Phoenix February 2008 Home Sales
March 27, 2008
The decline in the median price paid for a Phoenix area home steepened again
in February as sales fell to the lowest level for that month in 15 years. The
median's nearly 14 percent drop from a year earlier marked the 13th consecutive
month in which the price measure has fallen on a year-over-year basis.
The median price for all homes sold in the combined Maricopa-Pinal counties
metropolitan area in February was $218,193. That was down 2.8 percent from
$224,437 in January and down 13.9 percent from $253,500 in February 2007,
according to DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla, Calif. The firm tracks
real estate trends nationally via public property records.
The 13.9 percent annual decline in the February median was the largest for
any month since at least 1993, when DataQuick's complete home sales statistics
begin for the Phoenix region. February's median was the lowest since April 2005,
when it was $212,000, and was 17.4 percent lower than the peak $264,100 median
in June 2006.
Another gauge analysts watch indicates greater price weakness in the Phoenix
area: The median paid per square foot for resale houses fell to $132 in
February, down 18.7 percent from a year earlier and down 22.8 percent from a
peak of $171 in June 2006.
About one out of four Phoenix area homes that resold in February had been
foreclosed on at some point since the beginning of last year. Generally, as more
of a housing market's sales become stressed, meaning the homes are sold
following a foreclosure or under threat of foreclosure, the greater the price
declines. Recently, in some California and Nevada markets hard hit by
foreclosures, such as Sacramento, Riverside and Clark counties, around half of
the homes reselling had been foreclosed on since January 2007.
A total of 5,413 new and resale houses closed escrow in the Phoenix area
during February, up 4.4 percent from 5,184 in January and down 39.5 percent from
8,940 in February 2007. February sales were the lowest for that month since
February 1993, when 5,093 homes sold. Sales financed with so-called jumbo loans
over $417,000 fell nearly 76 percent in February compared with one year earlier.
The loans, which became pricier and harder to get following the credit crunch
last August, accounted for 4.0 percent of February’s transactions – half the
level seen before the credit crunch.
Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or John Karevoll (909) 867-9534
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