Phoenix AZ Homes and Condos

Quick Summary of Phoenix real estate – December 2009 market conditions

Sales are up

December 2009 sales are up 2% over November 2009 and up 39% over December 2008. The number of Phoenix real estate transactions rebounded back close to what they were before the downturn. In fact 2009 sales exceeded 2008 sales by 55%!

Prices of Phoenix homes for sale are down

Unfortunately the increase in the number of transactions has come at the expense of sales price. Our median sales price is off 52% from the peak median price of $264,800 in June 2006. Prices have been sliding since, but bottomed out in April 2009 at $115,500 and closed the year at $126,000.

Our December average sales price increased to $177,572, because more high-end REO homes sold. At this point our average and median sales price are back to where they were in February/March 2001. We have bargains galore!

Of the homes that SOLD in December 2009:

23% were Short Sales

34% were Traditional, Non-distressed Sales

43% were Bank Owned or REO Sales

50% of our Active inventory is Traditional listings

50% of our Active inventory is either Short Sale or REO listings

As a ratio of Active listings of  homes in Phoenix by listing type to December Sales:

12.5% of the Short Sale inventory sold with Short Sales being 36% of Active inventory

13 % of the Traditional inventory sold with Traditionals being 50% of Active inventory

58% of the Bank Owned/REO inventory sold with REOs being 14% of Active inventory

There are not as many REO listings as one might expect, but banks price them to sell quickly!

Also noteworthy, there are more Traditional (non-distressed) sales closing escrow than Short Sales.

We see owners of non-distressed properties can sell their home. Buyers will pay premium prices for Phoenix homes that are saleable (don’t require approval to sell), in good condition (with all repairs done before it is listed for sale), staged properly (cleaned, de-cluttered and painted as needed) and easy to show on a moment’s notice (dishes washed, beds made, trash out, clothes in the washing machine and tidy).

I am cautiously optimistic the Phoenix real estate market has “turned the corner”.  My expectation is our market will continue to improve, but we’ll see minor ups and downs in trends during 2010.

Check out market statistics for Arizona condos and homes in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa and Tempe for sale at http://bit.ly/4qpcHJ. Real estate is local and the breakdown by city will be helpful.

Author:

Sam Elam, Associate Broker, Prudential Arizona Properties, Gilbert, AZ  (480) 213-1799

SamElam3@gmail.com    http://www.SamElam.com