(“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.)
Video Analysis
Price (green line)
In February, the median single family home sold price in the Phoenix area MLS was $130,000 for the second month in a row. I don’t expect the median price to fall below $130,000 this year… but you never know.
Sales (blue line)
The number of single family homes sold in February (5,549 homes) was significantly above sales in February 2009 (4,901 homes), that is, sales were 13% higher this February compared to last February.
February single family homes sales were strong. It was the strongest February since 2005 which was during the height of the residential real estate boom.
Listings (red line)
The increase in the number of listings for sale surprised me. With the number of home sales so strong, I would have expected the number of listings to fall.
I don’t know what’s going on here. It could reflect the increasing number of short sale listings in recent months. Short sale listings usually stay on the market a long time before being sold.
Nevertheless, the inventory of single family homes listed for sale in February was in the normal range with the equivalent of a 6-month supply of homes for sale. That’s a lot better than the 9-month supply of homes we had in February 2009 but it’s a lot worse than the 4-month supply of homes we had last July.
Conclusion
It looks like we are in for a year of strong home sales in Phoenix.
Next month’s data is the most important of the year. March home sales usually give us a good idea of how home sales will play out for the rest of the year.