Valley sees 70% jump in home sales

Desert Sun staff and wire reports • March 26, 2009

Area posts third consecutive year-over-year increase; median price at $156,000

“This can be attributed to the under-$500,000 portion of the market, which has experienced larger price declines than the other market segments due to the large share of distressed homes for sale,” she said. “This further contributed to the decline in the statewide median.” The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home statewide declined to 51.5 days in February, compared to 69.3 days during the same month last year, according to CAR. February's results provided some hope that new home sales have finally hit bottom and the worst may be past. Prices, however, are likely to remain weak for months as builders continue to clear out their stock of unsold homes. “We are prepared to hazard the view that the post-Lehman meltdown is now over and the market is stabilizing,” wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, referring to last fall's collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers and the subsequent Wall Street plunge. “That's not the same as a recovery, but it is better than continued declines in sales.”