Carl Holcombe
The Arizona Republic
Pinal County’s resale housing market continued to show signs of cooling during the second quarter of this year. The county’s median resale home price slipped for the second straight quarter to $211,000, compared with $211,500 in first-quarter 2006, according to a report released Wednesday by the Arizona Real Estate Center at Arizona State University. The market peaked at $220,000 in the last quarter of 2005.
Sales volume inched upward by 6.3 percent in second-quarter 2006 to 1,180 homes sold. That was up from 1,110 in the first quarter, but was still off by nearly half from second-quarter 2005’s peak of 1,790 homes sold, according to the report.
As metro Phoenix’s new-home market also shows signs of cooling, builders around Pinal County are in fire-sale mode. They’re luring buyers by slashing prices or offering upgrades worth tens of thousands of dollars, some combining for incentive packages worth $100,000. It is not uncommon to find bigger and newer homes available for less than smaller resale homes. New home builders and sellers are offering brokers commission rates as high as 12 percent.
“Right now, if you want to live in Pinal County, it’s economically better to look at new homes,” said Jay Butler, director of the real estate center. “A year ago, people were just buying a house because they felt they would lose that opportunity, and almost not considering other things. But now, they’re looking at broader issues.”
Colleen Bechtel, an associate broker with Keller Williams Legacy One, said resale home buyers are now typically making offers lower than the asking prices and want the seller to pay some of the closing costs as well.
The resale market could pick up as builders empty their home inventories, Butler said.
Bob Rucker, president of the Arizona Multiple Listing Service, said the number of homes for sale on the MLS had risen to 4,630 as of the beginning of August, up from 4,403 in June. Homes that do sell are taking 89 days on average, while around the county some homes are lingering for half a year or more.
“There is a lot to choose from,” Rucker said. “It’s not like last year.”
