March Momentum: Events, Exhibits & Migration Trends

This month’s newsletter is a little bit of everything: a fond farewell to my annual lederhosen moment, a roundup of can’t-miss March events in and around Scottsdale (hello NASCAR and MLB Spring Training!), a look at a new exhibit at Taliesin West, helpful local news links, and a snapshot of how domestic migration is reshaping our population here in Arizona. Whether you’re here for the fun, the facts, or a little of both—I’m glad you’re here. Let’s jump in!

Time to Trade in My Lederhosen

For most of my life, I proudly believed I was German. I even took German in high school. My brother and I are adopted (not related), and Mom always said one of us was German & English and the other German & Irish — she just couldn’t remember which. My brother had freckles, so we decided he was the Irish one.

Well… 23andMe had other plans.

Turns out I’m 75.8% Irish & British and only 20.1% German & French. Apparently, I should’ve been practicing my Irish jig instead of celebrating Oktoberfest. So yes, I may be quietly retiring my imaginary lederhosen. Sláinte!

March Merriment Around Town

March brings some of the best energy of the year in Scottsdale. From the crack of the bat at Spring Training to all things green for St. Patrick’s Day — plus plenty of local festivals and outdoor fun — there’s no shortage of ways to get out and enjoy the season. Here’s a look at what’s happening around town this month.

Spring Training SchedulesFeb 20 through March 24

• Cactus League
• Salt River Fields
• Chicago Cubs
• Chicago White Sox
• Cincinnati Reds
• Cleveland Guardians
• Kansas City Royals
• Los Angeles Angels
• Los Angeles Dodgers
• Texas Rangers

M3F Music Fest - March 6-7

Persian New Year Festival - March 7

Heard Museum Indian Fair & Market - March 7-8

High Street Arts Festival - March 7-8

Phoenix Raceway Nascar Weekend - March 7-8

St. Patrick's Day Events - Multiple events from March 13-17 Includes a MIM show, a parade, a green fountain, crawls, food, & more.

Tempe Festival of the Arts - March 13-15

Festival Columbiano - March 14

Baja Culinary Fest - March 14-15

Foodielandc- March 20-22

Arizona Aloha Festivalc- March 21-22

Spirits of Mexico Festival Featuring Sonora - March 21-22

Spring Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival - March 27-29

Doggie Street Festival - March 28

Fountain Hills Dark Sky Festival - March 28

20th Arizona Annual Dragon Boat Festival - March 28-29

Rainbows Festival - March 28-29

Since March offers great weather for outdoor activities, this is a long list, so I just put names, dates, and the link so you can check the location, times, information, and order tickets if applicable.

You may notice that a few of these events have already passed by the time you’re reading this. That’s the downside of catching the newsletter on the blog after it’s been sent! If you’d like to see everything right at the start of the month—and not miss any of the early happenings—be sure to subscribe to the email newsletter. It arrives in your inbox at the beginning of each month with all the events, local updates, and news while there’s still plenty of time to enjoy them. All you have to do is click on my Contact Form and put Newsletter in the subject line and/or the body.

Taliesin West Has a New Exhibit — and It’s Worth Another Visit

Watching a movie created by artist Erika Lynne Hanson in the Cabaret Theatre at Taliesin West

Do you have a place that you love and can visit over and over? That's how I feel about Taliesin West in Scottsdale. I never get tired of it, and every time I go there, I get "the feels."

The new exhibit gives me a reason to revisit when my group of Illinois friends arrives on their annual visit this month. This is the perfect time of year since there are exterior and interior stops during the tour.

Taliesin West has a fresh reason for locals and tourists to visit. “Desert Mirror,” on display through May, brings contemporary art into the picture with Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert masterpiece.

The exhibit is part of a new artist-in-residence program, echoing the days when apprentices lived on-site, learning from Wright. Artist Erika Lynne Hanson spent two years exploring the campus and created tapestries, sculptures, and video installations inspired by the natural landscape and architecture. From mirrored panels outside the kiva to tapestries in Wright’s office, her work encourages visitors to pause and reflect.

The exhibit unfolds along the standard, self-guided tour. Taliesin West isn’t just history — it’s still a living, creative space. And now, locals have a new way to experience it.

Did You Know?

It Turns Out That When Waymos Are Stumped, They Get Intervention From Workers in the Philippines - Now I don't feel so bad about having no sense of direction. Lost Waymos

Early Bag Check at Sky Harbor is a new, free, and convenient service that allows you to check your luggage before you even reach the terminal — skipping the airline ticket counter lines and saving valuable time. Whether you arrive by car or light rail, you can head straight through the airport without hauling your bags onto the PHX Sky Train®. There are two locations: • Rental Car Center • East Economy Parking

Waste Management PGA Tour 2026 DUI Task Force made over 100 arrests - that's a higher figure than last year.

Flying With Your Furry Friends? New Service Takes Off from Scottsdale If you don't want to put your pets in cargo, there is a new pet-friendly airline called RetrievAIR.

Many Americans voted with their feet last year on the best places to live, creating winners and losers among the states when it comes to growth from out-of-state moves. Arizona was part of that story, recently posting a 0.41% population increase, proof that people still see opportunity and lifestyle value here. Steady growth paired with fewer natural disaster risks continues to make our market an attractive and comparatively stable place to call home. I get people leaving Alaska — but look at Hawaii! We sometimes feel like the cost of living in Arizona is high, yet when you compare it to places like California or Hawaii, we’re actually sitting in a pretty reasonable spot.
 Read the entire article here.

February Real Estate Stats

All information should be verified and none is guaranteed as accurate by ARMLS

I tried a different format for the entire month of February 2026. This is a simple chart showing statistics of residential real estate for Carefree, Cave Creek, and Scottsdale. This is all residential, including attached properties (condominiums, townhomes, patio, and twin/gemini homes), single-family homes, plus mobile homes.

Last month Scottsdale had the highest average list price and sold price. Scottsdale is a much larger town than either Carefree or Cave Creek, so there are always more properties in comparison.

Average days on market are similar for all towns. ADOM means the amount of days a property is on the market with a single agent. CDOM is cumulative days on market and will include if it was listed by more than one agent/brokerage.

To break down Scottsdale, note that there are 3,600 Active listings. Out of those listings, 945 are new listings, 415 are Pending, and 558 are sold. What is a New listing? In our MLS (ARMLS), a New listing is considered an Active listing. Although there is no specific status for "New", it is bunched together with all Active listings. I created a basic search to see if I could figure out when the "New" falls off a listing, and it appears it is after 8 days (there is no documentation in ARMLS that says this). Because it is no longer considered an active Seller's Market, we're seeing more and more Expired listings. Last month showed 41 expired listings in Scottsdale. It also shows 41 listings that are temporarily off-market. I'm not sure how that coincides with the same amount of Expireds. It's my opinion that those are 2 separate categories, and if you look at Cave Creek stats, you'll see 2 different figures.

Now let's look at something most buyers and sellers are really interested in - the difference between average list prices vs sold prices. The frenzied Seller's Market of the past is definitely over. However, these are average figures. There are still properties listed correctly for their location and how they are presented (clean, uncluttered, updated, nice exterior, etc.) that are getting full price or very close to it.

The chart below is Scottsdale real estate sales (all residential) from March 2024 through today. I want you to view the different months over the past 2 years to see what months have the most sales.

As you'll notice, the highest months in 2024 and 2025 were March through May. Don't pay attention to March of 2026, as we're not far enough into it so that's why it's so low. What this means is that if you're looking to buy or sell, these are the months where the highest activity occurs.

The month with the lowest amount of sales was September 2024. Although it wasn't as low in 2025, this is the month that children start school, so fewer families with children are out looking. They want to have their new home closed and moved into before the school season begins.

If you're a seller it would be to your benefit to have your house listed during the Spring season. If you're buying a place, you have to realize you're going to have more competition during peak real estate months. You might be up against multiple offers that push up prices.

If you're thinking of buying or selling in 2026, give Judy Orr a call at 480-906-1500. A short conversation can answer your questions, give you a clearer picture of the market, and help you decide what makes the most sense for your situation.