The newspapers have it right—homes across the metropolitan area of Phoenix are going under contract within days of hitting the market. Recently the real estate market has been on fire and it just may continue for the next several months with homes sales in the Valley expected to jump more than 30 percent.
The surge in home sales started in early February with the biggest increases in pending sales at price points of $150,000 to $400,000 as reported in a special report from Arizona State University's, W.P. Carey School of Business.
Typically the Valley of the Sun and surrounding areas experience a surge in homes sales in the spring anyway which is attributed to winter visitors so taken by the beautiful weather when visiting that they often decide to purchase a home in Arizona as warm winter get-a-way.
But the increase could be attributed to Millennials entering the market or distressed homeowners who lost their residence through a foreclosure or short sale and have passed their waiting period to qualify for financing once again. Or maybe it’s a combination of all these factors. It won’t be clear until the statistics are in, a couple of months from now.
The increase in pending sales might have been aided by the new lowered financing requirement of only 3% down for a FHA mortgage and last month’s announcement by the Obama administration of cuts to mortgage insurance required on loans.
Whatever the reason, what is clear is there is a restart in the housing market that had been stalled, and it is building some substantial steam.
This is good news since Valley home sales fell 14 percent in 2014. In January of this year, pending homes sales in the U.S. reached a 18-month high, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Based on these findings, the market may move from a buyers' market to a sellers' market in the near future. Looking to sell your home? You might want to start preparing your home for the market.
