10445 N. Oracle, Suite 121
Tucson, AZ 85737 Office: 520-918-5968 Toll-Free: 888-825-8251 ext. 5968 Fax: 520-989-6114 Brenda@BrendaOBrienTeam.com 
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Brenda's Tucson Housing Market Report
August 2009
July was Hot, Hot, Hot!
Unit Sales Up 3.9% over Prior Month
Up 90.5% over January & Up 23.46% over July 2008
Unit Sales have Increased Every Month this Year! Sales activity is definitely increasing. Every single month this year unit sales have increased over the prior month. Buyers are in the market & they're writing contracts. We are nearing the end of the discount party and astute buyers recognize this once in a generation (or more) Buying Opportunity is coming to an end.
While Year over Year prices are still down, Month over Month Prices have increased for the last 3 months. We believe that the downward trend of the last few years has finally been broken and a new upward trend in prices has begun. There may be a slight dip in the next few months as we enter the annual end of summer slump, but we believe the trend will be up from here.
Improving National Real Estate News is also helping our market. We are seeing Positive National News Releases on a fairly regular basis now as the media is starting to slowly get on the bandwagon. This August 4th Article from CNN Money titled: Another sign of a housing thaw is an example of one of the recently released positive reports.
Short Sales & Foreclosures are still with us and will be for awhile yet. In fact they are currently making up a large percentage of the market as these distressed properties are unloaded. While there can be good bargains in this market segment it is a frustrating pond to fish in. Lengthy Wait Times for bank responses, Uncertainty over if you'll get the home or not, Competition & Multiple Offers on these homes and typically Lengthy Closings make this a very, very frustrating process for many buyers.
Look for continuing improvement in our market. There may be a slight dip in the next couple months, but if there is one, we expect it to be short lived and expect a strong Fall and Winter Season as market conditions continue to improve.
Key prior month statistics from the Tucson Association of Realtor’s July 2009 Report show:
Total Tucson Home Sales Units: 1184, Increased 23.46% from July 2008. Increased 3.95% from last month.
Total Tucson Pending Sales: 1,227, Increased 27.81% from July 2008. Decreased 14.32% from last month.
Tucson Average Sale Price: $210,767, Down 17.30% from $254,854 in 2008.
Northwest Tucson Average Sale Price: $232,705 Down from $263,894 last month.
Catalina Foothills Average Sale Price: $501,231 Up from $387,620 last month. Total Tucson Active Listings: 6,075, Down 22.87% from 7,876 in July of 2008.
Northwest Tucson Active Listings: 1,535, Down 91 units from last month.
Catalina Foothills Active Listings: 691, Down 49 units from last month. Total Tucson New Listings: 1,842, Up 163 units from 1,679 in July of 2008.
Northwest Tucson New Listings: 418, Down 33 units from last month.
Catalina Foothills New Listings: 158, Up 13 units from last month. Some quick conclusions we draw from these Tucson home sales statistics are: Positive Market Indicators this month. Same old song; Active Listings continue their steady decline. Last month we predicted we might get under 6,000 actives in July or August and we came close in July. We're now down to 6,075 and should drop under that 6,000 mark in August for sure. Prices still down year over year but a new upward trend may have begun. Units Sold Up month over month & year over year, Pending Sales big again this month, up over 23% over last year. New listings down almost 10% from this time last year. Negative Market Indicators this month. New listings showed a slight increase over same period last year & that's about the only negative we find in this months report. Past the Bottom, Yes We Are! Last month we called the bottom for Tucson Home Prices had occurred in April! July was now the 3rd month of increases in what we believe is a new upward trend in prices. While 2 months doesn't make a trend, 3 months is looking pretty good and if we get a 4th positive month in August the trend should be firmly established. We are hopeful! From a statistical viewpoint, we will soon start to see other trend lines crossing and heading up. We'll note them as they occur over the next few months. The first to come should be the Total Sales Volume in Dollars. Too early to call conclusively but that downward trend has probably already reversed also. Lots of Positive Information this Month. The watchword is Patience! It's coming, and we believe it's already started, but it's going to be a slow steady climb back up the mountain. The Tucson Market Reports below will give you a detailed look inside the current Tucson Housing Market.
