Dr. Jay Butler of Realty Studies at ASU came out with his Phoenix area residential real estate sales and median price numbers for August 2009. Realty Studies is associated with the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus.
Greater Phoenix – Median Home Price
(Single-family resale homes. Excludes repossessions but includes sales by banks after they repossess. ASU calls these “Traditional Sales”)
August 2009: $138,000
August 2008: $193,550
From August 2008 to August 2009 the median home price in Maricopa County fell $55,550.
The median home price bottomed out in April at $125,000 and has risen 10% since then to $138,000.
The median home price in the City of Phoenix fell from $94,000 in July to $85,000 in August but August is still $21,000 (25%) above the median home price in March.
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”)
August 2009: 5,995
August 2008: 4,210
The number of homes sold in metro Phoenix in August INCREASED 42% over August 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. The Case-Shiller data shown on this website directly measures home price appreciation and depreciation. Dr. Guntermann at ASU uses the same technique Case-Shiller use but he also applies it to major cities within metro Phoenix. 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.