It’s all about supply and demand.  At one point a couple of years ago the MLS (Mulitple Listing Service) we utilize for Phoenix and surrounding areas showed active listing inventory in the range of 50,000 properties.  This number gyrates a bit depending on the season and various factors, but has been headed down.  A few months ago we dropped below the 40,000 point.  As of this moment, active listing inventory for all MLS residential sales is 31,491. 

In Home market in Valley may soon rebound (The Arizona Republic, 3/22/2011) the writer refers to the “Cromford Report” when citing that pending sales have climbed 33% since the beginning of January to nearly 13,000 as of the writing of this article…. and, actually at the moment, our MLS says there are 13,461 pending sales.

Available inventory is slowly reducing, pending sales are picking up.  This will translate to a faster sales cycle, fewer choices for buyers, and at some point we will see that we’ve reached, and put behind us,  the “bottom” in values.  That could be happening now.

My experience for the last few weeks when showing homes to buyers and researching comparable sales in many areas of town supports the data. Homes correctly priced, in decent to great condition and within desirable locations are selling “quickly.”   Homes under $300,000 and especially under $200,000 can actually sell within days (sometimes hours and with multiple offers), but even those in the $1m plus market can sell within weeks instead of months (again, depending on appropriate pricing, features, condition, location).  Communities on the extremeties of the metro area will be slower to reflect these strengthening factors.  Given the wild ride we’ve had for the last several years, these signs are welcome!