The biggest housing mania (followed by the biggest collapse)
Rampant cash-back mortgage fraud
Out of control homebuilders now stuck with massive dead inventory
Home of get-rich-quick con-men and liars
A fake economy propped up short-term by scummy REIC
So, what was it about Phoenix?
Asking prices in the Phoenix area have dropped about 25% this year, says David Khalaj, an agent at Realty Executives.
Existing single-family home sales tumbled 34% in the first nine months of the year compared with the same period last year, and condo sales were off 24%.
Construction permits for single-family homes were down 23% through August.
The declines appear so dramatic because Phoenix's housing market last year (and for the past several years) was so hyperinflated.
"Last year was just one of those atrocities that happens rarely," in terms of bidding wars and soaring prices, says Camille Sullivan, also an agent at Realty Executives. "I've never seen it before, and I've been doing this for 25 years. It was a very difficult time."
