The Tucson Association of Realtors has released residential sales figures for the greater Tucson Metro area for May 07 vs May 08.
This includes sales for all residential types; single family, single family new construction, condos, town homes and manufactured homes.
Here's the key data from that report
for the Greater Tucson Metro Area;
Home Sales Volume: Decreased 34.93% from $395,081,716 in May 2007 to $257,072,764 in May 2008
Home Sales Units: Decreased 27.71% from 1,418 in May 2007 to 1,025 in May 2008
Average Sales Price: Decreased 9.98% from $278,619 in May 2007 to $250,803 in May 2008
Median Sales Price: Decreased 9.86% from $223,000 in May 2007 to $201,000 in May 2008
And here's the same data (which I've gathered) for the Tucson Foothills area;
Home Sales Volume: Decreased 27% from $61,569,288 in May 2007 to $44,563,391 in May 2008
Home Sales Units: Decreased 26% from 128 in May 2007 to 94 in
May 2008
Average Sales Price: Decreased 1.4% from $481,010 in May 2007 to $474,079 in May 2008
Median Sales Price : Increased 10% from $355,000 in May 2007 to
$391,000 in May 2008
For the month of May the decrease in the number of homes sold in the Foothills was slightly less than, though comparable to, the decrease in the overall Tucson metro. Yet, while average & median sale prices in the Tucson metro have declined substantially, prices in the Tucson Foothills have held up very well.
If you've seen this sales report from the Tucson Association of Realtors on TV or read about it in the newspapers you might've concluded that Tucson is Tucson and that values are declining in all areas at about the same rate. But that's not so.
Real estate is very local.
The Tucson Metro area is made of up of many smaller market areas, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and vulnerability to the real estate slump.
The Tucson Foothills is a small niche market within the Greater Tucson Metro - the number of homes sold in the Greater Tucson Metro (which includes the Foothills) was more than 10X greater than in the Tucson Foothills.
The Foothills is a market that has been virtually built-out, there's no room for expansion - east, west, north or south - and virtually all the available land within the Foothills has been built on. In other areas of Tucson there's plenty of land to develop and build, and consequently thousands of new homes have been built, leading to a large increase in the housing inventory in those areas.
And housing in the Foothills is also more expensive than in other areas of Tucson - the average sale price is about 89% higher than in the Greater Tucson Metro - because many people find it to be a very desirable place to live, and because there is no more land available to expand. It's supply and demand.
And because of the higher prices and a lack of new builder homes to invest in, there's been less speculative investing here than in other areas of Tucson, and therefore less fallout from investments gone bad.
Because of those basic differences, homes in the Tucson Foothills have been more resilient to the slump in real estate prices, and I believe they will continue to be. Not immune, just more resilient.
Please note; for the foothills, short term sales figures (less than 3 months) are not necessarily indicative of the true direction of the market. A longer view is always more telling and true.
see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes
