December 5th, 2023 Phoenix Real Estate
Currently the Median home price in the Valley is $440,000. For single family homes, the median is $475,000. Both numbers are up since the start of the year, and it means that half of all homes sold above and below that number.
The average sales price in the metro area is $582,000. $641,000 for single family homes, showing the impact the higher priced homes have on the market. Today, over 7% of all the sales in the Multiple listing service are over $1,000,000. 5 years ago, million dollar homes made up only 2.7% of all sales.
Appreciation, based on monthly price per square foot for the year is up nearly 7%. We have seen a massive 54% appreciation over just the last four years and over 93% over the last 10 years, Proving again that real estate is a good long term investment,
Buyer and seller demand were both down this year for several reasons.
90% of homeowners that have a mortgage have rates below 6%. 62% have rates below 4%. few of these homeowners are willing to trade that in for a new home with a higher interest rate.
And, With high interest rates and higher than ever prices, many buyers are staying on the sidelines. With the valley continuing to grow, the cost of homes is not expected to drop any time soon, so buyers who can afford to buy should get in now - and refinance later - otherwise the cost of entry may continue to be out of reach.
To help buyers today, sellers have been helping with closing costs 43% of the time, and higher at certain price points. The median amount Sellers have been contributing to buyers was $9,500 in the last month- which buyers can use to buy down the interest rate helping with monthly affordability.
Mortgage rates have been falling since the end of October and we have seeing a slight increase in buyer demand. If rates continue to drop, Buyer activity and seller activity should pick up and 2024 could be a very good year in the real estate market.