Reported by: Justine Richardson
A report from the
W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU highlighted a 0.8 percent increase in Valley home prices from May to June of this year.
This was the first time since 2007 that home prices in the Valley have increased in consecutive months.
The Arizona State University-Repeat Sales Index (ASU-RSI), which studies average yearly changes in Valley home prices, recently released a report from June 2008 through June 2009.
The report showed a small increase in average home prices and suggests that the worst seems to be over, in terms of decreasing home prices.
"It is now clear that the worst is past in the home-price rate of decline and that prices were falling most rapidly back in February and March," said Professor Karl Guntermann, the Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estate at the W. P. Carey School of Business.
"However, it must be remembered that the current housing market is still quite volatile, so this conclusion must be tentative," Guntermann warned.
The report showed a 31 percent decrease from June 2008 to June 2009, however this is an improvement from a 33 percent decrease the previous year.
The current housing crisis has hit the lower end of the market hardest with the biggest drops in Glendale and Peoria, while Paradise Valley and Scottsdale fared the best.
The median price for Valley area homes in June 2009 was $122,000, but is expected to improve based on preliminary figures for July and August, putting prices at $125,000 and $127,000, respectively.
The ASU-RSI is based on repeat sales, comparing the prices of single homes against themselves at various points in time.
According to ASU, this method is the most reliable way of estimating changes in home prices.
The ASU-RSI is run through the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business, its current report is available at
ASU's website.
