Despite being significantly damaged in the housing crisis, the Phoenix-area real estate market has shown great improvement in 2012.
According to the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, new home sales have increased 85 percent compared to the same time last year in October. The supply of homes on the market is up as well, jumping 31 percent in the last three months.
Additionally, the median price of a single family home hit $157,000 after lingering between $149,000 and $150,000 in the past four months. This is a 34 percent year-over-year improvement.
"After four months of limited movement in the median single-family home price, the Phoenix area is again seeing an upward trend," said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W.P. Carey School. "The summer lull ended, and we had an influx of snowbirds and other buyers."
With the supply of homes for sale increasing, home sales could continue to see improvement, as buyers have more options to choose from. Record low mortgage rates could also fuel buyer activity.
