HOME SALES METRO PHOENIX – MARCH 2011 – RECORD LEVELS! BY REALTOR Jeff Cameron

HOME SALES METRO PHOENIX – MARCH 2011 – RECORD LEVELS! BY REALTOR Jeff Cameron
Well this was my script, but it was too long. So I shortened it to what you see here!
Metro Phoenix Home Sale Report for March 2011

Hi this is Jeff Cameron with Keller Williams here in Scottsdale Arizona. Welcome to your place on line to get the real estate facts.
Before we get to the numbers for March let me just share something with you. If you had your home listed for sale with me in March of 2007, you received this phone call:
Hi Mr or Mrs. Home Seller, this is Jeff Cameron. Remember I said I would call and review the market with you after we listed your home, over the past 10 years from Feb to March, sales have increased on average by 29%. I am recording just the opposite right now. Home sales have fallen off a cliff. I am recording a 36% decrease in sales this week. I don’t know what is happening, but this is not good. Our best reaction is to lower your price and attract a buyer before this news gets out.

I had been reporting higher inventory and lower sales for some time, but prices had not dropped. That was the beginning of a very difficult time. Prices were now on the decline.

Today I can’t even express how happy I am to tell you just the opposite. If you watch my video reports regularly you would know I have been reporting increased sales and dropping inventory for 2 years now.

THIS REPORT IS DIFFERENT! I will explain shortly.

So, let’s get to the numbers single family home sales for March 2011!

AVAILABLE HOMES 24,435 as of 4/1/2011
Lowest number in 17 months, down 10.8% from last month.
Based on current closings this is a 3 month supply and based on homes sold in March this is a 2.7 month supply of homes.

PENDING HOMES – homes for sale that have accepted an offer 17,025
The highest number since June 1, 2011, and up 7.5% from last month. Homes under contract last June were subject to closing in time for the tax credit. The biggest difference between then and now is the time to get a short sale approved, then good was 90 days with some shorter, now good is 30 days and we just got one done in a week. Another important fact is how many closed escrow.

CLOSINGS IN MARCH – 8,278 single family homes closed escrow, up 37.8%. That is the best March Ever and the 4th best month EVER for home closings here in metro Phoenix. If we get revised up 186 or more sales it would be the highest number of closings ever.

HOME SALES IN MARCH – 9,452 net homes went under contract. This is the highest level in 2 years. It blew away the 9,256 homes that sold last April when the tax credit was expiring.

QUICKLY WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
1. We are in position to transition to a seller’s market.
2. Some areas are already experiencing this and others will be soon.
3. In general this movement is coming from the lower end up, however, every market here in the valley has sub markets that are being affected differently.
4. Buyers – if you are price sensitive, find a wise decision and lock in a home today.
5. Sellers – you have to look closely at where your sub market is and what is happening. For some of you, you may help the market by taking your home off the market for a few months or until next spring. I just canceled one of my listings for that very reason.
6. Higher prices are coming, it is just a matter of exactly when.
7. Lastly, this is all with the presumption there are no other skeletons in the closet for our banking system and wall street, world wide disasters or war type issues that get in the way.

You don’t have to stop watching national numbers the news; just remember you can always get a quick accurate report here at TheCameronTeam.com. I pull these statistics right from the Multiple Listing Service on the first of each month and try to have these reports posted by the following Wednesday after a full week.