The price of homes sold in Phoenix in July was up sharply over year-ago figures but declined slightly from June figures, according to DataQuick.
In July, buyers paid a median $150,000 for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the combined Maricopa-Pinal counties metro area, down 1.3% from June but up 25% from July 2011, marking the eighth consecutive month with a year-over-year gain, San Diego-based DataQuick said.
Foreclosure resales dropped to a nearly 4.5-year low, helping the median sale price rise. If lenders take more aggressive action in the future to clear their backlogs of distressed properties, then the inventory of homes on the market would rise, creating downward pressure on home prices.
July’s median home price still remains 43.2% below the Phoenix area’s all-time peak of $264,100 in June 2006
The number of homes sold in the Phoenix region changed little last month compared with a year ago as low-end activity continued to fall sharply and transactions soared on homes priced between $200,000 and $600,000.
Last month a total of 8,949 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the two-county Phoenix region, down 6.5% from the month before and up 0.2% from a year earlier.
