Pinal County median home price drops in first quarter
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
MESA, Ariz. — Since 625 resale homes were recorded sold in third quarter 2007, the Pinal County resale market has consistently posted improvement, with 1,145 sales in the fourth quarter and 1,680 sales for the first quarter of 2008, well above last year’s 840 sales. Housing activity was good throughout the quarter as shown by the monthly activity — 465 recorded sales in January, 600 sales in February and 620 sales in March.
This activity is fairly close to the record 1,785 sales in second quarter 2005. The Queen Creek area accounted for 39 percent of the resale activity followed by 18 percent in the Maricopa City area and 15 percent in the Apache Junction area. Maricopa County reported 11,390 recorded sales in the first quarter.
“In Pinal County, there is a wide range of homes available from listed homes to foreclosures, but a key force is the rapidly declining prices,” said Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies in the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus. “Homeowners and investors are buying with the expectation of strong appreciation in the future.”
The median price has steadily eroded from $220,000 in fourth quarter 2005 to $193,000 in third quarter 2007 and $156,160 for the current quarter. It was $204,600 for a year ago.
The median home price in Pinal County was 70 percent of the median price in Maricopa County ($222,450), while it was 78 percent a year ago. Although the thirty-year mortgage remained stable at 5.9 percent, a lower home price drove the monthly mortgage payment for the median price, based on an 85 percent loan-to-value, to decrease from $1,020 to $790. It would be $1,020 for the median priced home in Maricopa County.
Although affordability has improved, higher gasoline prices, more congested highways and limited employment opportunities continue to strongly hamper any potential recovery of the housing market in Pinal County.
In order to reduce inventories, new home builders are still aggressively pursuing buyers through incentives such as specially priced up-grades, free pools and gift cards. The new home has become a strong competitive and attractive alternative to the resale home in Pinal County. New home sales were 1,864 homes with a median price of $174,000, in contrast to last year’s 2,480 sales and median price of $219,315.
The median square footage for a resale home in Pinal County was 1,730 square feet, while a new home was 2,125 square feet. In Maricopa County, the resale home was 1,751 square feet and 2,370 square feet for a new home (median price of $253,505).
GREATER PHOENIX REAL ESTATE MARKET
Quarterly Resale Home Sales and Median Prices
Selected Cities in Pinal County
| City |
First Quarter 2007 |
First Quarter 2008 |
| Resales |
Median Price |
Resales |
Median Price |
| Apache Junction |
210 |
$235,000 |
245 |
$183,465 |
| Arizona City |
40 |
135,000 |
40 |
114,500 |
| Casa Grande |
95 |
180,000 |
170 |
146,000 |
| Coolidge |
35 |
125,900 |
55 |
119,950 |
| Eloy |
15 |
118,450 |
20 |
95,930 |
| Florence |
30 |
157,270 |
90 |
141,660 |
| Maricopa |
90 |
246,500 |
310 |
170,000 |
| Queen Creek |
200 |
207,170 |
660 |
153,000 |
| San Manuel |
15 |
100,000 |
25 |
100,000 |
| Tucson (Saddlebrook) |
50 |
395,000 |
40 |
340,000 |
| Pinal County |
840 |
$204,600 |
1,680 |
$156,160 |
| City |
Second Quarter 2006 |
Second Quarter 2007 |
| Resales |
Median Price |
Resales |
Median Price |
| Apache Junction |
305 |
$224,450 |
210 |
$217,500 |
| Arizona City |
65 |
139,900 |
45 |
137,450 |
| Casa Grande |
220 |
179,000 |
105 |
177,120 |
| Coolidge |
45 |
123,000 |
35 |
108,500 |
| Eloy |
40 |
89,000 |
30 |
130,000 |
| Florence |
25 |
170,000 |
45 |
170,000 |
| Maricopa |
95 |
256,500 |
115 |
219,500 |
| Queen Creek |
250 |
235,000 |
240 |
198,000 |
| San Manuel |
30 |
104 |
20 |
100,000 |
| Tucson (Saddlebrook) |
50 |
370,000 |
80 |
382,500 |
| Pinal County |
1,180 |
$211,000 |
970 |
$200,000 |
| City |
Third Quarter 2006 |
Third Quarter 2007 |
| Resales |
Median Price |
Resales |
Median Price |
| Apache Junction |
200 |
$224,000 |
125 |
$218,500 |
| Arizona City |
55 |
145,220 |
35 |
135,000 |
| Casa Grande |
170 |
175,000 |
45 |
157,995 |
| Coolidge |
30 |
107,500 |
30 |
140,000 |
| Eloy |
25 |
85,000 |
15 |
127,500 |
| Florence |
20 |
178,000 |
20 |
154,900 |
| Maricopa |
70 |
217,625 |
55 |
215,000 |
| Queen Creek |
180 |
220,000 |
195 |
193,050 |
| San Manuel |
35 |
98,000 |
10 |
103,000 |
| Tucson (Saddlebrook) |
35 |
350,000 |
55 |
335,000 |
| Pinal County |
850 |
$199,900 |
625 |
$193,000 |
| City |
Fourth Quarter 2006 |
Fourth Quarter 2007 |
| Resales |
Median Price |
Resales |
Median Price |
| Apache Junction |
165 |
$216,500 |
175 |
$195,000 |
| Arizona City |
35 |
139,900 |
40 |
116,000 |
| Casa Grande |
150 |
160,000 |
115 |
160,000 |
| Coolidge |
25 |
101,000 |
30 |
122,050 |
| Eloy |
25 |
106,000 |
15 |
110,000 |
| Florence |
15 |
169,000 |
60 |
155,000 |
| Maricopa |
55 |
220,000 |
205 |
197,680 |
| Queen Creek |
175 |
210,000 |
405 |
170,000 |
| San Manuel |
10 |
90,750 |
10 |
89,700 |
| Tucson (Saddlebrook) |
40 |
412,450 |
55 |
350,000 |
| Pinal County |
720 |
$191,500 |
1,145 |
$174,000 |
CONTACT(S): Jay Q. Butler, 480/727-1300, jay.butler@asu.edu
Christine Lambrakis, 480/727-1173, 602/316-5616, lambrakis@asu.edu
Realty Studies is associated with the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus. Realty Studies collects and analyzes data concerning real estate in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Realty Studies is a comprehensive and objective source of real estate information for private, public and governmental agencies. Its director, Dr. Jay Q. Butler, may be reached at (480) 727-1300 or e-mail him at Jay.Butler@asu.edu. To subscribe to RSS feed for Realty Studies news, visit http://www.poly.asu.edu/realty/rss.html.
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