Median price of homes in Phoenix rose by 21.1% in 2010

Phoenix is the only community in the Valley to see a double-digit percentage increase in its overall median price in 2010, compared with 2009.

But overall Phoenix values remain far below much of the rest of the Valley.

The increase was 21.1 percent.


Phoenix, with a median price of $109,000, had 18 ZIP codes with improvements in median prices.

More than half of the ZIP codes in the Valley with increases in their overall median are in Phoenix.

The other side of the picture is that most of those areas had low median prices - the price level at which half the homes sold above and half below.

The latest Valley Home Values report, provided by the Information Market, includes five years of data about median prices, percentage changes and overall sales. It also includes foreclosures.

Left out are short sales, in which a lender agrees to accept less than owed on a home, and data about new-home sales vs. resales.

For northeast Phoenix, the portion of the city north of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and east of Cave Creek Road, the data show:

- Continued declines in median prices, although not at the high rates seen in 2008 and '09, the worst years for most areas.

- Since 2005, one of the last years of the housing boom when prices were the highest, homes have lost a third to a half of their previous values.

- Foreclosures have made up about a third of all sales, with prices far below those of non-foreclosures. Depending on the ZIP code, foreclosure sales in northeast Phoenix were $40,000 to $90,000 less than non-foreclosure sales.

- Sales totals are far below the heights in 2005, the biggest sales year of the previous five. But they have climbed quite a bit from the low sales numbers of 2008.

- Median prices remain among the highest in the Phoenix area, topped only by the Arcadia neighborhood and Ahwatukee. The exception is ZIP code 85032, which includes some of the area's oldest neighborhoods. It shows a median sales price of $123,000, still above the citywide norm.

For north Phoenix, the areas bordering Interstate 17 from Cactus Road north, the data show:

- Continued declines in median prices but mostly in single-digit percentages, compared with the 20 to 40 percent declines in the previous two years.

- Since 2005, one of the last years of the housing boom when prices were the highest, homes have lost a quarter to a half of their previous values.

- Foreclosures in the southernmost areas made up more than a third of sales. In the northern areas, including Anthem, foreclosures claim half of sales in ZIP code 85087. Foreclosure prices are running $20,000 to $60,000 less than non-foreclosure sales.

- Sales totals are far below the heights achieved in 2005, the biggest sales year of the previous five. They have remained relatively steady over the past two years.

- Median prices in some cases are less than half the peak reached in 2006 or '07 and in others are approaching half.

For central Phoenix, the data show:

- A mixed picture for median prices, with declines far below the worst years of 2008 and '09 and increases in seven of 11 ZIP codes. The rise in median price was relatively low, although in 85051, one of the lowest median-price areas in the city, the median price rose by more than 20 percent.

- Since 2005, one of the last years of the housing boom when prices were the highest, homes have lost close to 75 percent of their previous values in ZIP code 85017. In ZIP code 85019, the drop was 66.3 percent. In the other central Phoenix ZIP codes, declines ranged from just under 40 percent to well beyond 50 percent.

- Foreclosures have made up about a third to a half of all sales, with prices far below those of non-foreclosures. Depending on the ZIP code, foreclosure sales in central Phoenix ranged greatly. In 85012, foreclosure sales came in at median prices of $162,000 less than non-foreclosures, which sold at $355,000.

- Sales totals are below the heights achieved in 2005, the biggest sales year of the previous five, but the area has some of the lowest totals overall in the entire city. In some areas, sales rebounded from the previous year, but overall the sales are about half the number reached in 2005.

- Median prices are among the lowest in the Phoenix area, with one exception: 85012. That ZIP code had very few sales - 65 for the year - at a median price of $339,000, one of the city's highest. The neighborhood includes the Phoenix Country Club on the south and the pricey neighborhoods on the north. But the area also includes 85017, west of I-17, which has one of the lowest median prices in the entire city at $40,000.

by Michael Clancy The Arizona Republic Apr. 2, 2011 06:19 AM





Median price of homes in Phoenix rose by 21.1% in 2010