Market Report

For Buyers: Get prepared to compete with multiple offers, especially if you’re shopping under $200,000.
A “frenzy” is defined as an area that literally has more listings under contract than active for sale.
The “frenzy” areas, marked in the darkest shade of orange, are:

• Nearly all zip codes west of the I-17
• South Phoenix, Laveen and Tolleson
• West Mesa, North Chandler and Tempe

Markets with sale prices around $300,000 or below (darker shades of orange) are expected to experience notable appreciation due to severe under supply, so a property that seems overpriced today may feel like a bargain a few months from now. For those shopping over $300,000, good news. The market is more balanced in these markets (green) and less frantic.

For Sellers: All 2015 indicators are positive for sellers in terms of supply, demand and annual appreciation. The Listing Success Rate indicates that 76% of listings coming off active status are successfully closing escrow instead of cancelling or expiring, up 6.1% over last year’s success rate. Distressed properties such as foreclosures and short sales are no longer driving values down in neighborhoods and have shrunk from 17.7% market share to only 6.8% of MLS sales. May is typically the hottest month for buyer contract activity, especially in the luxury market. While the summer is expected to be better than last year overall due to improving consumer credit reports, new contracts are expected to slow between May and July. The luxury market especially slows after May once the temperatures rise over 100 degrees, so take advantage of the next 6 weeks.