This year has flown by and now it’s time for our December 2018 Phoenix metro real estate update. Let’s jump right in. There are currently 18046 properties actively listed across Maricopa County–this number is down slightly from the past month where the inventory reached a peak of around 18,500. There are 6612 properties under contract and in the past 30 days there have been 6696 sales.
December can be hit or miss in terms of sales activity–we’ve seen a lot of activity this time of year and we have also seen very little activity. Sales activity always declines right around the holidays, but should pick up by the second or third week in January. The average days on market (DOM) for sold properties in the last 30 days was 66–this is up slightly from 60 days in October–overall though, the DOM is low–this is a sign of low inventory and fairly strong demand.
The graph below shows the Average DOM year-to-date:
The sold to list price ratio remains at .98, but the dollars per square foot obtained at sale is $171–down from $218 a few months ago. Although it’s a small change, one interesting point is that distressed inventory (auction, pre-foreclosure, bank owned and short sale) is 3%-this is up from the 2% level that had held steady for more than a year.
The graph below shows the change in Median Sales Price year-to-date:
This graph shows how Market Activity has changed year-to-date:
In mortgage news, there is a bright spot for home buyers–the conventional loan limit for Maricopa County has been increased to $484,350 and the FHA loan limit is now $314,827. According to Bankrate.com, the lowest conventional 30 YR fixed loan rate is 4.291% (rates will vary based upon individual qualifications) and the lowest 15 YR fixed loan rate is 3.720%.
2018 has been a good year in terms of overall sales and home appreciation. We expect another strong year though home appreciation rates may fall a bit. That concludes our December 2018 Phoenix metro real estate update. If you have any questions about Arizona real estate, please contact us–we’d be happy to help. To view all active listings across the Phoenix metro area, use our handy search page. See you in 2019.
