Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is known as the second hardest hit real estate market in regards to foreclosures in the United States. With foreclosure filings in 2010 coming in at 1 in every 201 houses it is ranked number two just behind Las Vegas in the nation. Phoenix has a population of 1,568,000 making it the 5th largest city in the US and a metro area population of 4,281,900 making it the 12th largest metro area in the US. Phoenix metro ranked 2nd in growth since 2000 with a population growth of 24.2%  second only to Las Vegas. People continue to flock to the area due to the nice weather year round and lack of natural disasters.

Phoenix is home to 7 Fortune 500 companies which employs a large number of people in the area. Phoenix's economy is driven mostly by manufacturing, tourism and technology, these industries provide the majority of what drives their economy. Arizona had over 10 million tourists last year from other parts of the US, Canada and other countries. Arizona was one of the major driving forces of the booming American economy before this mortgage meltdown and recession hit. All the hardest hit states in terms of foreclosures were the the strongest states during the boom years from 2002-2006 and these states should all recover well as the economy turns around again Arizona included.

With prices dropping to levels not seen since the 1980's in Phoenix and area, this area is prime for the picking right now and many Canadians as we all know have been flocking there in droves. At the peak of the market, Phoenix and area median house price was $262,000 in June 2006. Today the median house price has been hovering around $133,000 for the Phoenix area. That is a decrease on average of $129,000 from the peak of the market. The price drop is one of the highest in the nation and provides an excellent opportunity to get in on rock bottom real estate in the Phoenix area.