Tucson MLS Statistics for February 2008

March 19, 2008

Apples to Apples Thank You Tucson MLS

Apples to Apples We don’t have to wait till May. There was a notice included with this months statistics indicating the historical data has been changed to reflect the Tucson Areas.

This means I no longer have to go back and do the hand calculations to get as close to Apples to Apples as possible.

Despite the media and reporting on Real Estate nationally Tucson continues to have a viable and in context of the rest of the country strong real estate market.

Not only are pending sales increasing in number each month but closed transactions are now beginning to pickup.

Let’s Do the Numbers

Tucson MLS Statistics January 08 - February 08 Summary

Category	Jan 2008	Feb 2008	Diff.
Avg. Sale Price	$266,450	$262,155	- $4,295
Total Units Sold	594	710	+ 116
Median Sale Price	$203,500	$199,900	- $3,600
Pending Contracts	1079	1317	+ 238
Active Listings	9,168	9,168	Same
New Listings	3,744	2,432	- 1312

Average Sale Price This month by month figure is volatile to say the least. I single transaction can throw this up or down. I’m thinking of breaking this down by property type and tacking this separated to get a better picture of where the activity is in the market.

Total Units Sold came in officially at 710 but the Tucson MLS is now showing 740 closed transactions for February 2008. This means there are 30 transactions which were entered into the system after the two business days alloted for status changes to be entered. The fine can be up to $15,000 but it it currently being levied at $250. Still that adds up to $7,500 in fines for the month of February (so far). Considering the unstable economic picture for the country and Wall Street in particular it is good to see an increase over last month.

Median Sale Price has dropped below the $200,000 price point which is a psychological boost at least.

Pending Contracts are not only up for the month but up over last year as well. I know it is only anicdotal evidence but we have been very very busy with both buyers and sellers in the market, hence the lateness in this post being published. It seems over the past three weeks I can’t get a day in the office.

Active Listing/New Listings stayed the same as last month which the number of new listings declined by more than 1000. December saw a lot of listings expire and sellers not renew over the holidays. January arrived and many of those homes were back on the market creating a large increase in the number of new listings. Therefore, a decline in new listings for February was to be expected.

The Year over Year Figures

Tucson MLS Statistics Feb 07 - Feb 08 Summary

Category	Feb 2007	Feb 2008	Diff.
Avg. Sale Price	$259,516	$262,155	+ $2,639
Total Units Sold	999	710	- 289
Median Sale Price	$219,500	$199,900	- $19,600
Pending Contracts	1094	1317	+ 223
Active Listings	9,847	9,168	- 679
New Listings	2,376	2,432	+ 56

These numbers are pretty self explanatory. The most interesting to me is the Average Sale Price. While the median is down over last month and over last year, the average sale price is higher in February 2008 than it was in 2007. Pending contracts are up while new listings are down.

Despite the country moving through a denied recession of date the local Tucson Real Estate Market is showing remarkable resilience. This doesn’t mean asking and sale prices aren’t continuing to adjust lower than in 06 and 07. It means what was perceived as a bubble here is turning out to be a much smaller bubble than in many other parts of the country and Arizona, this is a good thing.

Here are the Tucson MLS Statistics February 2008 for download.