We still are in a seller’s market, and with Maricopa County being the fastest growing county in the U.S. for the third year running, home sales are not expected to slow down any time soon.
More people moved to Maricopa County than any other county in the nation last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates released in April 2019.
Sellers always have thought of the summer months to be the slowest time to sell homes in Arizona, and many will take their homes off the market in June, July and August. In addition, new sellers will wait until the fall before listing their homes. While it’s true that the market slows down and sales start to dip in the summer months compared to the spring, there still are plenty of buyers out there, and the drop isn’t as significant as you might think.
The other advantage of selling in the summer months is that this is when the serious buyers are out looking. The looky-loos aren’t going to go window shopping when it’s 115 degrees outside. The serious buyers want to find their homes as quickly as possible. They will narrow their searches to only the homes at the top of their list to keep the process as short as possible.
Mesa active listings: Inventory increased by
6 percent in April compared
to April 2018.
Mesa sales figures: Sales increased by 9 percent
in April compared to 2018.
Relocation Buyers
Phoenix is ranked one of the top cities for job growth and population growth. Therefore, we are seeing more and more people relocating from out of state. These are the buyers who are here in the midst of our summer heat trying to find a home to move the family to as soon as school is out, which isn’t until mid-June in other states.
Home Price Range Under $300K
The inventory for homes under $300K is so low it’s hard for buyers to find them in time to get in an offer. In Mesa, there are 15 percent fewer homes on the market in this price range compared to the same time last year and 32 percent fewer than in 2017. Sales were the same this year as they were last year, at 641 and 643 for April. If you do find one that still is active, you need to jump on it, view it right away and be ready to write a very strong offer.
Home Price Range $300K to $500K
Inventory in this price range is much higher, at 52 percent higher from the same time last year, and 23 percent higher than 2017. As of May 11, the number of homes currently under contract has increased by 26 percent, while sales for April 2019 had a huge increase of 41 percent. Even with 52 percent more inventory, the sales and pending sales have increased significantly, and we expect the summer to continue with this increased momentum.
Home price range $500K to $800K
This price range is seeing a 22 percent decrease in inventory for April 2019. The number of homes currently under contract as of May 11 has increased 15 percent over last year. With lower inventory and higher sales, this is now a very competitive price range.
Home price range $800K and higher
The charts do not give a true picture of this price range, as the volume is much lower and can skew the numbers. Inventory is slightly higher, but we have seen a large increase in home sales for April 2019.
I showed homes priced from $1,000,000 to $1,300,000 to a client in April. Of the four homes at which we looked, three went under contract within two weeks of us viewing them. Homes that had sat on the market for a couple of months were snapped up in April, which had the highest number of luxury homes sold in a single month. May is looking to continue that trend, too.
Median sales prices: The median sales price for Mesa has increased 6.1 percent in April compared to April 2018.
As you can see from the statistics above, no matter your price range, we are in a very strong seller’s market. Therefore, taking your home off the market, or even waiting to list, could have you losing out on the sale.
If you would like more statistics on the current market conditions in your price range, or information on listing your home, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Call me any time, and I will be happy to answer your real estate questions. Please contact me at Lorraine@Homes2SellAZ.com, or call (602) 571-6799. Visit my website at Homes2SellAZ.com.