Phoenix November 2007 Home Sales

December 31, 2007

Phoenix area homes sold at the slowest pace in 11 years in November as annual price declines steepened, a real estate information service reported.

The median price paid for all homes sold in the combined Maricopa-Pinal counties metropolitan area was $235,000. That was roughly even with October's $234,933 median but was down 8 percent from $255,351 in November 2006, according to DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla, Calif. The firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

November's $235,000 median for all homes was 11.0 percent lower than the $264,100 peak median in June 2006 and the lowest since the median was $233,000 in June 2005. The median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 10 consecutive months. The 8 percent annual decline in the November median was the largest for any month since at least 1993, when DataQuick's complete home sales statistics begin for the Phoenix region.

The median price for newly built homes has fallen the farthest from its peak - down 16.2 percent. The November median for resale houses was 8.6 percent below its peak, while the condo median was 1.7 percent lower.

Another gauge analysts use to measure price trends, the median price paid per square foot for resale houses, suggests a bigger hit to overall home values. That measure fell for the 13th consecutive month to $147 per square foot in November, down 10.3 percent from a year ago and the lowest since it was $142 in May 2005. Last month's median per square foot was 14 percent lower than the $171 peak in May and June 2006.

A total of 6,636 new and resale houses closed escrow in November, down 6.3 percent from 7,084 in October and down 36.7 percent from 10,482 in November 2006. November sales were the lowest for that month since November 1996, when 6,295 homes sold. The 2,937 single-family (detached) houses that resold in November represented a new low for that month in DataQuick's records.

November home purchases financed with ï¿½jumboï¿½ mortgages -- over $417,000 -- plunged 73 percent compared with November 2006. Jumbo loans have become more expensive and harder to obtain since the August credit crunch hit. Jumbo-financed purchases accounted for about 4.1 percent of total sales in November, down from an average of 8.6 percent of purchases during the first seven months of 2007.

Phoenix MSA

	# Sales			Median price
	Nov-06	Nov-07	% Change	Nov-06	Nov-07	%Change
Resale houses	5,231	2,937	-43.9%	$256,700	$245,000	-4.6%
Resale condos	849	568	-33.1%	$172,000	$183,250	6.5%
New homes	4,402	3,131	-28.9%	$265,374	$235,000	-11.4%
All homes	10,482	6,636	-36.7%	$255,351	$235,000	-8.0%

Media calls: Andrew LePage (916)456-7157 or John Karevoll (909) 867-9534