Phoenix Home Sales Fastest in 2 Years

The median price paid last month for all new and resale houses and condos combined was $129,435, up 3.5% from April but down 38.4% from a year ago. The 3.5% month-to-month gain was the first since the median rose 1%, to $256,000, in March 2007, up from $253,500 in February 2007.

Last month's $129,435 overall median was 51.0% below the Phoenix area's peak $264,100 median reached in June 2006. The median has fallen on a year-over-year basis for 28 consecutive months.

The uptick in last month's median sale price from April was, for the most part, the result of deeply discounted post-foreclosure homes accounting for a slightly lower portion of overall sales, as well as a mild decline in the portion of sales occurring below $150,000. Sales of homes priced over $300,000 accounted for a slightly greater share of total sales last month when compared with April. Moreover, last month's sales occurred amid the peak home buying season (spring/summer) and therefore would have reflected an increase in the number of traditional home buyers (not just bargain hunters looking for the deepest discounts). They would include move-up buyers and others searching for the right home in the right neighborhood and, in some cases, a desire to relocate before school starts in the late summer.

An alternative price gauge analysts watch shows a sharp decline from the market's 2006 price peak but, like the straight median sale price, it has also shown milder declines or a flattening trend in recent months: The median paid per square foot for existing single-family (detached) houses was steady at $64 in May, the same as in April, but was down 46.3% from a year ago and down 62.6% from a peak $171 in June 2006.