I was closely examining the market today and noticed that the neighboring community of Shadows @ Sabino has had a more favorable sales year than Sabino Mountain has had. Last year they sold 10 houses, and so far this year they have sold 8 houses. The prices are stable there and very much like last year. On the other hand, Sabino Mountain house sales of non-custom homes has suffered, with only one non-custom home being sold this year. I sold it — it is a 2,236 square foot one- story Pepper-Viner home on Ocotillo Canyon.
The main attraction to Shadows @ Sabino is that most of the homes have their own pools, or if they don’t, they have pool-size lots. Of the 8 that have sold this year at Shadows @ Sabino, 7 have their own pool. It is my opinion that this is the biggest reason why Shadows of Sabino has had a much better year for sales. Most of the non-custom homes at Sabino Mountain do not have room for a pool.
I have heard from some of the people who live at Sabino Mountain that they can not understand why this neighborhood does not do better since there are beautiful views and there is a community pool, spa and Clubhouse. Also having many higher priced homes in the community usually helps bring up the value. The current situation with the non-custom homes being harder to sell, underlines the important message that those who are going to market their Sabino Mountain homes need to price it right and have an excellent agent market the house.
Jumbo loans (loans in excess of 417K) have risen unbelievably to over one percent greater than conforming loans (loans under 417K) to about 8%. Because of this, many of the would-be jumbo loan buyers will now buy houses priced 450K or less or wait out the market until interest rates on jumbo loans stabilize. However, those houses priced at 450K and less should not be effected by the current mortgage market upheavel.