By Shelley Sakala

Happy 2022! Now that we’re done shaking off the confetti from New Year’s Eve, let’s check out what our local real estate market has in store for us.

Last year featured a lot of profit, quick sales, and bidding wars, which frustrated people who watched one home after another get swept up by buyers with deeper pockets. If your plans to buy a house last year got derailed, help is on the way in the form of an increase in home inventory.

During earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, programs were created to offer consumer protection, including a moratorium on foreclosures. Banks also introduced enhanced forbearance programs that allowed homeowners to press the pause button on their mortgage payments. These were designed to help keep people in their homes while navigating the economic hardships of the pandemic. As these programs have now run their course, landlords and banks have begun resuming normal operations – including the unfortunate business of foreclosures. We saw foreclosures spike at the end of 2021, and the trend looks to continue this year. The foreclosed homes will eventually enter the marketplace, boosting available inventory for would-be home buyers. This increase in supply should also help slow down surging home prices. You can still expect prices to increase, but at a slower pace.

Losing a home to foreclosure is a big blow, both emotionally and financially. We saw the effects this had on families back in 2009 (albeit on a much larger scale). While we certainly don’t want to celebrate someone’s misfortune, we can objectively observe its impact on the real estate market. As we get deeper into the new year there will undoubtedly be a rise in foreclosures. And from this hardship, Phoenix home buyers will see opportunity as the wheels of the marketplace continue to turn.

Shelley Sakala is a local realtor and owner of The Sakala Group Real Estate. Learn more at shelleysakala.com.