must decide if it is worth the effort to save a few credit score points.

Good investors know that statistics can be twisted and used to show many sides of an argument. For example, if no homes sold in July 2010, and one home sold in July 2011, that would be a 100 per cent increase in sales. Current observers of the Fort Lauderdale real estate market will find this type of misleading statistical use all over the internet. Some bloggers call Fort Lauderdale a sellers market because a few properties have seen multiple offers. Others say that individual time on the market has been reduced, although this can be related to low priced foreclosures, short sales and bank-owned properties.

One statistic that doesn’t lie, however, is the overall price trend. The recent average price for condos and single family homes was off 14.5 per cent from last year. The average single family home price was down 10 per cent in May 2011, as compared to the previous month. These stats are from John Sabia, a Fort Lauderdale real estate professional.

So what is selling in Fort Lauderdale today? Foreclosures, short sales and REOs lead the way. As in many real estate markets across the country, distressed properties rule the market. Currently, 11 per cent of all listings are distressed properties. This figure, while significant, is not nearly as foreboding as the stats from Orlando in central Florida. All graphs do seem to show a future trend of more stable prices. Mr. Sabia feels that as distressed properties are absorbed by the market, price stabilization and even an upward trend can be realized.

One important caveat to the good news is the recent jobs report which showed no national job growth at all. This is certain to slow down any small rise in real estate prices in Fort Lauderdale as anyone employed will continue to be very conservative with their limited resources.

Foreign buyers are quite active in the Fort Lauderdale market as many have cash which leads to favorable deals. These buyers are particularly fond of distressed condos.

Like most of the United States, Fort Lauderdale is struggling. However, veteran Florida real estate observers know that what has come down will go up and most hope the bottom of the market is now upon us.