Phoenix Realtors get access to the wonderful data-packed Cromford Report as one of their MLS membership benefits. If you aren’t a Realtor or if you are a Realtor but you didn’t catch the latest from my other favorite real estate data geek, Mike Orr, take a gander at Mike’s commentary.
All of these led us to conclude we were participating in a strong recovery, but until April sales prices stubbornly refused to follow suit and merely stabilized. However during the last ten days of April average price per sq. ft. started increasing in most (but not all) sectors.
We can now declare January 22, 2011 to be an official pricing bottom for the overall ARMLS market (all areas & types), with average sales price per sq. ft. at a low level ($80.74 per sq. ft.) we are unlikely to see again. As a reminder we experienced another initial bottom in $/SF prices on April 6, 2009, followed by a rebound that lasted over a year but collapsed along with the expiry of the tax credit incentive in 2010. Those waiting for the second bottom just missed it. It is not impossible that we see a third bottom at some point. However prices are unlikely to weaken while the indicators above continue to improve. At the moment we are looking at a W shaped recovery pattern and prices are starting to move up the second upward leg.
This is pretty much my opinion as well, although I didn’t nail the bottom down to an exact day like Mike did!