September 2016

FOR BUYERS: Buyers looking for larger single family homes under $200K may want to consider the Southwest Valley with 50% of all sales occurring under $185K and an average size of 1,929 square feet. Pinal County provides the largest single family home for the money with an average sale at 2,057 square feet and a median sales price of $154K. The Southwest Valley (which includes Southwest Phoenix, Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Avondale, Tolleson and Laveen) has seen the sales price per square foot for single family homes rise 9.4% since this time last year. Pinal County (which includes Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, San Tan Valley, Florence, Casa Grande and Maricopa) has only seen a 2.6% increase due to more competition from new home subdivisions.  Life is easier for buyers who are looking for homes over $200K, but not by that much.  There’s more supply, but demand is still high in relation to it until the budget gets over $500K where the market is more balanced.

FOR SELLERS: For those who own a condominium or townhome, the shortage of single family supply under $200K is good news.  Sales of condos and townhomes are up 6.1% and the median sale price is up 12.5% from $137,750 last year to $155,000 as of September 7th.  The average sale price per square foot is up 5.3% from $131.85 to $138.87 with the average sized unit purchased at 1,267 square feet.

72% of all purchases over the past month have been under $300K, which is why this price point dominates Phoenix Metro overall statistics and projections. Sales between $300K and $500K are up 27.8% over last year, up 8.5% between $500K and $1M and are exactly the same for sales over $1M. Appreciation rates are not as strong in these price points because supply grew alongside demand, keeping the market in a balanced state.