Tucson AZ Real Estate Market Update Sept 2007
October 2, 2007
Post Tags: Tucson-Average-Sale-Price , Tucson-Closed-Sales , Tucson-Pending-Contract
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One of the early indicators of where the Tucson Real Estate Market is potentially headed are the number of Pending Contract during previous months. In this table take a look at the changing figures for Pending contracts between 2006 and 2007
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It isn’t hard to see when in 2006 the Pending Contract tanked. Now we are waiting to see what the numbers for September are going to show.
Here is a comparison of Total Closed Sales during the same period.
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This table shows us what we have been hearing in the media, the NUMBER of closed sales are down. But take a look at these numbers and it doesn’t look any where near as bad as the media tends to portray the Tucson Real Estate Market conditions. August 2007 figures are impressive considering the credit crunch or (Mortgage Meltdown) hit. This crisis in August caused a lot of closings to be pushed into September simply because the Mortgage industry was trying to absorb all the valid applications while sorting out the mess.
The number of closed sales is down slightly from last year. However, the Average Sale Price continues to hold; last month it was just over $273,000 here in Tucson. There are some monthly fluctuations but this is normal in any marketing statistic. Translated the number of sales are down, but the sale prices are holding. Don’t equate a drop in the number of sales with a drop in the sales price. This is a mistake often made when reading about Tucson Real Estate.
There is an interesting article in the October 2007 Issue of Money Magazine “Trapped by the Mortgage Meltdown” When you click on this link you will want to Click on the Magazine; this will open a reader window. In the top center of the page is page navigation click inside where the pages are and enter 49 for the cover of the article or 50 to dive right in. Or you can go buy the magazine. I know some of you will want to read it right away without a trip to the store.
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:41 pm
This table looks good, Dave… On the other hand these numbers and graphs don’t (if correct…) - http://www.paperdinero.com/inventory.aspx
Heard on a forum that some builders raised their prices in Phoenix, which I found quite surprising. Didn’t get an answer on my question which ones, so not sure if it’s true. Yeah, I know you don’t focus on new construction or other markets, but that would be an indication of a possible turn, I think, particularly considering Phoenix is even in worse shape.
Btw, the funniest thought I read these days was about that Wall Street guy Cramer. Apparently even in ‘06 he was still screaming “buy houses!” Now he screams “don’t dare touch houses” ;-)). Given his wonderful reputation, many people seem to think that could be a good sign of a bottom.;-)) We’ll see, I guess.