Although the holidays are typically a time of slower real estate sales both here in the Phoenix area and elsewhere across the country, the trends leading up to the holidays indicated that there would be no such slowdown this year, and the final numbers from last month have shown that to be correct. Despite very few homeowners opting to list their home for sale during the holidays, home sales were up again, further depleting the inventory and increasing prices. The complete, latest numbers are below.
The overall average home price in December compared to November increased by 0.5%, moving from $364,187 to $366,024. The increase over December 2018 was 9.8%. The average price per square foot increased to $215.
Inventory decreased sharply to 10,624 homes for sale, and the number of homes sold increased to 7,321. The numbers indicate that there is much less than a two month supply of homes on the market, which is a strong seller's market.
The breakdown of home prices changed slightly last month, with homes in the $250,000 to $500,000 range experiencing lower inventory. The percentages of available homes are: $0-$150,000 (4% of the market), $150,000-$250,000 (15%), $250,000-$500,000 (43%), $500,000+ (38%).
Foreclosures and short sales continue to stay at their record low rates of 0.5% of the market and 0.2% respectively. They continue to be an insignificant portion of the market.
Here is a breakdown of the market changes, based on average sale price in December compared to November, in some of the individual cities in the Phoenix metro area:
Ahwatukee - Increased from $379,599 to $380,793 (0.3%)
Anthem - Decreased from $415,526 to $356,204 (14.3%)
Avondale - Increased from $259,516 to $261,349 (7.1%)
Buckeye - Decreased from $272,720 to $272,266 (0.2%)
Cave Creek - (Median Price) Decreased from $520,000 to $492,000 (5.4%)
Chandler - Increased from $382,310 to $386,669 (1.1%)
Fountain Hills (Median Price)- Increased from $390,000 to $398,800 (2.2%)
Gilbert - Decreased from $391,375 to $385,428 (1.6%)
Glendale - Decreased from $287,675 to $278,527 (3.2%)
Goodyear - Increased from $325,832 to $337,624 (3.6%)
Litchfield Park - Decreased from $374,839 to $361,612 (3.2%)
Maricopa - Decreased from $235,129 to $233,672 (0.6%)
Mesa - Increased from $296,677 to $289,886 (2.3%)
Paradise Valley (median price) -Increased from $1,600,000 to $1,757,000 (9.8%)
Peoria - Increased from $348,943 to $357,778 (2.5%)
Phoenix - Increased from $324,509 to $335,717 (3.4%)
Queen Creek - Increased from $357,146 to $391,646 (9.7%)
San Tan Valley - Increased from $266,909 to $274,914 (2.9%)
Scottsdale - Increased from $645,108 to $667,146 (3.4%)
Sun City - Increased from $239,772 to $247,513 (3.2%)
Sun City West - Increased from $283,861 to $293,150 (3.2%)
Surprise - Increased from $283,912 to $292,392 (2.9%)
Tempe - Increased from $338,123 to $314,408 (7.1%)
