2007 Year End Analysis – Part 1 of ?

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be spending as much time as possible looking at the data from 2007, comparing it to years past and posting my findings for you all read and enjoy. Although, I can already tell you that it's not all that enjoyable to see the numbers from this past year. Good or bad, however, it's invaluable to know where we stand so that we are able to make educated decisions going forward. This will be the first of several posts. When I see something in my analysis that I feel would be of some interest to you, I will post it here.

First, I took a look at the number of existing homes sold through the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS). I pulled the numbers for all homes listed in ARMLS and I also pulled the numbers for just Maricopa County Single Family Detached homes. As you might suspect, both trends seem to be following the same path.










As you can see, the numbers for both the ARMLS as a whole and Maricopa County Single Family Detached homes are the lowest they've been in the past 8 years. (I am only able to pull data back to 2000, prior to that there was a different MLS provider.) Regardless, I think it's a pretty good snap shot comparison of how this past year in the Phoenix real estate market compared to years past. To make matters even worse, while the total number of resale homes sold is the lowest it's been in 8 years, the inventory levels are extremely high. I can tell you that as of 12/31/07 there were 54,521 currently available homes for sale in the ARMLS and 38,269 single family detached homes available in Maricopa County alone. This would mean that on average only 8.3% (ARMLS as a whole) and 8.5% (Maricopa County Single Family Detached) of the homes are selling every month.

I'll continue to post more 2007 Year End Analysis post as I can put the data together. If you would like me to pull some more specific data based on where you live or where you might like to live, please send me an email and I'll be happy to pull the data for you. Again, without the proper information, it's very difficult to make prudent decisions.

*All information provided by Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service believed to be accurate but not guaranteed.

-Steve Nicks

[tags] Market Analysis, Phoenix Real Estate Market, MLS Data, Desert Ridge Real Estate Market [/tags]