Phoenix Home Resales Surge 71% from 2008

Existing home and condo sales in the Phoenix area soared in June to the highest level seen in that month in four years, according to housing data provider MDA DataQuick. A total 10,731 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the combined Maricopa-Pinal counties metropolitan area in June, up 12.2% from May and up 40.4% from a year ago. The June resale total of 9,720 homes and condos represented the highest monthly total since March 2006. A total 8,746 resale houses in June marked a 71.4% growth from last year’s volume. It is the sixth consecutive month of year-on-year gains in total sales, and the 12th consecutive month of gains in existing home sales. The level of newly constructed homes sold in the area has declined 50% from June 2008, however, with the 1,011 new homes sold last month representing the lowest June new-home tally in a decade, DataQuick said. June’s data for the area showed a continued “modest shift” away from a majority of foreclosure sales in the distribution of re-sales. In June, 60.8% of Phoenix-area homes and condos that resold had been foreclosed on in the past 12 months, from 64% in May. The area saw a “tiny” month-on-month median price gain of 0.4% to $130,000, the second monthly gain in a row for resale houses and condos. The median is 50.8% below the region’s June 2006 peak of $264,100, and has fallen year-over-year for 29 consecutive months as buyers continue to work through foreclosure inventory. “For the foreseeable future, the Phoenix region will continue to have many foreclosures to recycle, and that inventory of lender-owned property will weigh on home prices,” DataQuick said in its regional report, noting lender repossessions spiked in June to 5,800 houses and condos. June’s repossession volume in the Phoenix area is up nearly 38% from May and up 40.8% from the year before. Write to Diana Golobay.