Pinal County resale housing market sees third-quarter foreclosures rise
The 3,355 recorded resale transactions in third quarter 2008 included 1,515 foreclosures or 45 percent of the resale activity. For the second quarter, there were 845 foreclosures of the 2,100 recorded transactions or 40 percent.
Although recorded foreclosure activity slowed in the second quarter, it still represented a dominant segment, making up a 50 percent share in Maricopa and 46 percent share in Queen Creek. Maricopa County reported 23,950 recorded sales in the third quarter with foreclosure activity representing 44 percent of the recordings.
In Pinal County, there is a wide range of homes available from new homes to foreclosures, but the common has been the rapidly declining prices, according to Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies in the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University Polytechnic.
“Homeowners and investors are buying with the expectation of strong appreciation in the future,” Butler said.
For all transactions, the median price has steadily eroded from $220,000 in fourth quarter 2005 to $143,100 in second quarter 2008, to $129,200 for the current quarter. The foreclosure median price was $135,240, while the traditional transaction was $129,200. The median home price in Pinal County was 71 percent of the median price in Maricopa County ($175,000). Although the thirty-year mortgage remained stable at 6.3 percent, a lower home price drove the monthly mortgage payment for the median price, based on an 85 percent loan-to-value, to decrease from $1,005 to $680. It would be $920 for the median priced home in Maricopa County.
“Although affordability has improved, higher gasoline prices, more congested highways and limited employment opportunities continue to strongly hamper any potential recovery of the housing market in Pinal County,” said Butler.
In order to reduce inventories, new home builders are still aggressively pursuing buyers through incentives such as specially priced up-grades, free pools and gift cards. The new home has become a strong competitive and attractive alternative to the resale home in Pinal County. New home sales were 2,115 homes with a median price of $161,090, in contrast to last year’s 2,645 sales and median price of $196,180.
The median square footage for a resale home in Pinal County was 1,835 square feet, while it was 1,710 square feet in Maricopa County.
| First Quarter 2008 -- SINGLE-FAMILY RESALE HOMES | ||||||
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| Selected Cities | Total | Median Price | Traditional Sales | Median Price | Foreclosed Sales | Median Price |
Apache Junction | 245 | $183,465 | 150 | $202,960 | 95 | $162,020 |
Arizona City | 40 | 114,500 | 40 | 114,500 |
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Casa Grande | 170 | 146,000 | 100 | 150,000 | 70 | 143,375 |
Coolidge | 55 | 119,950 | 30 | 119,950 | 25 | 118,725 |
Eloy | 20 | 95,939 | 15 | 96,500 | 5 | 90,000 |
Florence | 90 | 141,660 | 50 | 171,915 | 40 | 140,000 |
Maricopa | 310 | 170,000 | 135 | 164,000 | 175 | 174,250 |
Queen Creek | 660 | 153,000 | 295 | 141,750 | 365 | 162,880 |
San Manuel | 25 | 100,000 | 25 | 100,000 |
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Tucson (SaddleBrooke) | 40 | 340,000 | 35 | 340,000 | 5 | 312,940 |
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Pinal County | 1,680 | $156,160 | 895 | $151,000 | 785 | $161,500 |
| Second Quarter 2008 -- SINGLE-FAMILY RESALE HOMES | ||||||
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| Selected Cities | Total | Median Price | Traditional Sales | Median Price | Foreclosed Sales | Median Price |
Apache Junction | 315 | $163,090 | 200 | $185,000 | 115 | $149,680 |
Arizona City | 50 | 95,000 | 45 | 95,500 | 5 | 93,800 |
Casa Grande | 120 | 140,625 | 70 | 149,000 | 50 | 132,310 |
Coolidge | 70 | 111,565 | 35 | 110,000 | 35 | 111,930 |
Eloy | 20 | 84,840 | 10 | 84,000 | 10 | 84,840 |
Florence | 135 | 135,500 | 75 | 136,250 | 60 | 130,350 |
Maricopa | 310 | 157,000 | 160 | 150,900 | 140 | 167,900 |
Queen Creek | 995 | 136,050 | 575 | 133,285 | 420 | 145,000 |
San Manuel | 10 | 104,000 | 5 | 114,000 | 5 | 72,250 |
Tucson (SaddleBrooke) | 65 | 367,500 | 65 | 367,000 |
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Pinal County | 2,100 | $143,100 | 1,255 | $141,000 | 845 | $145,000 |
| Third Quarter 2008 -- SINGLE-FAMILY RESALE HOMES | ||||||
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| Selected Cities | Total | Median Price | Traditional Sales | Median Price | Foreclosed Sales | Median Price |
Apache Junction | 345 | $150,600 | 195 | $151,890 | 150 | $150,500 |
Arizona City | 60 | 85,000 | 55 | 85,000 | 5 | 73,525 |
Casa Grande | 215 | 130,000 | 115 | 133,450 | 100 | 125,740 |
Coolidge | 125 | 99,335 | 45 | 110,000 | 80 | 97,900 |
Eloy | 30 | 71,690 | 15 | 56,000 | 15 | 98,600 |
Florence | 180 | 98,580 | 110 | 91,500 | 70 | 118,780 |
Maricopa | 770 | 136,170 | 385 | 130,000 | 385 | 152,440 |
Queen Creek | 1,525 | 125,000 | 830 | 123,000 | 695 | 130,000 |
San Manuel | 10 | 90,375 | 10 | 90,375 |
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Tucson (SaddleBrooke) | 50 | 295,000 | 50 | 295,000 |
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Pinal County | 3,355 | $129,200 | 1,840 | $125,000 | 1,515 | $135,240 |
Realty Studies is associated with the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus. Realty Studies collects and analyzes data concerning real estate in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area. Realty Studies is a comprehensive and objective source of real estate information for private, public and governmental agencies. Its director, Dr. Jay Q. Butler, may be reached at (480) 727-1300 or e-mail him at Jay.Butler@asu.edu. To subscribe to RSS feed for Realty Studies news, visit http://www.poly.asu.edu/realty/rss.html.
Jay Butler, Jay.Butler@asu.edu
(480) 727-1300
Chris Lambrakis, lambrakis@asu.edu
(480) 727-1173
Public Affairs at ASU Polytechnic campus