Tucson MLS Statistics for July 2008

July traditionally in Tucson sees a drop in real estate sales. This year was on exception. But do you know why sales drop on in July? There are several reasons. First, it is hot, really, really hot, in July and in the heart of the Monsoon Season which means it is also really muggy, at times. July is the month when those who are buying because they have relocated to Tucson for work and need to find a home before school starts. School starts in July in Vail and in early August in the rest of Tucson. Those making this transition have already been in the market and made their purchases in May or June.

July is too early for even the northern most snowbirds to be thinking of coming to the desert. We are left with July, and those who for whatever reason are moving to Tucson be it job, second home, investment, or they just love the heat and humidity! And that is why the closed transactions decrease every year for the month of July.

Now let’s do the numbers.

Tucson MLS Statistics June 08 – July 08 Summary

Tucson MLS Statistics July 07 – July 08 Summary

These number indicate that we are moving back to a more moderate inventory and far fewer listing are coming on the market.

* on Pending Contracts We are once again back at apples to oranges. There was a change made to the calculation for Pendings made in June 2008, Up until June the number indicated every transaction still pending. A sale might be pending for several months before it would close. In June it was decided to only show the number of transactions which “Went Pending” in the month. This means the number of pending sales when compared to the previous year are going to show a huge decline making it appear there are fewer homes going under contract than in the previous year.

This is not the case. I like the fact it is for the month only, it is too bad the Tucson MLS can’t (for some reason) go back and see how many sales went pending each month for the comparison. It seems we are destined to another 10 months of apples to oranges on pending sales.

I’ll be posting absorption rates on Friday for July. I’ll give you a hint. National absorption rates indicate 11.1 months inventory. In Tucson in July it was 8.29 months with only a 5.85 months supply of inventory in the East area of Tucson. Inventories are returning to normal and builders have slowed the rate of new construction significantly. Both of these are good signs for the residential resale market in Tucson.