Foreclosure Market Booming In Phoenix

The low end of the real estate market here – and in some equally hard-hit places like inland California and coastal Florida – is becoming as wild as anything during the boom.

– David Streitfeld, “Amid Housing Bust, Phoenix Begins a New Frenzy”, The New York Times, A1, May 24

Very interesting front page article in today’s NY Times about the booming investor demand for foreclosed properties in Phoenix, AZ:

• According to the piece, nearly 4 in 10 home buyers in the Phoenix metro area in April 2009 were absentee buyers – up 50% from late 2007 and nearly the same ratio as at the 2005 peak. 
• As its first foray into the US market, CBI Group, a real estate fund based in Calgary, Alberta, is buying 175 rental homes in Phoenix. 
• The investment group is opening a new fund this week to buy another 160 Phoenix homes.