PHOENIX LEADS THE NATION!
Phoenix Bucks Trend as Most Home Prices Fall!
An article out of Washington through the Associated Press gave credibility to the improvement of our housing market. According to The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller home-price index* released Tuesday, home prices dropped from January 2011 to January 2012 in 16 of 19 cities. However, “…Phoenix, Denver, and Detroit had year-over-year price increases” with Phoenix increasing 1.3%. Additionally, most major cities saw a price fall in January for a 5th straight month except for Phoenix, Miami and Washington.
Even though the news was not good for most major housing markets, analysts are predicting that the U.S. housing market will see higher prices throughout 2012. Stan Humphries, chief economist for housing website Zillow.com said, “The reality is that home prices and home sales will be moving higher.”
What this article does not mention is that our inventory continues to decline at a record rate. Sales are good and listings are slow to come onto the market at every price point. Foreclosures are down over 50% from one year ago and continue to decline. Investors are competing with buyers for properties to fix and flip or rent and many properties are getting multiple offers, some as high as 12-16! First time home buyers in the $250,000 and under price range have to act quickly to secure a property.
We will continue to update you as we see the trends unfolding so that you are ahead of the average newspaper reader. It has taken the national and local news networks 6 months to catch up with what we were telling you last fall! If you or your neighbors, friends, family have been waiting to sell or buy, now is the time to do it! Call us for more information!
*Case-Schiller monthly index covers half of all U.S. homes. It measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a 3-month moving average.
