Home prices have flattened

PHOENIX - Valley home prices have finally flattened out after hitting rock bottom in April, with prices jumping by 12 percent. But one Valley economist says all is far from being well on the home front.

"That's more because there are fewer cheap homes on the market rather than the same home going up in value," Elliott Pollack said of the price jump.

Pollack is also concerned with who is actually buying the homes.

"Absentee owners, and given what's gone on with retirees the bulk of those probably are investors," he said.

Pollack said that the fact that investors are buying up to 40 percent of the homes means they will likely be back on the open market within two years.

Right now there are up to 100,000 vacant homes and condos in the Valley, which is up from 60,000 last year. More than 50,000 homes are in foreclosure in Maricopa County.