Pinal County resale housing market finishes 2007 with a rise in sales

With significantly lower home prices, the Pinal County resale housing market posted improvement from the 625 sales of third quarter 2007 to 1,145 recorded sales and well above the 720 sales recorded a year ago.

Housing activity was good throughout the quarter as shown by the monthly activity, with October at 355 recorded sales, November at 420 sales and December at 370 sales. Even with a strong close, resale activity in 2007 was decreased to 3,580 sales from 3,860 sales recorded in 2006 and 6,115 sales in 2005. For fourth quarter 2007 in Maricopa County, there were 10,180 sales recorded and 50,975 total for 2007.

Lower prices have made homes more affordable and even attractive to investors that foresee strong appreciation in the coming years. The median price has steadily eroded from $220,000 in fourth quarter 2005 to $193,000 in third quarter 2007 and $174,000 for the fourth quarter. It was $191,500 for a year ago.

The median home price in Pinal County was 73 percent of the median price in Maricopa County ($238,500), while it was 75 percent for a year ago. The 30-year mortgage remained unchanged at 5.9 percent, however, a lower home price drove the monthly mortgage payment for the median price, based on an 85 percent loan-to-value, to decrease from $970 to $880. It would be $1,205 for the median priced home in Maricopa County.

“Although affordability has improved, higher gasoline prices, more congested highways and limited employment opportunities continue to strongly hamper any potential recovery of the housing market in Pinal County,” said Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies in the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus.

In order to reduce inventories, new home builders have been aggressively pursuing buyers through incentives such as specially priced upgrades, free pools and gift cards. The new home has become a strong competitive and attractive alternative to the resale home in Pinal County. New home sales for 2007 were at 3,130 homes, with a median price of $181,585, in contrast to 3,780 sales in 2006 and a median price of $223,000.

In the fourth quarter, the median square footage for a resale home in Pinal County was 1,735 square feet, while a new home was 2,125 square feet. In Maricopa County, the resale home was 1,751 square feet and 2,510 square feet for a new home, with a median price of $267,645.
GREATER PHOENIX REAL ESTATE MARKET
Quarterly Resale Home Sales and Median Prices
Selected Cities in Pinal County
First Quarter 2006 First Quarter 2007
City Resales Median Price Resales Median Price
Apache Junction 295 $229,500 210 $235,000
Arizona City 60 $143,500 40 $135,000
Casa Grande 220 $175,000 95 $180,000
Coolidge 30 $114,000 35 $125,900
Eloy 30 $119,000 15 $118,450
Florence 30 $195,950 30 $157,270
Maricopa 95 $250,000 90 $246,500
Queen Creek 230 $239,860 200 $207,170
San Manuel 25 $80,000 15 $100,000
Tucson (Saddlebrook) 45 $462,500 50 $395,000
Pinal County 1,110 $211,500 840 $204,600

Second Quarter 2006 Second Quarter 2007
City Resales Median Price Resales Median Price
Apache Junction 305 $224,450 210 $217,500
Arizona City 65 $139,900 45 $137,450
Casa Grande 220 $179,000 105 $177,120
Coolidge 45 $123,000 35 $108,500
Eloy 40 $89,000 30 $130,000
Florence 25 $170,000 45 $170,000
Maricopa 95 $256,000 115 $219,500
Queen Creek 250 $235,000 140 $198,000
San Manuel 30 $104,000 20 $100,000
Tucson (Saddlebrook) 50 $370,000 80 $382,500
Pinal County 1,180 $211,000 970 $200,000

Third Quarter 2006 Third Quarter 2007
City Resales Median Price Resales Median Price
Apache Junction 200 $224,000 125 $218,500
Arizona City 55 $145,220 35 $135,000
Casa Grande 170 $175,000 45 $157,995
Coolidge 30 $107,500 30 $140,000
Eloy 25 $85,000 15 $127,500
Florence 20 $178,000 20 $154,900
Maricopa 70 $217,625 55 $215,000
Queen Creek 180 $220,000 195 $193,050
San Manuel 35 $98,000 10 $103,000
Tucson (Saddlebrook) 35 $350,000 55 $335,000
Pinal County 850 $199,900 65 $193,000

Fourth Quarter 2006 Fourth Quarter 2007
City Resales Median Price Resales Median Price
Apache Junction 165 $216,000 175 $195,000
Arizona City 35 $139,000 40 $116,000
Casa Grande 150 $160,000 115 $160,000
Coolidge 25 $101,000 30 $122,050
Eloy 25 $106,000 15 $110,000
Florence 15 $169,000 60 $155,000
Maricopa 55 $220,000 205 $197,680
Queen Creek 175 $210,000 405 $170,000
San Manuel 10 $90,750 10 $89,700
Tucson (Saddlebrook) 40 $412,450 55 $350,000
Pinal County 720 $191,500 1,145 $174,000

Realty Studies is associated with the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus. Realty Studies collects and analyzes data concerning real estate in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Realty Studies is a comprehensive and objective source of real estate information for private, public and governmental agencies. Its director, Dr. Jay Q. Butler, may be reached at (480) 727-1300 or e-mail him at [email protected]. To subscribe to RSS feed for Realty Studies news, visit http://www.poly.asu.edu/realty/rss.html.