Market Update

Today’s update comes after a short weekend trip my family took to the Grand Canyon.  For subscribers, and other frequent readers of the blog, expect a few photos from the National Park in upcoming posts.

Across all of Maricopa County, there are currently 36,792 single family homes for sale, down by 102 from last week. There are 5595 sales currently pending, up by 251 from last week. And 4376 homes closed escrow in the last 30 days, down by 81 from last week. As a result, broader Maricopa County now has 8.4 months of inventory, based on this week’s numbers.

It’s nice to see the number of pending sales move up rather significantly.  Perhaps overall July sales will surprise me, and be higher than June. The following are the 10 city-by-city breakdowns I am following:

*All data comes via ARMLS, and is presumed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. All numbers represent single family detached homes only. Condos, townhouses, timeshares, vacant land lots, and manufactured homes are not represented in these numbers. All sold properties were sold in the last 30 days.

The following trend indicators are relative to the previous week’s update:

Positive move upward Positive move downward

Negative move downward Negative move upward

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I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend.  We enjoyed the extremely cool weather in Pinetop, AZ, where I don’t think the high temp was over 75 degrees.  At just over a 3 hour drive from Phoenix, Pinetop may just be the ideal 2nd home location for those living in Phoenix or Tucson.

Across all of Maricopa County, there are currently 36,894 single family homes for sale, down by 509 from last week. There are 5344 sales currently pending, down by 152 from last week. And 4457 homes closed escrow in the last 30 days, down by 268 from last week. As a result, broader Maricopa County is now at 8.3 months of inventory, based on this week’s numbers.

Recent sales have not kept pace with the decline in inventory, which is moving months of supply upward.  I expect the trend toward an increasing months of supply number, as the general rule, throughout the rest of 2008. The following are the 10 city-by-city breakdowns I am following:

*All data comes via ARMLS, and is presumed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. All numbers represent single family detached homes only. Condos, townhouses, timeshares, vacant land lots, and manufactured homes are not represented in these numbers. All sold properties were sold in the last 30 days.

The following trend indicators are relative to the previous week’s update:

Positive move upward Positive move downward

Negative move downward Negative move upward

.

Across all of Maricopa County, there are currently 37,403 single family homes for sale, up by 190 from last week. There are 5496 sales currently pending, down by 86 from last week. And 4725 homes closed escrow in the last 30 days, up by 250 from last week. As a result, broader Maricopa County is now at 7.9 months of inventory, based on this week’s numbers.

While there is more inventory, the increased number of sold homes improved the months of supply figure significantly.  The following are the 10 city-by-city breakdowns I am following:

*All data comes via ARMLS, and is presumed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. All numbers represent single family detached homes only. Condos, townhouses, timeshares, vacant land lots, and manufactured homes are not represented in these numbers. All sold properties were sold in the last 30 days.

The following trend indicators are relative to the previous week’s update:

Positive move upward Positive move downward

Negative move downward Negative move upward

.

Catherine Reagor reported in the Arizona Republic today that Arizona lawmakers passed a bill yesterday that will require loan officers and mortgage originators to pass a test, pay a fee, and notify the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions where they are working.

Governor Janet Napolitano still needs to approve the bill, but reports are that she is in favor of the measure. If passed, the new law would go into effect January, 2010.

Personally, I think this is good legislation. I don’t know whether having such a law on the books would have resulted in fewer “bad loans” in the past, however. That’s so hypothetical. I also wonder how difficult this test will be, whether there will be a pre-licensing class that is needed, and just how much the fee will be. Naturally, the higher the cost and effort it takes to get into the business, the more likely it is to weed out a couple of more bad apples.

Per Robin Gronsky, who has been tracking states that add or plan to add licensing requirements for loan originators, Arizona will join 35 other states that already have or plan to have licensing requirements.

Across all of Maricopa County, there are currently 37, 213 single family homes for sale, up by 122 from last week. There are 5582 sales currently pending, down by 110 from last week. And 4475 homes closed escrow in the last 30 days, down by 2 from last week. As a result, broader Maricopa County is now at 8.3 months of inventory, based on this week’s numbers.

The broader Phoenix real estate statistics continue to show that the market is improving toward a balanced market. The following are the 10 city-by-city breakdowns I am following:

*All data comes via ARMLS, and is presumed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. All numbers represent single family detached homes only. Condos, townhouses, timeshares, vacant land lots, and manufactured homes are not represented in these numbers. All sold properties were sold in the last 30 days.

The following trend indicators are relative to the previous week’s update:

Positive move upward Positive move downward

Negative move downward Negative move upward

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This week’s update occurs on Father’s Day.  From this father to all of the other father’s out there, we certainly hope you had a great Father’s Day. 

Across all of Maricopa County, there are currently 37,091 single family homes for sale, down by 85 from last week. There are 5692 sales currently pending, up by 280 from last week. And 4477 homes closed escrow in the last 30 days, up by 75 from last week.  As a result, broader Maricopa County is now at 8.3 months of inventory, based on this week’s numbers.

The broader Phoenix real estate statistics continue to show that the market is improving toward a balanced market. The following are the 10 city-by-city breakdowns I am following:

*All data comes via ARMLS, and is presumed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed. All numbers represent single family detached homes only. Condos, townhouses, timeshares, vacant land lots, and manufactured homes are not represented in these numbers. All sold properties were sold in the last 30 days.

The following trend indicators are relative to the previous week’s update:

Positive move upward Positive move downward

Negative move downward Negative move upward

.