June Best Month in 2020 for Sales and Median Purchase Price
June sales of single family resales in Greater Phoenix (Maricopa County) were almost 2,000 more than in May. There were 6,736 sales in June compared to 4,796 in May. The number of sales in June were the most for a month this year beating the 6,121 sales in March. The number of sales in June of 2019 were slightly higher at 6,827.
The median purchase price of a single family resale in Greater Phoenix reached a new peak this June. The June median purchase price of $339,900 eclipsed the previous record of $335,000 set in both March and April. The June 2020 median purchase price of $339,900 was $32,615 or eleven percent higher than June 2019 when it was $307,285. The median purchase price in May dipped to $327,000 after some panic selling.
The median list price of a single family resale also reached a new peak in June. It was $359,000. The previous high was in May when it hit $350,000. It had dropped to $339,990 in April after some panic selling.
The number of new monthly listings for single family resales were a problem before thecoronavirus storm and continue to be. The number of June new monthly listings of 5,763 were the lowest for a month in 2020. Traditionally June is the month of the year that starts the downward trend for new monthly listings. What is different this year is while new monthly listings are seasonally decreasing, increasing is demand to purchase as the economy opens up.
How homes were purchased. In June sixty-one percent of single family resales were purchased with a conventional loan or jumbo loan, seventeen percent with an FHA loan, eight percent with a VA loan. There was a big drop off in cash purchases in June 2020 compared to June 2019. Cash purchases in June 2020 were 629 or nine percent of all purchases compared to June 2019 when they were 1,151 or seventeen percent of all purchases.
Luxury Market Roars Back in June
June 2020 sales of $1,000,000 and over made a comeback. There were 219 sales this June at $1,000,000 and over compared to 136 in May. This is an increase of 83 sales or sixty-one percent in just one month!
Conclusion and July Prediction
For the last three years, from 2017 through 2019, the month of May had more sales than June. With the recent event, patterns have changed. In 2020, May is the month with the least number of sales, while June is the month with the most sales. At the start of 2020, before the coronavirus storm hit, new monthly listings of single family resales were down year-over-year. In January 2020 they were down fifteen percent from January 2019. Lack of single family resale inventory will continue to be a challenge. This lack will force buyers to travel further out in Greater Phoenix to buy a new home. Also, because of the current coronavirus environment some sellers are going to wait it out before they list. At the same time, there are buyers who no longer want to wait and want to own now. Since our traditionally selling season took a hit this year, expect buyer demand to continue later into the season. In fact, the number of July sales and the median purchase price will likely exceed the good June numbers. If you like the information in this article go to www.TheWilcoxReport.com and sign up for more updates. The information in this article was compiled from ARMLS and is for single family resales in Maricopa County.
Fletcher R. Wilcox is V.P. of Business Development and a Real Estate Analyst Grand Canyon Title. Grand Canyon Title is a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial (FNF). FNF is ranked 375 on the list of Fortune 500 Companies. Fletcher may be reached at fwilcox@gcta.com or 602.648.1230.
Fletcher is on the Board of Directors at the Scottsdale Association of REALTORS® (SAAR). In 2020 he started an Influencer Marketing series for real estate agents at SAAR. He is V.P. of Networking for the Arizona Mortgage Lenders Association. He is a member of the Arizona State Escrow Association and the Arizona 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, the Phoenix Business Journal and AZ Big Media. 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. He teaches residential contract law to both real estate agents and escrow officers.
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