Dr. Jay Butler of Realty Studies at Arizona State University came out with his Phoenix area residential real estate sales and median home price numbers for October 2010.

Greater Phoenix – Median Home Price

(Single-family resale homes. Excludes repossessions but includes sales by banks after they repossess. ASU calls these “Traditional Sales”)

October 2010: $135,000
October 2009: $140,000

The median price was stable in October ($135,000), the same as in September ($135,000) and August ($135,000), after tanking from June ($143,000) to August.

It looks certain that the price bust that followed the end of the tax credit ended in August.

The autumn is normally a weak time of year for the Phoenix median home price so having a flat price for 3 months ain’t bad at all. Typically, however, the weakest prices are during the months of December and January (reflecting Phoenix home sales in November and December, more or less).

The median home price in Maricopa County bottomed out in April 2009 at $125,000 and rose 15% to peak at $144,000 in April and May 2010. The median home price is now down 6% from the peak.

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”)

October 2010: 4,695
October 2009: 6,140

Even though single family home sales were way down this October (down 24%) compared to October 2009, the median price didn’t fall. That’s almost a good sign for prices! But the story really won’t be written until we see December and January sales and prices.

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.