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 September 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”)
September 2009: $140,000
September 2008: $180,000
The median home price in Maricopa County bottomed out in April at $125,000 and has risen 12% since then to $140,000.
The median home price in the City of Phoenix bottomed out in March at $64,000 and had risen 37% since then to $87,500 in September.
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”)
September 2009: 6,135
September 2008: 4,625
The number of homes sold in metro Phoenix in September increased 33% over September 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.