By Daniel Quigley
East Valley Tribune
The East Valley housing market is starting to see a turnaround in home sale prices.
But with that turnaround, a spectre left over from the Great Recession looms: During the last few years, building had slowed down dramatically due an overabundance of available houses.
So as prices and buyers pick up, supply is being squeezed.
According to a recent report by the W.P Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, median single-family home prices in the Phoenix area rose to $162,500 in November from $157,000 in October and from just $120,000 one year ago — a 27.4 percent increase over the past 12 months.
In the East Valley in particular, Mesa saw a 27 percent increase in the monthly average — that’s based on price per square foot — over the past year, a number that led the region. Chandler was next at a 21 percent increase, followed by Gilbert at 20 and Tempe at 18.
Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School authored the report. Orr said that despite a 31 percent jump in supply availability from October to December, supply is expected to dwindle well into the spring.
