(View Original Article) Metro Phoenix’s housing market recovery has been long and slow. But it’s on track. And this year is poised to be the best year for home sales and prices in the Valley in nearly a decade. Last year, home prices, sales and new construction rebounded from 2014’s disappointing results. Foreclosures continue to shrink.
Arizona housing analyst Tom Ruff calls 2015 an “average year” for housing and that’s with some double-digit gains.
“The success of 2015 doesn’t rise to champagne corks popping off but there were market improvements in almost every way," said Ruff, who works for the Information Market, owned by the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service.
Among the positive signs:
- Resales were up 10 percent in 2015, according to ARMLS’ new STAT report.
- The region’s existing home price climbed 9 percent.
- New home construction jumped 46 percent, according to RL Brown Housing Reports.
- And pending foreclosures are down 26 percent to the lowest level since 2006.
More Millennials deciding to buy homes, and boomerang buyers, who lost houses to foreclosure, qualifying for mortgages again gave Phoenix’s market a boost last year.
The big bump in sales and prices from those big groups of potential homebuyers is expected to come this year. But most from these groups aren’t buying million-dollar mansions.
The Valley’s luxury market isn’t faring as well as the rest. The first half of 2015 was strong for sales of houses priced above $800,000. But in December, these pricier deals dropped 30 percent.
Declines in the stock market are mostly to blame for a slowdown in high-end home sales, say analysts. Ruff has been predicting 2016 will be a “breakout year’ for metro Phoenix’s housing market for a few years.
He is still optimistic but a few issues and events have him feeling a little more cautious: not enough affordable homes for sale, gas prices and the presidential election.
ARMLS’ pending sales index shows the Valley’s sales climbing this month, while the area’s median price dips a bit. Metro Phoenix has a lot of great events that draw visitors and home buyers in January. But, of course, in 2015 the Valley hosted Super Bowl XLIX. But Rough said if 2016 shapes up to be another average year for housing, that’s still a very good thing. After all, who can complain about a 9 percent increase in home prices.
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