December 2008 was an interesting month for the Scottsdale real estate market. Sales numbers were back up as a whole, particularly in the lower-priced segments. Inventory was down significantly, due to increased sales activity as well as a very large jump in the number of expired listings.
December Highlights:
– The number of active homes for sale dropped substantially from 4,072 in November to 3,790 in December. A lot of this can be attributed to a large spike in expired listings. The average number of expired listings per month over the last 12 months has been tracking at 202. In December, that figure was 343 – a 130% increase. We also saw a 28% jump in sales from November to December which also has some impact.
– The only negative news this month is that the number of pending sales dropped in December to 212, down from November’s 259. This represents an 18.1% decrease and is far behind the 12 month average of 296 pending sales. This will likely impact January’s sales numbers.
– Home sales in December rebounded to 228, up from November’s 177. This puts us slightly behind the 12 month average of 248 sales per month.
– The average sales price to list price ratio for December was 91.9%, meaning that on average, homes sold for about 8% less than the average asking price. This percentage typically falls in the low 90%’s, but 91.9% is the second lowest is has gone over the last 12 months, with the exception of November where it came in at 91.2%.
With the exception of pending sales being down, December’s numbers were actually quite positive, especially when compared to November’s dismal results. A couple of key things going forward are to get the pending sales number back up and the hope that the large number of expired listings do not come back onto the market in January, making the active homes for sale figure jump again.
Disclaimer:
Data was pulled from the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS) and can change at any time. Data looks back at the last 12 months of activity and is for Scottsdale single-family resale homes.
Copyright © 2009 Heather Tawes Nelson
