Phoenix real estate and foreclosure update for December 6, 2011

November home sales in the Phoenix area hung in there last month, down only 4.4 percent from October 2011 home sales numbers.  There were a total of 7,243 homes sold throughout the Phoenix area, as reported in the Arizona Multiple Listing Services.  Though the trend has been lower homes sales month over month, much of this is believed to be attributed to the seasonal trends.  Of course, 7,243 home sales in Phoenix is still considerably higher than the 6,686 homes sold in November 2010.

One trend that I believe has significant ramifications to the market outlook is that non-distressed properties accounted for 40.3 percent of the total sales last month, pushing distressed home sales (foreclosures and short sales) below the 60 percent mark.  Foreclosures only accounted for slightly more than 30 percent of the total sales...significantly lower than the 37 to 40 percent market share from months prior.  Short sales are still holding on, accounting for roughly 29 percent of the total sales (a fairly stagnant number over the last several months).  

In November, there were 355 HUD homes sold in the Phoenix area (about the same number as last month).  Sales data shows that on average, HUD homes sold for 104 percent of their asking price.  The highest percentage was a home that sold at a whopping 301 percent of the asking price (6334 W Avalon Dr) while the lowest was 65 percent.  On average overall, all home sales sold at 96.5 percent of the asking price (slightly less than the 96.7 percent from last month).

The current inventory of homes is still hanging around at the 19,000 home level (as it has been for the last 3 months though significantly lower than the 40,000 homes for sale this time last year).  Pending home sales has also been a fairly constant number at the 10,000 range.  Surprisingly, bank owned foreclosures now only account for about 10 percent of the active for sale inventory in the Phoenix area.  Short sales make up roughly 16 percent of the total for sale inventory.

While inventory has shrunk and the supply of "bargain" homes is diminishing, we are seeing an uptick in the median price of homes throughout the Phoenix area.  The median price for a home last month as $115,000, up from the $112,100 from the beginning of November.  This is the same median price for this time last year...essentially eliminating any price drops that we saw this past year.   

If you are on the fence about buying a home, it is time to really give it some thought about taking that first step.  If you would like to sit down for a planning and strategy session, please give me a call at 480-888-1234 and let's talk about the process of buying a home, the options that you have available, and the best way to achieve that goal.