Tucson MLS Statistics for January 2009
February 13, 2009
Post Tags: tucson-housing-market-January-2009 , tucson-mls-statistics-January-2009 , Tucson-real-estate-January-2009
The new year has begun and we are off and running with the January 2009 Tucson MLS Statistics. First a quick question. Can a Turtle Run? I’m kidding. Everyone seems to think real estate sucks. Not all real estate sucks, neither do all real estate markets. Am I digging through a room of manure to find the pony? I don’t think so.
Last January, remember January 2008, we had 596 closed transactions for the month. The president of the Tucson MLS Said:
January has typically been one of the slower months in the Tucson real estate market, but in following sales trends of the past, the market should pick up in early spring.
With 2007 behind us we can look forward to all of the opportunities in our industry for 2008! Tucson and its surrounding communities are continuing to grow and prosper due to all of the amazing amenities that Southern Arizona has to offer new home owners from all around the country.
Affordable housing, low interest rates and government backed financing will assist in the upswing in the real estate market for 2008! It is time to spread the word!
Kimberly Clifton
2008 MLS President
Well, guess that didn’t turn out like many were expecting. There were 594 closed transaction in January 2008 and for January 2009 in the midst of the worst economic crisis in this country in decades there were 598 closed transactions.
Tucson MLS Statistical Redaction
Here is where the fun comes in when trying to compare statistics from one month to another and especially true when comparing year over year figures.
I wrote the above paragraphs two days ago. I based my figures for January 2008 on the December 2008 Tucson MLS Statistics Report. Then the 2008 year end report comes out and it shows there were 620 closed transactions for January 2008, an increase of 26 transactions. Today I get the January 2009 Tucson MLS Statistics Report and it shows there were 621 Closed Transactions for January 2008. Apparently they are still being added to the system.
There are 588 Closed Transactions in the report for January 2009 but in the system there are currently 598 closed transactions. If I compare the reported 594 from last year and December to the 598 in the system today it looks like the number of transactions closed over last year is a slight increase.
If I compare it to the 621 to the 588 in the report it shows a decline of 33 transactions. This is a hefty difference in the percentages being reported. As is evidenced in the report itself.
I’m glad the numbers are being updated. I hope you can see how difficult it is to report on anything but generalities with so little difference in the actual numbers we are left looking at macro trends in the middle of a national economic crisis.
All this being said here are the numbers for what they are worth
Tucson MLS Statistics Dec 08 – Jan 09 Summary
| Category |
Dec
2008 |
Jan
2009 |
Diff.
|
| Avg. Sale Price |
$200,055
|
$208,133
|
- $8,078
|
| Total Units Sold |
775
|
588
|
- 187
|
| Median Sale Price |
$167,900
|
$163,250
|
- $4,650
|
| Pending Contracts |
612
|
914
|
+302
|
| Active Listings |
7,627
|
7,694
|
+ 67
|
| New Listings |
1,501
|
2,361
|
+ 860
|
Tucson MLS Statistics Jan 08 – Jan 09 Summary
| Category |
Jan
2008 |
Jan
2009 |
Diff.
|
| Avg. Sale Price |
$265,178
|
$208,133
|
- $57,045
|
| Total Units Sold |
621
|
588
|
- 33
|
| Median Sale Price |
$203,000
|
$163,250
|
- $39,750
|
| Pending Contracts |
1,079
|
914
|
-165*
|
| Active Listings |
9,168
|
7,694
|
- 1474
|
| New Listings |
3,744
|
2,361
|
- 1383
|
Pending Contracts
We are getting closer to Apples to Apples on this one. Each month I’ve been reporting since June of 2008, there was a change in how Pending Contracts are being reported. Before June 2008 a pending contract was any contract in the system with a status of pending. If that property went pending in March with a June close of escrow it would be counted for March, April, May, as pending. In June of 2008 this changed to be any property that “went” pending during the month.
This means that the toal for January last year being 1,079 for all pendings in the system vs 941 this year which went pending during the month of January 2009 is still an apples to oranges comparison. Having 941 pending contracts on the books for January 2009 is a good thing. It is also reported that 235 of those pending contracts are Foreclosures which are subject to a higher DFT rate.
Usually once a transaction is Pending all conditions have been satisfied and the transaction is waiting for Close of Escrow. Anyone who has tried to buy a foreclosure knows even a pending status is no guarantee they will get to close on the property.
February 2009 Update as of Feb 12th
185 Closed Transactions
$224,641 Average Sale Price
$170,000 Median Sale Price
To view the entire report there is a link in the right hand navigation to the Tucson MLS January 2009 report.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I too noticed the retro-changes to the total units for Jan. 2008. Previously it was the low point of our market since the peak in June 2005 of over 1800 total units. Now we have proof positive things are not getting better.