Tucson Median Home Prices Plunge in August 2008
September 12, 2008
Post Tags: mls statistics , Plunging Prices , Tucson Real Estate , Tucson-MLS
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Median Home Prices Decline Still a Healthy Market
This was the news in the paper today as the Tucson MLS Statistics report was released for August 2008. It is a rather dramatic down turn from July and the previous year. When some see the $185,000 they wonder if the Tucson real estate market is every going to turn around. In case you missed it, it is turned around.
In the past few years the National Real Estate Market and the Tucson Real Estate market were not healthy.
Prices were inflated and anybody could get a loan, no need to even thing about repaying it. (We are all doing that now)
But lets try and put some of this in perspective. I know there is a lot of hand wringing going on about the drop in prices. Good News or Bad News? It depends on if your are buying or selling, and what you are going to do once you buy or sell.
- Median Home Price $185,000 Tucson August 2008
- Average Sale Price $238,504
- Average Sale Price SFR $258,475
Did you see the article in the Wednesday comparing prices of homes across the country?
The average value of:
- 2,200 sq. ft. house
- 4 bedrooms
- 2 1/2 baths
- Family Room
- 2 car garage
Here is the list of most affordable cities
Most affordable Rank/city 2008 avg. price
- Sioux City, Iowa $133,459
- Jackson, Mich. $134,325
- Akron, Ohio $135,780
- Canton, Ohio $139,667
- Grayling, Mich. $141,000
- Minot, N.D. $142,000
- Arlington, Texas $143,775
- Muncie, Ind. $144,250
- Killeen, Texas $145,812
- Eau Claire, Wis. $147,300
Putting it in perspective
The average sale price of a Town home in Tucson in August 2008 was $160,720
If we look at what prices were during the very unhealthy past few years and compare them today, they are less. If we compare them to some other parts of the country they look pretty good.
A lot depends on the situation. If you are selling in California or much of the east coast and moving to Tucson our prices look like a real bargain. If you are selling in the Midwest and moving to Tucson it can look pretty pricey to you even with median home prices having “Plunged” in August.
If you are selling in Tucson and moving to California, I hope you have a lot of money in savings. If you are selling in Tucson and moving to any of these 10 cities in the affordability list you can buy quite a bit of home for your money. A lot depends on the situation.
August and September are traditionally our slowest months in the Tucson Real Estate Market. We have had a lot thrown at us in the past year from high inventories, inflated asking prices, and the mortgage industry meltdown in August last year. All things considered we have maintained a pretty healthy market. We saw rather large increases in equity over the past 5 years and some of those gains have been given back in 2008. Overall we are still running more than 50% ahead of where we were 5 years ago.
We shall all see where our market continues as we head into the final quarter of 2008. When I consider all the places in the US and all the Real Estate Markets in the US I would rather be buying and selling in Tucson than any place else.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:58 am
What a great way to look at August 2008…Love the blog…keep up the good work!!!
September 12th, 2008 at 11:56 am
This is all true I think Tucson’s Real Estate Market is much more healthy then it has been in the last 5 years. Home prices make sense and interest rates are low.