By Paul Maryniak | Ahwatukee Foothills News
Chandler is leading a strong resurgence of the housing market in the Southeast Valley that’s rapidly tilting in favor of sellers, according to a leading Valley analyst.
The Cromford Report, which closely watches the housing market in Maricopa and Pima counties, said last week that its index of market health shows Chandler second among all 17 Valley submarkets it monitors in terms of favoring sellers, behind only Fountain Hills.
Based on a variety of market data, the Cromford Market Index rates municipalities as being balanced at 100 points, with anything over that increasingly tilting toward sellers and anything below favoring buyers. Its latest index puts Chandler at 163 – a 28% increase over its rating a month ago.
That’s bad news for buyers, as it is strangling the modest decline in home prices the market has seen for the last six months, the Cromford Report vartious analysts say.
“The downward pricing trend is weakening because in many places the supply has dropped and demand improved,” the Cromford Report said. “Asking prices are now on the rise and it does not take a big leap of imagination to see closed prices following suit during the second quarter.”
“Overall the market is more favorable to sellers than we expected in December and downward pressure on pricing has been largely eliminated, except in a few market segments,” it said.