Phoenix Home Sales Maintain Momentum

SAN FRANCISCO (DQNews) --Phoenix-area home sales climbed above a year ago for the seventh consecutive month in July but dipped below June as purchases of foreclosed properties continued to wane. The region's decreasing reliance on sales of heavily discounted, lender-owned homes helped the median sale price inch higher for the third consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

In July, 57.8% of the Phoenix-area houses and condos that resold had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months, down from 64% in June and the lowest since such foreclosure resales were 54.7% of all resales last October. Foreclosure resales hit a high of 66.2% this March, according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego firm tracks real estate trends nationally via public property records.

A total of 10,288 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the combined Maricopa-Pinal counties metropolitan area in July, down 4.1% from June but up 27.7% from a year ago. Total home sales were the highest for the month of July since 2006.

Sales of existing (not new) houses and condos combined rose on a year-over-year basis for the 13th consecutive month. Last month's gains in the resale market offset a 45.4% annual decline in sales of newly constructed homes. The 1,029 new homes that builders sold last month marked the lowest new-home tally for a July in more than a decade.

The median price paid last month for all new and resale houses and condos combined was $132,500, up 1.9% from June but down 32.1% from a year ago. The month-to-month gain was the third in a row. The median has edged slightly higher each month since it hit a decade low of $125,000 in April.