Pinal County resale housing prices continued to drop in fourth quarter 2008
In the fourth quarter 2008, of the 2,850 recorded resale transactions in Pinal County, 1,240 or 44 percent were foreclosures. For the third quarter, there were 1,515 foreclosures or 45 percent of the 3,355 recorded transactions.
Although recorded foreclosure activity slowed in the fourth quarter, it still represented a dominate segment such as a 50 percent share in the city of Maricopa and 55 percent share in Queen Creek. Maricopa County reported 22,100 recorded sales in the fourth quarter with foreclosure activity representing 45 percent of the recordings.
“In Pinal County, there is a wide range of homes available from the listed homes to foreclosures, but a key force has been the rapidly declining prices,” said Jay Butler, director of Realty Studies in the Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic campus. “Homeowners and investors are buying with the expectation of strong appreciation in the future.”
For all transactions, the median price has steadily eroded from $220,000 in fourth quarter 2005 to $143,100 in second quarter 2008 to $119,000 for the current quarter. The foreclosure median price was $126,400, while the traditional transaction was $115,000.
The median home price in Pinal County was 75 percent of the median price in Maricopa County ($158,000). 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 $740 in second quarter 2008 to $615. It would be $815 for the median priced home in Maricopa County.
Although affordability has improved, concerns about energy costs, highway congestion and limited employment opportunities continue to strongly hamper any potential recovery of the housing market in Pinal County. In order to reduce inventories, new home builders are still aggressively pursuing buyers through incentives such as specially priced upgrades, free pools and gift cards.
The new home remains a strong competitive and attractive alternative to the resale home in Pinal County. New home sales were 1,400 homes with a median price of $159,285, in contrast to last year’s 3,140 sales and median price of $181,585.
The median square footage for a resale home in Pinal County was 1,790 square feet, while it was 1,690 square feet in Maricopa County.
| First Quarter 2008 -- SINGLE-FAMILY RESALE HOMES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| Tucson (SaddleBrooke) | 40 | 340,000 | 35 | 340,000 | 5 | 312,940 |
| Pinal County | 1,680 | $156,160 | 895 | $151,000 | 785 | $161,500 |
| Second Quarter 2008 -- SINGLE-FAMILY RESALE HOMES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| Pinal County | 2,100 | $143,100 | 1,255 | $141,000 | 845 | $145,000 |
| Third Quarter 2008 -- SINGLE-FAMILY RESALE HOMES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
| Tucson (SaddleBrooke) | 50 | 295,000 | 50 | 295,000 | ||
| Pinal County | 3,355 | $129,200 | 1,840 | $125,000 | 1,515 | $135,240 |
| Fourth Quarter 2008 -- SINGLE-FAMILY RESALE HOMES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selected Cities | Total | Median Price | Traditional Sales | Median Price | Foreclosed Sales | Median Price |
| Apache Junction | 315 | $135,000 | 190 | $129,450 | 125 | $147,900 |
| Arizona City | 80 | 73,525 | 75 | 72,000 | 5 | 81,545 |
| Casa Grande | 180 | 119,900 | 100 | 115,000 | 80 | 135,150 |
| Coolidge | 90 | 91,425 | 60 | 85,000 | 30 | 93,785 |
| Eloy | 20 | 93,350 | 15 | 89,000 | 5 | 123,615 |
| Florence | 145 | 93,000 | 85 | 84,950 | 60 | 130,000 |
| Maricopa | 705 | 130,000 | 350 | 129,900 | 355 | 133,000 |
| Queen Creek | 1,255 | 116,000 | 695 | 115,000 | 560 | 121,440 |
| San Manuel | 15 | 82,000 | 10 | 83,000 | 5 | 81,000 |
| Tucson (SaddleBrooke) | 30 | 271,100 | 25 | 275,000 | 5 | 267,195 |
| Pinal County | 2,850 | $119,000 | 1,610 | $115,000 | 1,240 | $126,400 |
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