September home sales in Central Phoenix zip codes 85012 and 85013 indicate home sales in the $500,000+ market are on the rise.
For quite some time the mid to luxury home market has been the pits. ARMLS sales figures from last May and June showed just one sale each month when the price tag was over $500,000 while under $500K properties accounted for 53 sales during the same time period.
July and August saw a slight rise with 3 out of 20 sales (July) and 2 of 15 (August) sales in the higher price range. However, September saw much better numbers.
Of the twenty-one September home sales in 85012 & 85013, four properties went for more than half-a-million clams. At first I didn't think this was all that different until I looked at the percentage of total sales. May and June stats show sales in the above 500K range at 3.77% of total sales while September figures rocked in at 19%... that's a big gain by most standards.
I believe the upswing is due to jumbo loan availability. For most of 2009 it was very difficult, almost impossible, to get a loan for over the conforming standard of $417,000.The hedge funds and investors that traditionally backed the higher loans were off licking their wounds.
However, we are now seeing a slow trickle of investors putting their toes in the Jumbo loan pool. Our friends Lisa Sahughnessy at Desert Heritage Mortgage and Judy Giel of MetLife Home Loans both announced new jumbo loan programs a couple of months ago.
The bottom line is that we are seeing a sales rise in the mid to luxury market and it's not just Central Phoenix; Scottsdale numbers are rising as well. This is good news for the real estate market as it shows a bit of stability moving upwards through the market. If you couldn't get a loan for a more expensive home last winter or spring, you may want to try again... you may be pleasantly surprised with both the rates and what you can buy for your money.
That is all for this Monday in Paradise.
Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777
