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July 26, 2008 - 6:52PM
Scottsdale existing home sales dip 3% in June
Amanda Keim, Tribune
Scottsdale home sales lagged in June compared with the previous month, but also saw fewer foreclosures than other Valley cities.
Scottsdale fails to grab home buyers' interest
With 440 sales recorded, Scottsdale's existing home sales were down just over 3 percent in June compared with May, according to an Arizona State University report released Thursday. That bucked the overall trend in Maricopa County, which saw home sales increase nearly 9 percent in that period.
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But foreclosures also made up a smaller percentage of houses changing hands in Scottsdale than other cities.With 85 foreclosures, 19 percent of Scottsdale sales were due to bank auctions or houses reverting to lenders' hands, versus 27 percent in Chandler, 31 percent in Gilbert and 40 percent in Mesa, according to the report compiled by the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at ASU Polytechnic in Mesa.
Fewer foreclosures in the area signal stability in the Scottsdale market, said Jay Butler, head of ASU's Realty Studies Department. Also, foreclosures have been driving down prices across the Valley and driving up sales as a result, said Scottsdale real estate agent John Wake.
"We're getting a little bit of that in Scottsdale. The prices have come down a little bit," Wake said.The median price for a home in Scottsdale was $501,135 in June, down from $605,000 the same month last year.
The median price for Scottsdale's traditionally sold homes was $525,000 in June, while foreclosed properties had a $360,000 median.
Median prices in north Scottsdale were nearly twice those of south Scottsdale in June, with median prices at $570,200 for traditional sales and $502,275 for foreclosed properties in the north versus $252,000 and $219,360, respectively, in the south.
Condo sales also were down in Scottsdale, with 200 recorded in June, compared to 215 last month and 270 last June.
Condominiums haven't been as popular across the Valley with home prices coming down, Butler said.
"Because of the drop in price in single-family, if you want to buy, the single-family detached is more affordable," Butler said.
Also, many Scottsdale condos end up being second homes, Butler said.In the current market, there aren't as many people looking for vacation homes as there used to be.
More Scottsdale homes were sold in June this year than inJune 2007, when 425 home sales were recorded.
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