Jay Butler of ASU Realty Studies issued his monthly report on the Phoenix resale market today. [Thank you L!]He states:
The local resale housing market continues its uninspiring trend. With 4,330 recorded sales in July 2007, the activity was close to June’s 4,910 recorded sales and was well below last year’s 5,545 transactions. While the current level of activity brings much needed stability, the 2007 year-to-date total of 33,510 homes is well below the 41,835 for 2006 year to date and 68,235 sales for 2005 year to date.
"Stable" in most circles indicates a market showing very little change. I find the word "declining" to be more appropriate. For those who don’t want to bother whipping out your calculators, there was a 29% drop year-over-year, and a 12% drop month-to-month. While Butler calls July’s 4,330 homes sold figure "close to June’s," this is the first double-digit MOM drop since September 2006.
