Leif Swanson

Real Estate Statistics - December 28, 2009 update:

Bank-Owned Active Listings: There are 5,360 active bank-owned foreclosure listings in all of the Phoenix metro area, an increase of 362 over the past 2 weeks as buyers slow down for the holidays. Bank-owned properties account for almost 16% of all active listings.

Pending sales (properties currently under contract): Currently, there are 10,478 pending sales in the Phoenix metro area plus an additional 6,091 contingency sales (shaky contracts). The total number of properties under contract today is 16,570, down 700 in the past 2 weeks.

More and more buyers are lured into making offers on short sale listings. Currently 9,438 properties under contract are short sale listings, or 57% of the total market in the Phoenix area, a number that continues to rise every month. Because banks take 3-4 months to make a decision on short sale contracts, the properties under contract just hang in virtual suspension. Over 25% of all active listings are short sale properties.

Inventory: There are currently 34,177 active listings in MLS as of December 28, 2009, up 207 in the past 2 weeks as buyers slow down for the holiday. Inventory usually declines during the holiday season. The increase came from foreclosure properties (are investors on vacation?) and short sale listings. We are still in a seller’s market in the under-$250,000 price range.

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Let’s look at Phoenix, Arizona specifically.

For the city of Phoenix only, as of December 28, 2009. Numbers are based on the orange 90-day lines. However, check out the black lines (7-day trends). The Phoenix real estate market has shifted to a seller’s market.

Median sales price for Phoenix properties: $176,532 (down $1,538 in the past 2 weeks). It is an odd occurrence. The 7-day trend does not look good (sharp decline).

Inventory of properties for sale in Phoenix: 5,722, down 34 in the past 2 weeks. Phoenix is seeing a decrease while the rest of the metro area has an increase in inventory. See how the market supply has shrunk this year. Amazing.

Median price per square foot for Phoenix properties: $96/sqft, down $1 in the past 2 weeks.