Tucson Real Estate – March 30, 2012 Update

March is about to go out like a Lion.  When it comes to months with a strong close, March is the strongest of 2012.  There are some good indicators in the statistics as we get ready to close out the first quarter of 2012.

REO’s Short Sales are Down in Tucson

Jumping right in, the percentage of sales that are either REO or Short Sales has been dropping gradually this year.  This is one of the indicators I like to keep track of and why I put it in the sidebar Market updates.  January, 55% of all transaction were REO or Short sales.  February this dropped to 49% for the first time in a long time it was under 50%.  Right now for March we have 42% in that category.  We are all hoping this trend continues.

March 2012 Over 1000 closed transactions

We have three days to go for turning in closed transactions before the data for the statistics report is pulled and we are over 1050 closed transactions and I only track 9 of the 13 areas included in the statistics report.  We could see a final number between 1200 and 1400 for the entire Tucson reporting area.

Pending sales continue to be strong and there are a lot of buyers in the market as we close out the first quarter of 2012.

To be watched:

I’ll be checking to see if Cash transactions continue to be the number one way purchases are financed.

The number of active homes on the market at the end of March is also on the watch list.  We have been seeing the inventory shrink for most of 2012.  It would actually be good to see an increase in active listings.

Average and Median Sale prices are up which is expected with the number of REO and Short Sales decreasing in the percentage of closed transactions is helping to raise these numbers.

Now we wait and see where the final numbers for March come in.  But we already know it is a winner for both buyers and sellers in Tucson.