July sales HOT

More people are willing to break a sweat in their pursuit to buy a metro Phoenix house these days.

The Valleys’ housing market didn’t cool off during the hottest month of the year like it usually does. July was the second best month so far this year for home sales in the region, according to the latest data from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School. June was the best month.

ASU Housing analyst Mike Orr called July “a pleasant surprise” because both sales and prices usually “wobble” or fall in July. Instead:

  • Home sales reached 8,626 in July, up 19 percent from the same month a year ago. In July 2014, sales were down 20 percent from the same month in 2013.
  • Metro Phoenix’s median home price inched up to $222,000 in July from $221,000 in June. Home prices are up about 5 percent from July 2014.
  • Condominium sales jumped 32 percent from a year ago. But the median condo price dipped by $2,000 between June and July.
  • The number of homes for sale, or listings, dipped by about 1 percent from June and have dropped 20 percent from a year ago.

These mostly higher numbers for the Valley’s housing market means a lot of people were out house hunting in May and June as temperatures topped 100 degrees.

What could be a better indicator that Phoenix’s housing market is going strong?