By Callan Smith Social Media Coordinator | Rose Law Group Reporter
The home selling season in the Metro Tucson area closed early this summer, with new home demand dropping sharply from May to July. Month-to-month sales fell 19% in June and 24% in July. Tucson homebuilders sold 4% more homes in June but sold 23% fewer homes in July, closing off the season.
Despite these factors, The area has shown promising gains starting with job growth, which according to the Bureau of Labor statistics 12,4000 net new jobs were created from June 2015 through June 2016, a rate of 3.5%, occurring at the fastest rate since 2007. Additionally, sales volumes have improved on an annual basis, with homebuilders selling 12% more homes than in 2015
The resale market also contributes to be favorable for the area, with healthy demand and advantaged sellers at most price ranges, with median prices rising 3% year-over-year to $181,000. However, resale supply became tight, showing a 19% decrease from July 2015 with a total 4,030 homes on the market.
New home communities continue to come onto the market, bringing the region total to 109, five more than one year ago. New home prices appreciated from May to July by 0.5%, bringing year-over-year appreciation to 1.9%.
New home inventory did contract in July, down to 255 complete or under-construction unsold homes, down from 318 in May. Homebuilders held an average of 2.3 inventory homes per subdivision, down from 2.6 in July 2015. Of the 255 total speculative homes held by builders in July, 219 (86%) were complete or within 60 days of completion.
With the strengths shown by the Tucson metro area job market, along with resale demand and communities coming online, the market looks promising for sustainable growth.
