Brace yourself, home sellers. The Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service says the number of homes for sale in the Southeast Valley hit 13,836 in March.
A year earlier, it was 1,068.
The number of homes for sale - a 10 percent jump from February - could be a record.
The market apparently is still correcting itself after the frenzy of the past two years when investors began buying up homes and homeowners who wanted to move decided to stay put because it was so hard to find a house. Now, they all seem to be selling at the same time.
But as the main home-buying season kicks off this spring, there’s a bit of good news.
The number of homes sold grew from 2,360 in February to 2,920 in March in the Southeast Valley, and Realtors say they have been getting busier.
After falling steadily from a high of $260,000 last September to $250,000 in February, median prices for single-family homes and condos rose to $253,000 in March, according to the multiple listing service.
Detached homes are taking an average of 53 days to sell. For condos, it is about 40 days.
One of the little-known real estate stories in the Southeast Valley is how many luxury homes there are. Mansions and homes sized at 4,000 square feet and larger are sprawled on the hills in Ahwatukee Foothills, tucked among orange groves in east Mesa, nestled in among mature trees and occasional horse properties in south Tempe and perched next to lakes and golf courses in Chandler and Gilbert.
There were 2,455 homes priced at $500,000 or more listed for sale in the Southeast Valley in March, according to the multiple listing service.
The Arizona Republic Valley Homes Values section published in March gave the overall 2005 median prices for new and existing homes. It wasn’t surprising that Ahwatukee’s 85045 ZIP code came in highest with $430,000.
But what was surprising is that the 85284 ZIP code in south Tempe came in second at $419,000. Most of the homes were built after 1980, so the trees are big, the close-in location can’t be beat and the houses don’t all look the same.
Median prices don’t tell an accurate story in Mesa, where the priciest ZIP code, 85213, came in at $305,000. The area commonly known as the Groves overlaps several ZIP codes and includes many homes priced at $800,000 and above.
Realtor Diane Hawker, who specializes in high-end homes, has one Mesa home listed at $3,999,900 with a 6,700-square foot main house, 11-car garage, tennis court, guest house and heated pool. It has been on the market a year and is owned by a plumber.
That’s right, a plumber. And that is not unusual for these luxury homes. “They are all in the trades,” she said. “They are not doctors and lawyers.”
