By Dayv Morgan
2019 continued last year’s trend of increasing home sales, increasing home prices and decreasing active listings. And then there were the home starts.
June’s 112 homebuilding permits would have seemed amazing were it not for July’s whopping 148. Though a little less than last year, the year’s total of 967 is 178% more than the total in 2015. So, home construction continued to play a big part in Maricopa real estate.
The rise in prices has been steady but modest. While the median sale price of $227,000 was 7% higher than last year, well ahead of the Valley’s growth of 4%, it still trailed the Phoenix Valley median price of $248,100, a fact that keeps homebuyers interested in Maricopa.
Demand and the cost of materials and labor for new construction played roles in Maricopa’s marketplace.
People were buying homes more quickly in 2019, and the year-end active listings were lower than normal with just 346. Lower inventory is a nationwide trend likely to continue in 2020, helping average prices continue to rise.
Most of Arizona’s housing market is predicted to stay pretty hot through most of 2020. At the same, time mortgage rates are expected to stay low. So, buyers and sellers could be in for an exciting time.
Maricopa data
Jan. 1, 2018 Dec. 1, 2018 Dec. 1, 2019
Median sold price $190,000 $212,000 $227,000
Average sold price $204,000 $214,000 $232,000
Ratio of original list price to sold price 97.7% 97.4% 98%
Active Listings 428 406 346
Average days on market 60 66 55
2017 2018 2019
Homes sold in first 11 months 1,805 1,906 2,005
Single-family house building permits Jan. 1-Dec. 18 789 993 967
Dayv Morgan is a Maricopa Realtor and owner of HomeSmart Success.
480-251-4231
[email protected]
This column appears in the January issue of InMaricopa.
![An image of shredded paper. [Pixabay]](https://www.inmaricopa.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/shredded-paper-168650_1280-100x70.jpg "Shred-A-Thon to take place tomorrow")
