It appears the Phoenix real estate market continues to inch its way back towards recovery. This includes homes in Ahwatukee, Chandler, Gilbert, Maricopa, Mesa, Queen Creek and Tempe. It applies to all home types; foreclosed property, short sales/pre-foreclosures and traditional sales. The median price of sold homes has gone up every month since April of 2009. November has continued on that track.
Let me share a few charts from the local MLS:
The 1st chart shows the number of homes sold from year to year. When December closes out, 2009 will be the 3rd highest number of homes sold only trailing the crazy years of 2004 and 2005.
The 2nd chart shows the median sales price of those homes sold. Obviously, the pricing sky rocketed in 2005 and 2006. It is worth noting since April 2009 the price has been gradually going up. In addition, the average sold price/sq ft has been going up for foreclosed property, short sales and traditional homes.
The 3rd chart shows the Months of Inventory of homes on the market. With the increase in sales volume, the months of inventory on hand has fallen and been relatively the same since about May. An interesting note here, in the lower priced range (under $150,000) because of the demand, homes are only available for 1-3 months.
The 4th chart shows the number of homes sold each month, broken down by distressed property (short sale & Foreclosed) and traditional sellers. In the distressed property category, the number of foreclosures has gradually been decreasing since March with 68% of the homes sold to 41% in November. The short sales have been increasing during that same period from 9% to 20%. Most homes have been selling in the under $200,000 price range because of the demand created by the 1st time home buyer looking to capture the 1st Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. In addition investors and 2nd home buyers from Canada and northern US states are purchasing in that price range to take advantage of our warm climate.
Are these the signs of a real estate recovery? Let me recap: number of homes sold this year will be the 3rd highest on record; for the last 7 months the average sale price has increased; the number of homes on the market has decreased significantly compared to last year and have held steady over the last 4 months; the number of foreclosed homes have been decreasing since March and the number of short sales and traditional sales have been increasing.
People have been moving here with Arizona’s reputation for sunshine, outdoor living and recreation for years and I don’t think that is going to stop. The baby boomers are either retiring or getting close and they want to get away from the cold weather conditions. Besides would you rather have a home with a pool in the Midwest/East Coast or a Chandler pool ?
If you would like additional information about specific cities such as Ahwatukee, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa or Tempe please email me at Steve@SteveRook.Net
