Home prices show first annual increase in three years

Read more: Home prices show first annual increase in three years – Phoenix Business Journal

New research from Arizona State University shows that Phoenix-area housing prices in April posted a year-over-year increase for the first time in three years.

The Arizona State University-Repeat Sales Index measures changes in average Phoenix-area home prices from year to year. The latest index finally reveals an estimated 1 percent increase from April 2009 to April 2010.

This follows a 13-percent fall from December 2008 to December 2009, a 9 percent drop from January 2009 to January 2010, a 7-percent decline from February to February, and an estimated 3percent drop from March to March.

This new data from ASU backs up a national report that came out Wednesday, also showing local home values increasing.

The median price for Phoenix-area single-family homes is projected to be $135,000 for April, which would put the market back at the same level as December of 2008.

œThis report reflects an important milestone in the recent housing cycle, with preliminary April data showing the first year-over-year increase in house prices market wide, said Karl Guntermann, the Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estate, who authored the new report with Research Associate Adam Nowak. œAlso, prices for lower-end houses and the foreclosure segment of the market, which turned positive in March, continued to increase on an annual basis.

Guntermann says higher-priced homes still didn™t show a significant slowdown in the rate of price declines until this April. They remain just out of positive territory, with an estimated 3 percent drop from April 2009 to April 2010.

Also, despite positive momentum marketwide, the cities of Glendale and Peoria lag others with prices still down more than 50 percent from their peak in 2006.

The townhouse/condo market also remains rough. The new index shows a price drop of 26 percent from February 2009 to February 2010. Preliminary numbers for March and April anticipate 19 percent annual decline. The median townhome/condo price in February was $86,400, with estimated drops to $83,500 in March and $81,000 in April.

The ASU-RSI is produced through the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business. See the full report here.

Thursday. May 27, 2010 – Phoenix Business Journal