James Chilton reporter for the Mohave Valley Daily News wrote another informative article highlighting the our local real estate market trends. I am proud to be a contributer.
Local home sales market showing more signs of life
By JAMES CHILTON/The Daily News
Published: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 2:11 AM MDT
BULLHEAD CITY — The local residential home sales market showed signs of improvement in May, according to new numbers collected by local Realtor Petra Fahey of Country Ranch Realty.
The numbers, which are compiled from home sales in the Bullhead City, Fort Mohave and Mohave Valley markets, show an increase in both the average and median sales prices for single-family homes. Area Realtors sold 85 homes in May, the same as the previous month, but those homes sold for approximately $10,000 more in May, averaging out at about $133,000 per sale, up from $124,687 in April and well above the $119,436 homes were selling for in March.
The median sales price also rose in May to $122,000, up from $114,900 in April and $100,900 in March. The median often offers a more accurate picture of the state of the market since it is not influenced by outliers at the high or low ends of the sample set, which can occur frequently in home sales, especially in places like Bullhead City, where the sale of a single pricy riverfront property can buoy the average by tens of thousands of dollars. While May’s average sales price was about $11,000 below January’s number, the median price was the highest so far this year, indicating that typical houses are beginning to see a boost after prices faltered earlier in the spring.
Fahey said the numbers come as welcome news, given her earlier concerns that prices were lagging behind even as home sales were surging compared to recent years.
“In last month’s newsletter, I touched on the fact that demand for housing had been strong, but why had we not seen an increase in sales price?” she said. “Thankfully, for the second consecutive month, our local real estate market has seen an increase in sales price.”
Foreclosed properties remain the dominant factor in the local housing market, though their share of market sales did decline slightly in May, dropping to 55 percent from 60 percent the prior month. Standard non-distressed homes accounted for 33 percent of all sales, while short sales accounted for 10 percent.
Fahey also keeps track of the percentage of homes that sell for under $150,000. That metric saw its lowest number of the year so far in May, falling to 65 percent, a sharp drop from April’s figure of 78 percent and the first time all year the number has dropped below 70 percent. While foreclosures still make up the lion’s share of the housing market, Fahey said such signs indicate that prices are beginning to get more competitive, though how far that trend may go — or how long it may last — remain to be seen.
Avg. Sales Price: 12500
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