Friday, February 5, 2010

A 10-year look at the Phoenix Real Estate market - Foreclosures Impact

Phoenix Foreclosures

I usually break down the Phoenix Foreclosure market on a micro level. But, and as Monty Python used to say, "and now for something entirely different," here's a look at the larger macro picture.

I was curious just how far prices dropped since the boom years. So I went tothe multiple listing service, came up with some criteria, clicked a few buttons, and wallah: a 10-year look at the average price and price per square foot in the Phoenix real estate market. As you can guess, they have been impacted by metro Phoenix foreclosures. This is my disclaimer: this information came directly from the Arizona Regional MLS. Any realtor and can get the same information. I'm not responsible for any errorsss in the data. OK, now that that's over with, let's get back to this post.

Read that chart in this manner: in 2009 there were 92,146 residential sales in the Phoenix area. That total sales volume equaled $15,668,606,573, or an average price of $170,045. Since the average sold home was 1,930 square feet, the average price per square foot in the Phoenix housing market for 2009 was $88.00

chart depicting phoenix housing market

Phoenix Foreclosures

Anyone who follows Phoenix real estate will realize the rest of the chart isn't hot breaking news because this information was available on an intuitive basis. In other words, we all knew that house values started an amazing increase in 2004 - 2005 and that many people bathed in the "afterglow" during 2006. But seeing these numbers all in one place -- and in black and white and blue-- is a minorshock to the system. Who doesn't wish they has access to this chart 4-years ago? However, then the crisis with foreclosures hit Phoenixand home values decreased to their current state.

You can see a $94.00 drop in the price per square foot from 2006 to 2009. Obviously, that is due to the fact that approximately 55% of all homes sold in 2008 - 2009 were Phoenix foreclosures. More specifically,bank owned homes and short sales. That quantity of metro Phoenix foreclosures is enough to suck the life out of values in any housing market (and we won't name other housing markets in this post -- you know which ones I'm talking about ).

When people ask me "is this the time to buy real estate" I can now honestly say prices are lower than they have been in the last 10 years.

Phoenix Foreclosures

Housing Tracker Phoenix

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