(W.P. Carey news release)
Despite dramatic home-price boosts, don’t expect another housing bubble anytime soon in the Phoenix area. A new report from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University breaks down what’s happening in the Maricopa and Pinal County housing market, as of April:
The median single-family home price climbed again to $181,399, up almost 30 percent from April of last year.
The report’s author sees no housing bubble on the way, with a very tight supply of available homes for sale.
He also sees no significant negative effect yet from rising interest rates on local housing demand.
Phoenix-area home prices have been soaring since they reached a low point in September 2011. The median single-family home price rose 29.6 percent — from $140,000 to $181,399 — between April 2012 and April 2013. Realtors will note the average price per square foot went up 23.5 percent. The median townhouse/condo price went up 34.6 percent.
“In previous reports, we predicted prices would rise significantly during the strong annual buying season that lasts until June,” says the report’s author, Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business. “From February through April, the average price per square foot did rise more than 9 percent for single-family homes, but the upward pricing pressure may finally ease somewhat this month.”
