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Existing home sales see drop
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Sales of existing Valley homes dipped in April after experiencing an uptick the month prior but mirrored sales numbers from before the real estate market boom.
Some 4,855 sales were recorded last month, a 9.8 percent drop from March but an improvement from the first two months of 2007, a report by the Realty Studies department at Arizona State University Polytechnic shows. Sales were 4,870 in April 2000.
April is typically a sluggish month since many of the deals closed were reached in January or February — a slow time of year for real estate, department director Jay Butler said.
“The next several months will be the key as to how the area plays out,” Butler said.
Sellers are still facing stiff competition from new home builders, foreclosures are on the rise and inventories are near record highs.
The full impact of the nationwide subprime mortgage market meltdown also is unclear. Marginal buyers in the entry-level home market are getting pushed out of the game because lenders are tightening standards, Butler said.
Still, interest rates are low and the economy is good, he said. April’s median home price — where half cost more and half less — remained fairly stable at $265,000, compared with $264,900 recorded in the same month last year.
Without the opportunity for dramatic appreciation, buyers are looking for places closer to jobs, schools, freeways and other conveniences, Butler said. Rising energy prices and traffic congestion also have caused buyers to look in older areas near city cores, where prices have held up better, he said.
Also in April, 15 percent of sales were for homes priced from $125,000 to $199,999, 44 percent ranged from $200,000 to $299,999 and 41 percent cost more than $300,000.
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