The real estate world seems to have been turned upside down and back again in the past few years, and understanding the whole of it can be quite confusing. The recent economic crisis brought about a great deal of problems for homeowners, including rising costs, lowered rates of pay, and even a high incidence of layoffs and firings. The end result was that many people found themselves unable to meet their mortgage expenses and facing foreclosure. While this certainly worked to lower housing prices, it also created a market where people were unable and unwilling to buy despite the number of excellent Arizona real estate options on offer.

Scottsdale real estate has taken a large hit in the past few years, but the market hit a new peak in 2009, largely fueled by investors. During 2009, there were 79,000 home sales in Maricopa County. A majority of these sales were of Scottsdale lender owned homes. These homes had been foreclosed by the banks and institutions holding the mortgages on them, and lenders found that they often had to offer remarkable pricing and terms in order to get the homes off of their books and back into the hands of private owners.

Another area of the Arizona real estate market that has seen major changes recently is the short sale market. Short sales are generally rare and occur only when a lender allows a homeowner to sell their property for less than they owe on their mortgage. Because so many houses were flooding the market, however, many lenders found themselves more willing to allow these transactions in order to keep more properties from going on their books. Recent studies show that in the Scottsdale area about 25 percent of the homes that would have foreclosed in 2009 were instead turned to short sale listings.

Now is certainly an excellent time to buy real estate in Scottsdale, and market research shows that buyers may have more hope than they realize. Working with a qualified realtor can be an excellent way to get a great deal on lender owned properties, and many investors seem more than willing to work with lenders who have recently faced foreclosure but who otherwise have had an excellent repayment history. The face of real estate in Arizona is changing, but for buyers who know when to turn to a realtor the market is still weighed heavily in their favor.