Resale market perkin' back up!

The first article, Existing home sales volume retreats to 2004 levels, from the Phoenix Business Journal, reports that Valley resales fell by nearly 2,500 recorded sales from February 2005 to February 2006, according to the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU. There were 5,455 resales in February 2006, down from the 7,935 in February 2005, but up from the 5,260 sales recorded in January 2006. The median resale price rose to $265,000 in February 2006, up from $257,000 in January. "As prices have stagnated since August, inventory levels have continued to grow, as we suspect an increasing number of speculators are placing their homes on the market," Raymond James analyst Rick Murray wrote to clients on Monday. The article gives a breakdown of the sales and median prices for each city.

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/03/20/daily16.html?t=printable

The second article, Resale market perks up, from the Arizona Republic, also reports on the housing market numbers released by the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU. Jay Butler, the director of the Real Estate Center, said the market direction wouldn't be clear until the second quarter. Investors placing their homes on the market was again cited for the big increase in inventory. "We're getting a few more buyers coming out and looking around, but the inventory is going through the roof," said Floyd Scott, designated broker of Century 21 Arizona Foothills. "Investors are rotating out, going to Dallas and Austin. They bought the resale market last year, took the inventory right out of the market and everyone raised prices...We're still trying to find our legs on whether these prices will hold up or there will be a small decline this year. It might soften a little bit because of the price increase last year," he added.

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