10445 N. Oracle, Suite 121
Tucson, AZ 85737 Office: 520-918-5968 Toll-Free: 888-825-8251 ext. 5968 Fax: 520-825-8950 email: Brenda@BrendaOBrien.com 
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Brenda's Tucson Housing Market Report
February 2010
Tucson Multiple Listing Service Releases 2009 Year End Review
Federal Stimulus Tax Credits Programs Expire April 30!
First Time Home buyers Details - Move-Up/Repeat Buyers Details
The Federal Stimulus Tax Credits Program is Ending Soon. You must be under contract by April 30 in order to take advantage of this program. If you are in the market to buy, it's time to bite the bullet and make a decision! No matter if you intend to use the tax credit program or not it's important to buy prior to that program expiring as interest rates will almost certainly go up shortly thereafter. Ditto Sellers! It's just as important if you're a seller to get it sold prior to April 30 for the same reason. As interest rates go up it will affect the number of buyers who can purchase your home. If interest rates spike up significantly it will also shock the market and may stall the recovery creating fear in buyers minds which always translates to postponing buying decisions. Expect Interest Rates to jolt up when tax credit programs expire. We touched on this last month about how rates will be going up soon. That is going to be exacerbated by the tax credit programs ending! There is about 10 weeks left before things are going to get weird in the interest rate arena. Long story short, buy or sell in the next 10 weeks if at all possible! we expect interest rates start higher very soon. The Good News Is that there's lots of buyer and seller activity in the market as we expect for this time of year. January shows a significant increase in pending sales (Up 22% over last year and Up 36% over the prior month. Buyers are definitely in the market now. Feel free to contact us with your questions. We're easy to talk to and we can answer any questions you might have about current market conditions or the Tax Credit Programs. Key prior month statistics from the Tucson Association of Realtor’s February 2010 Report show: Total Tucson Home Sales Units: 712, Increased 15.77% from January 2008. Decreased 22.52% from last month. Total Tucson Pending Sales: 1,155, Increased 22.74% from January 2008. Increased 36.36% from last month. Tucson Average Sale Price: $201,219, Down 2.37% from $206,095 in 2008.Northwest Tucson Average Sale Price: $258,870 Down from $265,081 last month.
Catalina Foothills Average Sale Price: $439,631 Down from $453,872 last month. Total Tucson Active Listings: 6,618, Down 12.13% from 7,532 in January of 2008.
Northwest Tucson Active Listings: 1,772, Up 151 units from last month.
Catalina Foothills Active Listings: 713, Up 51 units from last month. Total Tucson New Listings: 2,424, Up 625 units from 1,799 in January of 2008.
Northwest Tucson New Listings: 663, Up 339 units from last month.
Catalina Foothills New Listings: 268, Up 182 units from last month. Some quick conclusions we can draw from these Tucson home sales statistics are: Positive Market Indicators this month. Lots of Buyers in the market now, Total Units Sold up 15% over last year. Pending Sales up 22% over last year. Active listings down over last year by another 12%. Total Volume (total dollars sold) up 13% over last year. Short term we expect increasing sales until tax credits expire. Negative Market Indicators this month. Median Sales Price down 1.8% over last year, Average Sales Price down 2.36% from last year. We expect sales to slow down after tax credits expire on April 30. We didn't see this one coming but new listings spiked in January (up almost 35% over last year) Looking back there are probably 2 causes for this. Firstly, Improving market conditions are drawing sellers that have been waiting back into the market. Secondly, Sellers are trying to get under contract prior to the tax credits expiring soon. We are expecting heavy sales in February, March & April with a lull after that. The Tucson Market Reports below will give you a detailed look inside the current Tucson Housing Market.
