Foreclosed Home Auction Sales Still Up in Phoenix

For the 11th straight month, sales of previously-owned homes, including foreclosed home auction sales, increased in the Phoenix metro area in May, based on real estate sales data in Maricopa and Pinal counties.

In May, a total of 8,587 units of pre-owned homes and units from foreclosed home auction inventories in the Phoenix metro area got sold. Sales prices also increased, marking the first time existing-home sales price increased on a month-over-month basis since 2007.

In the counties of Maricopa and Pinal, which cover the Phoenix metro area, a total of 9,562 homes got sold, representing a 6.1-percent increase from April sales and a 26-percent increase from sales in May last year.

The increase in home sales in May marked the fifth straight month that home sales increased on a year-over-year basis.

In contrast, sales of new homes in May dropped by 51 percent from May 2008 to only 957 units, marking the lowest May sales in more than ten years.

The record low sales of new homes indicate that low foreclosed home auction prices have been enticing home buyers to find properties in the resale sector of the housing market.

The median home price in May in Maricopa and Pinal was $129,435, a drop of nearly 39 percent from the median in May 2008 and an increase of 3.5 percent from the median in April. The month-over-month increase in May was the first time the median home price increased since March 2007, when the February median of $253,500 increased in March to $256,000.

Real estate analysts said that a higher number of traditional buyers accounted for the increased sales in May. These buyers included families moving to communities where the schools are better and individuals taking advantage of sales promotions typically offered during the May home buying season. But the number of buyers looking for foreclosed home auction units in May was still significant.

Because of the uptick in home sales prices, some real estate analysts are considering the possibility that home prices have bottomed out in Phoenix. Some point out to the median sales prices per square foot in April and in May, which remained at $64 – as a positive sign.

Analysts said that the May per-square-foot price was a decrease of more than 46 percent from May 2008 and a drop of nearly 63 percent from the peak rate in June 2006, which was $171.

Nevertheless, despite the uptick in home sales price, the prices of units in foreclosed home auction inventories in the Phoenix metro area are still affordable to many home buyers.

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