ARIZONA DAILY STAR:  Sun., June 1, 2008

Tucson-area home buyers emerge

Lower prices bringing out deal seekers     

By Christie Smythe

 

There isn't much to look at yet other than the foundation, but Misty Shaw stops several times each week to check on the progress of her new home at Lakeside Ridge, an East Side development she previously wrote off as too expensive.

 With local home prices dropping, buyers such as Shaw are reveling in their opportunity to call the shots, shopping around prodigiously and not taking anything less than what they want.

Some of the winners in the housing slump are first-time buyers or others who felt priced out of the market during the run-up.

Foreign buyers, especially Canadians, and investors and retirees also are active in the market, looking for bargains, local real estate industry observers said. And some Mexican nationals are becoming more interested in investing in Tucson, Long Realty agent Richie Cardenas said.

"The buyers have come out of the hiding," said Troy Goodwin, a Coldwell Banker agent.

First-time buyers have been a good market during the slump because they don't have to worry about selling existing homes, real estate agents said.

FULL STORY:   http://www.azstarnetcom/sn/byauthor/241631