Ugly House Photos

How does the Phoenix real estate market compare to other US cities?  Turns out that real estate in the Phoenix metropolitan area isn’t doing too badly.  Let’s take a look at Virginia.  Thanks to Jim Duncan, REALTOR in Charlottesville and central Virginia who spent a lot of time compiling Virginia’s MLS data, here’s Jim’s recent post of how they’re performing.  Sellers in central Virginia in May 2008 were able to keep 95.04% of the list price (versus the sales price); in the Phoenix area in May 2008, we averaged 95.41%.  Sold homes in Virginia in May 2008 averaged 113 days until sold; Phoenix area homes took 98 days.  The absorption rate (how many months of inventory is available) in Virginia is currently 11.8 months; Phoenix is 9.6 months.

Southern California:  According to a recent newspaper article, southern California home prices fell 27% in May 2008 compared to May 2007.  The article does not define what southern California is; just the Los Angeles area or does it include San Diego too?  Nevertheless, it said 16,917 new and resale homes sold there in May 2008 with 37.4% of them being bank-owned foreclosure properties.  May 2007 had 19,874 new and resale home sales with only 5.5% bank-owned foreclosures.  That’s a big increase in foreclosed homes.

May 2007 versus May 2008 saw a 15% drop in home sales in southern California.  But how many were “normal”/”regular” (non-foreclosure) sales?  19,874 -5.5% = 18,781 sales; 16,917 - 37.4% = 10,590 sales.  A 44% drop in non-foreclosure sales May 2007 versus May 2008.  That’s a huge difference.  Regular folks selling their homes are having a much tougher time selling in southern California.