By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
The regional housing market is in store for some major year-over-year gains for the next few months, according to real estate expert Jim Belfiore.
“The percentages are going to be 25 to 50 percent higher,” said Belfiore, who is president of Belfiore Real Estate Consulting.
Strong buyer demand, a limited supply of new and resales along with low mortgage interest rates are helping to drive the Phoenix regional housing market.
Those positive trend lines are coupled with slower homes sales numbers in the latter part of 2018 and early 2019 to create the expected large gains.
Belfiore points out that last year home sales were slowed by higher mortgage interest rates. That sparked an 8-month slowdown with year-over-year monthly sales down as much as 23 percent.
The slower sales turned around the last four months with monthly sales up compared to the same 30-day period a year ago.
Belfiore’s latest 30-day data for mid-August to mid-September shows new homes sales were up 14 percent compared to a year ago.
He expects that to grow even more the rest of the year with mortgage interest rates low and the Phoenix region seeing population and job growth.
Belfiore expects the year to end with 25,200 new home construction permits being issued up from 23,553 last year.
