The Arizona Republic reports that speculation is down in Phoenix. "Almost 17 percent of all the people who bought homes in metropolitan Phoenix last month were from out of state. Sounds high, but actually it's a figure that's shrinking. A year ago, 26 percent of all the Valley's home buyers listed their main address on property records as somewhere outside of Arizona."

"In May, 7.7 percent of all Valley home sales had California buyers. A year ago, the figure was double that. Most speculators have moved on to other housing markets like Boise, Idaho, and Albuquerque. Or they've just left the housing market altogether and put their money in the stock market."

"The potential 'home flippers' are buying more existing homes than new ones. People, who acknowledged they were investors on property records bought 13 percent of all the used homes to change hands last month. These buyers, some of whom can be hazardous to the housing market if they dump properties, purchased about 7.3 percent of the new homes that sold in May."

"A rising number of homes for sale and flat or even declining prices has housing-market watchers concerned that another more lecherous wave of investors or vulture home buyers could be headed for the Valley. These 'bottom feeders' snatched up homes..for bargain prices in 1990 and 1991 when the Valley's housing market crashed."

An editorial from the East Valley Tribune. "There are some unsettling signs in the housing market. There seems to be a glut of for-sale signs. Houses are staying on the market longer. Affordability is an issue. Until recently, the Valley always has been relatively cheap compared with other home markets."

"It’s still lower than Southern California. There’s a big gap in the median home price between the Watts section of Los Angeles ($375,000) and Gilbert ($327,450)." "But our home appreciation has far outstripped the Midwest’s home appreciation. Take for example, Minneapolis-St. Paul. In 2003, the Valley’s median home price was more than $45,000 below their median price. In the first quarter of this year, our median was about $34,000 higher than their median price."

"It’s much the same for markets such as Milwaukee, Omaha, Neb., and Columbus, Ohio. That means anyone who moves here from those miserable climates is going to have a tough time getting as big or nice a house as they had back home."

"At the same time, they keep coming. And they’re going to have to find somewhere to live. Of course, they can rent. But rents are going up, too. That may save a lot of investors who bought homes on the spec and thought they’d be able to flip them by now."