Tucson Real Estate Market Report and Statistics – January 2010
February 10, 2010
The Quick Numbers:
- Single Family Home Average Sales Price: $218,681
- Single Family Home Median Sales Price: $169,500
- Single Family Home Units Sold: 531
- Single Family Home Months of Inventory: 10.8 months
- Townhouse Average Sales Price: $178,974
- Townhouse Median Sales Price: $139,000
- Townhouse Units Sold: 54
- Townhouse Months of Inventory: 12.1 months
- Condo Average Sales Price: $117,250
- Condo Median Sales Price: $122,000
- Condo Units Sold: 25
- Condo Months of Inventory: 18.8 months
- Citywide Average Sales Price: $211,009
- Citywide Median Sales Price: $166,450
- Citywide Units Sold: 613
- Citywide Months of Inventory: 11.2 months
Well, we can certainly tell it is January. This is typically the bottom of the winter slow down.
Which is exactly what we are seeing. There were only 613 sales recorded in January 2010, down from the 752 we had in December. Inventory ticked up, to 6879 units. Typically, this is what happens every January – sales go down, inventory goes up. Fewer people look for homes during December, which makes for fewer January closings. And more people wait to get through the holidays before listing their house in January. All very typical for the season.
Given higher inventory and fewer sales, the absorption rate, or months of inventory, went up to 11.2 months. That means roughly one in every 11 homes on the market managed to sell. That’s the kind of absorption rate we were seeing at the start of 2009. I’d predict that figure will slowly come down as we reach the April deadline for the tax credit, and then as we hit our high sales season in summer.
The average sale price over all of Tucson came in at $211,009 with a median of $166,450. The average stayed about the same from last month, while the median ticked up a bit. Last year at this time, the average sales price was $217,491 with a median of $165,250. Prices are still heading down, but much more slowly than before.
Of those 613 sales, 78 were short sales and 197 were foreclosed homes. That makes distressed properties about 45% of the resale market in Tucson. That’s a huge share. Given distressed sales are becoming the rule and not the exception, home owners not in distress are having to price about the same as those foreclosed homes. And that hurts.
Don’t forget to watch for the market reports for each part of town – there will be updates to those in the coming weeks: Northwest, North, Northeast, West, Central, East, Southwest, South, and Southeast. If you find errors, have comments or suggestions, please let me know!
Data gathered from the Tucson MLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Figures quoted here include only single family homes, townhomes, and condos in the 9 areas that make up the Greater Tucson Area: NW, N, NE, W, C, E, SW, S, and SE.
