Greater Phoenix Real Estate: Purchase Price, Affordability, Sales & New Listings, Jobs Update

Arizona Journal of Real Estate & Business April 2019 Edition

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                                    Median Purchase Price Continues Ascent

The median purchase of a previously owned single family home in Maricopa County (Greater Phoenix) continued its rise in February. It was $293,000 this February which was $3,000 or one percent higher than in January, and $17,000 or six percent higher than February 2018 when it was $276,000. See Chart one for a monthly median purchase price history for the last sixty-two months.

While the median purchase price climbed, the thirty year fixed mortgage rate declined. According to Freddie Mac, in February 2019 the average thirty year fixed mortgage rate was 4.37%.  See Table one.  Its lowest rate in twelve months. The last time it was lower was in February of 2018 when it was 4.33%. Just ninety days ago, the thirty year fixed mortgage rate was one-half of a percent higher than this February when it was 4.83% in November. The current lower rate is a reason why buyers may want to consider purchasing a home. Another reason is that the first part of the year is the time when the most new listings hit the market. This means more choices for buyers to choose from.   

 Chart one

Fifteen Cities: February Sales, New Listings, Median Purchase Price

While sales and new listings were down year-over-year for most cities, the median purchase price was up in all but one. Table two compares February 2018 to February 2019 for sales, new listings and the median purchase price for previously owned single family homes for fifteen cities located in either Maricopa County or Pinal County. Year-over-year sales were down in ten of the cities; new listings were down in ten cities. However, fourteen cities had a higher median purchase price.

Job Growth Update

According to the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity in 2018 in Maricopa County there were 68,100 more people employed than in 2017. Table three shows the three main job categories: Good Producing, Service-Providing and Government and their sub-categories. Year-over-year every category had higher employment except for the sub-category Federal Government

Job Update

Report Conclusion

There are more people employed than ever before in Maricopa County. So why are year-over-year sales down but prices up? Stay tuned for next month’s edition for some answers. If you think you know the reason(s) why, please email me at FWilcox@GCTA.com

Fletcher R. Wilcox is V.P. of Business Development and a Real Estate Analyst at Grand Canyon Title.

Grand Canyon Title is a subsidairy of Fidelity National Financial (FNF). FNF is ranked 293 on the FORTUNE 500® list of America’s largest companies.

Fletcher speaks through out Greater Phoenix and teaches Influencer Marketing to real estate agents. His next public event is March 25 at the Scottsdale Area Association of REALTORS.

Fletcher is the founder of The Wilcox Report. His market analysis on residential real estate in Greater Phoenix has been mentioned in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Bloomberg News, HousingWire.com, National Mortgage News, the Arizona Republic and the Phoenix Business Journal. He has been a guest speaker on both local and national TV and radio. He served on one of the three Arizona Association of REALTORS® subcommittees which made recommendations for changes to the 2017 AAR Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract. Fletcher may be reached at fwilcox@gcta.com and 602.648.1230