Howdy folks. It’s time for the latest and greatest numbers. This month is again, more of the same from the previous couple of months, but that is a good thing. Let’s get right to the charts–and remember, click on the chart to enlarge (opens in a new window).
The active, sold & new listings shows us much of what we’ve seen already – that sales continue to hover around that 9,000 mark for about the 4th month in a row, driving active properties down under 40,000 leaving an inventory level slightly lower than the last month at just over 4 months of inventory.
Of note here, since we’ve already seen the sales number, is the days on market that continue to trend downward. I will feel much better when this number sits comfortably under 90 days.
We like what we see here. Again we see slight improvement in sale prices over last month, and in the last 4 months, we’ve seen nearly $17,000 in appreciation on the average in the Phoenix real estate market. Look at the dollar volume in sales too, and compare that data along with sale price to the same data 2 years prior.
Here again, we see the effect that this buying frenzy is having on the days on market.
This is one that, admittedly, I’ve had some trouble explaining over the last couple of months, but I think that the trend is picking back up, and the bottom line is that, for properties with price changes, we are seeing those price decreases shrinking both in terms of actual amounts as well as in percentage of list price. We will continue to monitor this one because Istill contend that it is a pretty good predictor of things to come.
What does all of this say about the Phoenix real estate market? It certainly tells me that things have been set in motion to help right this market and that sellers have capitualated to buyers’ needs and we’ve reached that point where buyers and sellers are in agreement.* The real question is not really about what is happening now, but what will happen in the near future. This market has been fueled in large part by first-time homebuyers taking advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, and investors who have pulled much of their cash out of the equity markets and put it into real estate bargains. What will happen when the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit goes away? What will happen if the stock market takes off, attracting investor cash, depressing bond yields, and driving mortgage rates up? What will happen if we continue to bleed jobs at the current rate? These are just a couple of concerns I’ve got.
*sellers, or, more appropriately, sellers’ banks may not be happy about the terms of an offer, but the bottom line is that they are accepting the terms.
As depressing as those subjects are, I think that living in Phoenix and moving to Arizona have a universal appeal and are what have made this Valley grow like it has over the past 10 – 15 years. We don’t have hurricanes; no floods; no earthquakes; no snow; and we have 300+ days of sunshine to top it all off. These are the things that make this place a desirable place to live, visit, or to own a second home in, and these are the things that I feel will give us a little bit of an edge in the face of continued economic challenges.
Stay tuned to this space in the next month for the latest in Phoenix real estate, but feel free to check out our real estate resources section of our website – we update it frequently. Thanks again, and let me know what you think.
Filed under: For Buyers, For Sellers, Phoenix Real Estate, Real Estate Market Watch, Real Estate Opinions Tagged: | active homes, arizona premiere living, az, bank owned home, blog, buyers, buying a home, charts, foreclosure, Freewayclosures traffic freeway closures, home prices, housing inventory, housing reports, inventory, is the market going down, is the market going up, living in arizona, market statistics, moving to arizona, north valley, nw phoenix, nw phoenix neighborhoods, nw phoenix real estate, phoenix real estate blog, phoenix real estate market, prices, property for sale, real estate guide, real estate market indicator, real estate resources, relocating to phoenix, sellers, selling, short sale, sold homes, supply and demand
