(“MLS Listings” are measured at one point in time, usually the 15th day of the current month. “Median Price” of homes sold and the total number of home “MLS Sales” are for the entire preceding month.)
Price (green line)
The median price in metro Phoenix of single family homes sold via the MLS rose $4,000 from $118,000 in April 2009 to $122,000 in May 2009. If the median home price continues to increase, it will once again match prices seen in the year 2000.
The median home price in Phoenix, Arizona has fallen 54% since the peak of $264,800 in July 2006.
This was the first increase in the Phoenix area median home price in two years, since May 2007.
Is this the absolute bottom or just the first bounce as we approach the absolute bottom? I don’t know. I do know the spell has been broken and the free fall in the Phoenix area median home price has ended.
Sales (blue line)
Single family home sales in metro Phoenix AZ in May were incredibly high at 8,287 homes. That was the best month for home sales since September 2005 and was 55% higher than a year earlier in May 2008.
Surprisingly, the number of homes sold increased strongly from April to May – up 8% – which suggests the market is so strong that the high season will stretch into June this year.
Listings (red line)
The number of single family detached homes listed for sale FELL an incredible 10% from mid-May to mid-June. The mid-June inventory is 38% less than a year earlier, in mid-June 2008.
The months of inventory in May of single family homes listed for sale was “normal” with the equivalent of a 4 month supply.
A year ago, in May 2008, we had a 10-month inventory. The inventory peaked at over 17 months in November 2007. Now it’s 4 months.
Be aware that the supply situation varies tremendously within metro Phoenix depending on the geographic location and the price range of the homes you are looking at.
Conclusion
After 2 years of stunning price declines, the median home price in Phoenix rose in May.
Mortgage interest rates increased rapidly recently so we may look back and see that April 2009 was the peak for housing affordability in this cycle with both a very low median home price and very low interest rates.