The Phoenix-area housing market saw an overall slowdown in activity in 2010, except with foreclosures. Those were up, according to a report from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The report shows 106,975 single-family homes sold in 2010, down about 5% from 112,730 in 2009. Foreclosures (41,625) represented 39% of the transactions, up from 36% in 2009. “About 4% of the single-family homes in Maricopa County were foreclosed in 2010,” said Associate Professor of Real Estate Jay Butler, who wrote the new report. “Since 2008, more than 11% of the single-family homes in the county have been foreclosed.” The year drew to a close amid the robo-signing controversy and related legal challenges to the foreclosure process while the economy was starting to perk up a bit. Still, other issues remain, including stringent underwriting standards and a weak jobs recovery. “The main question for 2011 is whether — when the issues are resolved — the market will begin a path to improvement or keep being dominated by foreclosures,” Butler said. In December, more than 2,400 residential properties were foreclosed, up from about 2,100 in November. The median price for a single-family home resold in December was $125,000, the lowest since April 2009, when it was the same level. For all of 2010, the median for traditional home resales (not including new foreclosures) was $138,000, slightly up from $135,000 in 2009, but down from $200,500 in 2008. “Another influence is that, for the last year, approximately 40% of the traditional resales in the market were foreclosed homes sold again with a median markdown in price of 14%,” Butler said. “This is actually an improvement from 2009, when the markdown was 25%.” In the 2010 townhouse/condominium market, the median price for traditional resales (not including new foreclosures) was $88,000 down from $106,000 in 2009. More than 4% of the townhome/condos in Maricopa County were foreclosed in 2010. Write to Kerry Curry. Follow her on Twitter @communicatorKLC. .