By Mike Bodeen · 6 March 2017
Preliminary Maricopa County closing numbers for February are in and they’re looking pretty good. Total sales are up 12% over February 2016 (similar to the gain in ARMLS sales). However new build closings are up 26% year on year, whereas re-sales are up only 10%. Neither of these are too shabby, but new homes continue to build market share from 12.3% of unit sales in February 2016 to 13.9% in February 2017.
The new build median sales price is up 7% while the re-sale median is up 8%, with the overall median up 7%.
At $336,000 the new build median in February is the highest ever recorded in Maricopa County. This is NOT because new home pricing is really the highest ever, it’s because the new home builders are selling very few small homes. On a price per square foot basis, new homes still have some way to go to match the pricing of 2006. The median sales price for new homes in June 2006 (the peak) was only $266,523 because at that point there were huge numbers of entry-level new homes being sold to people who should never have qualified for a home loan.
The re-sale median was $225,900 which is still lower than June 2016 and September 2016, so no records there. (Numbers Courtesy of Michael Orr; Cromford Report)
February Numbers
(All MLS Including Pinal County)
Active Listings: 19,648 versus 22,587 last year – down 13.0% – and down 1.1% from 19,863 last month
Under Contract Listings: 11,815 versus 11,773 last year – up 0.4% – and up 19.8% from 9,864 last month
Monthly Sales: 6,517 versus 5,805 last year – up 12.3% – and up 8.0% from 6,037 last month
Monthly Average Sales Price per Sq. Ft: $147.69 versus $140.88 last year – up 4.8% – and up 0.5% from $146.88 last month
Monthly Median Sales Price: $230,000 versus $213,000 last year – up 8.0% – and up 2.2% from $225,000 last month
Market data referenced in this article comes from The Cromford Report.