Dayv Morgan

By Dayv Morgan

Spring is here, and that means a lot of activity in Maricopa real estate.

Spring and early summer is typically the peak for sales in Maricopa as families use the summer break to move to new locations. Many home sellers are now listing their homes in anticipation of the increasing demand.

For example, there were 137 new listings in December compared to 266 in January and 203 in February. The median prices and average prices also rise from spring to summer. Last year, the median sales price in Maricopa increased from $192,000 in March to $210,000 in July.

As the supply of active homes decreased 17 percent in that time period, the average days on market decreased from 74 to 55. That is the impact of both competition and demand in the housing market in spring.

Now is prime time for home sellers to get their houses on the market in front of most likely home buyers.

In 2018, the month of May had the largest closed listings at 242 homes. That coincided with the end of the school year. Young families are still one of the primary buyers in Maricopa and tend to move between school years.

That home-buying window is shorter than ever as many schools in Maricopa return to classes at the end of July. Families that want to be moved in with escrow closed well before that time tend to push the market in spring. That means they are shopping in March and April.

And resale properties face a lot of competition this year.

New home construction has been reinvigorated in some Maricopa subdivisions that have been practically dormant until recently. That could make the resale market slightly slower this year. About one in six active listings in the Multiple Listing Service is a new build.

Spring is good for home sellers and buyers, if they jump into the Maricopa market as soon as possible.

 

Maricopa median home sales prices 2018
March                   July
$192,000              $210,000

Maricopa average home sales prices 2018
March                   July
$201,000              $218,000


This column appears in the April issue of InMaricopa.