The Market was Better in March

The first article, Homes sales climb, but lag boom years, from the Business Journal of Phoenix, reports that according to Arizona State University's Realty Studies program, there were 5,385 resales in March 2007, compared with 4,520 in January and 4,280 in February. It was the strongest month since 5,685 were recorded in August 2006. There were 7,265 sales in March 2006 and 10,035 in March 2005. The March 2007 numbers were similar to 2002 levels. So far in 2007, there have been 14,185 resales, compared with 17,980 for the same period in 2006. "While the resale market is tracking near historical norms, the levels should be well below those of the last few years, because the current market lacks the market frenzy to own and/or invest at almost any price and reasoning," said Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies. "The general expectation is that the 2007 resale housing market should be a good year, but no where near the records, assuming that there are no negative geopolitical events and that the sub-prime problem remains fairly contained," he added. The median price in March was $265,470, compared to $260,000 for February.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/04/09/daily9.html?f=et73&hbx=e_du

The second article, Market in Valley rebounds in March, from the Arizona Republic, also reports on the latest housing numbers from ASU. It quoted Jay Butler as saying "I think there's risk out there", adding that he is more realistic about the market than optimistic. Butler believes the resale market is running near historical norms. He said the market could still be knocked off track by a number of things, including the widening of the subprime lending scandal.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0411biz-resale0411.html