Arizona Real Estate Notebook

Dr. Jay Butler of Realty Studies at Arizona State University came out with his Phoenix area residential real estate sales and median price numbers for November 2009.

Greater Phoenix – Median Home Price

(Single-family resale homes. Excludes repossessions but includes sales by banks after they repossess. ASU calls these “Traditional Sales”)

November 2009: $143,000
November 2008: $162,000

The median home price in Marcopa County bottomed out in April at $125,000 and has risen 14% since then to $143,000, including a $3,000 increase in November which is usually a weak month for home prices.

The increase was certainly related to the expected “expiration” of the $8,000 tax credit on December 1. The program was extended before it expired.

The median home price in the City of Phoenix bottomed out in March at $64,000 and had risen 52% since then to $97,000 in November.

Greater Phoenix – Number of Homes Sold

(Single-family resale homes. Excludes repossessions but includes sales by banks after they repossess. ASU calls these “Traditional Sales”)

November 2009: 5,350
November 2008: 3,370

The number of homes sold in metro Phoenix in November increased 59% over November 2008.

NOTE: Dr. Butler’s ASU data measures median home price. He doesn’t measure home price appreciation directly, although the median price follows appreciation very closely. Case-Shiller data, however, directly measures home price appreciation and depreciation. Dr. Guntermann at ASU uses the same technique as Case-Shiller but Dr. Guntermann breaks down the data further to look at appreciation in the major cities within metro Phoenix as well as metro Phoenix as a whole. Case-Shiller and Guntermann release their numbers 2 months after the end of a month while Butler releases his numbers 2 weeks after the end of a month.