October Stats

The stats for October are out and things are looking good.
The total number of sales for October are 5,599 which is
only 9 less sales than September.
The average drop in sales from September to October is 6%.
Last year the drop was over 14%.
Yes the number of sales in October are off from the prior
two years, but the prior two years were out of the norm.
The 5 year average for the number of sales in October is
6474.67.

The average sales price for October was $330,200
This is an increase of 1.76% from September 2006 and a
decrease of 1.99% since January 2006.
October 2006 average sales price is 2.74% higher than
October 2005.

I believe it is more meaningful to take a 6 month rolling
average instead of a month by month average
because individual month sales prices can be influenced by a
few very high priced home sales.
It also gives a better feel for the overall trend.

The 6 month rolling sales price average for October is
$335,267.
Year to date the rolling average has increased 3.58% and is
an 8.45% increase from October 2005.

The above stats were taken from the from the Arizona
Regional MLS Statistics website.
Links are provided below:

http://www.armls.com/pdfs/SoldChartOct06.pdf
http://www.armls.com/pdfs/ListChartOct06.pdf

Builder Financing

The use of builder financing may not be your best option.

When buying a new home, most people use the preferred lender of the builder. Builder’s often offer incentives to get you to use their preferred lender. The article below points out that buyers should shop around. It might make more sense to use an outside lender.

“To make sure you're getting a good deal, ask the builder not only for the mortgage rate, but also for details on closing costs, points, any fees that will be paid to the lender or third parties, and the terms of the loan. Prof. Guttentag advises comparing that offer to a quote for the same mortgage obtained on the same day from an online lender. He also suggests shopping for financing at the same time you look at houses.”

Read the whole article here.

Platinum Realty Network
www.jimgruler.com

October Data is looking good

October is now over and it looks like there were at least as many sales in October as there were in September.

Usually there is a decline in sales for October as we get deeper into fall.  This increase in sales combined with
the fact that we are now below 47,000 active listings for the first time in a while indicates to me that some sellers
are finally getting the picture and allowing their listings to expire or are taking their houses off the market.  I hope
that this trend continues throughout November and December so 2007 starts off with a more reasonable inventory.

With still just over 46% of all listings being on the market for more than 90 days, something has to give.