Phoenix Median Home Price Could Dip To $100,000 In 3 Months

02-08-2011 • AZcentral.com

Bemis said those trends are likely to exert downward pressure on prices in the coming months. January's median sale price was $110,000, the lowest it has been in about a decade. Home-sales activity in the Phoenix area declined by about 22 percent from December to January, the second-biggest drop in the past decade for those two months, Bemis said. The worst decline was a 24.4 percent fall, from December 2008 to January 2009. The listing service noted 8,401 sales in December and 6,541 sales in January. Although down compared with December, January sales were 13 percent higher than they had been a year earlier, Bemis said. Meanwhile, he said, the number of homes being listed for sale increased by 30 percent from December to January. Based on those factors, and the fact that 70 percent of all January sales were foreclosure-related, Bemis said he had little choice but to conclude further price drops are imminent. "You could easily see the median price go below $105,000 or even as low as $100,000," he said. The January median home price has declined by 50 percent since 2008, when it was $220,000.