By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
The regional housing market will end 2019 with new home sales up close to 8 percent as compared to 2018.
That is according to December and year-end data from regional real estate expert Jim Belfiore.
Belfiore said 2019 will end with 20,507 new home sales in metro Phoenix. That is up from 19,062 in 2018, according to Belfiore Real Estate Consulting.
For mid-November to mid-December, new home sales ended up 41 percent compared to the same time frame a year ago. Lower mortgage interest rates and continued economic and population growth have helped spur the market.
“Demand is not going to be a challenge for the local homebuilding industry anytime soon. Resale supply, down an outstanding 10 percent over the last month, is 22 percent lower than year ago while demand is presently 19 percent higher,” Belfiore said.
New home prices have also increased coming with a median price of $328,474, according to the latest sales data. That is up from $317,370 a year ago and a 3.5 percent increase.
Resale homes had a median price of $285,000 up from $262,000 a year ago — an 8.7 percent increase.
For 2019, Belfiore expects there to be a 25,200 new home permits to be issued with another 27,400 in projected for 2020.
