02/11/2022
It's been a while, but here is your latest market update...
It is revealing how much the market has changed over the past 12 months. Purchasers of homes as primary residences are down 15% compared to January 2021, while homes to rent out are up 26% and second homes are up 25%. This data is for Maricopa only and is based on the intended use stated on Affidavits of Value filed during January 2022.
During the early part of the price explosion that has occurred over the past 2 years, the high end of the market lagged behind the low end and mid-range segments.
Now the high end market is making up for lost time and prices have been surging over the past 6 months.
As an example, the 3-month average price per square foot for single-family homes sold in Paradise Valley exceeded $700 for the first time in January, coming in at $707.64. The same measure 12 months ago was $515.75. This is an astonishing annual increase of 37%. During the 12 months that ended January 2021, the increase was "only" 17%.
The most expensive parts of the valley are still hitting new record lows for supply, so we do not anticipate a halt in price increases in this segment for a long time. If there is a market slowdown, it is likely to be felt in the low-end first. However, when we say the low-end, we used to mean below $250,000. Now there is very little available below $250,000 and the low-end covers the range up to $500,000, while the mid-range has been redefined as $500,000 to $1 million.
Yes a million dollar home is now considered mid-range.
