Northeast Phoenix home sales up but not prices

by Michael Clancy The Arizona Republic Jun. 29, 2010 01:49 PM

• Short sales up, foreclosures down in Valley

Northeast Phoenix was one of the last areas in town to feel the impact of the economic slump and the housing-price meltdown.

Whether the area will be among the first to recover cannot be determined yet.

Sales have recovered throughout the five ZIP codes of the area. But prices continue to lag - in most cases down from a year ago.

Early 2009 was the lowest point of the market, according to the Repeat Sales Index compiled at Arizona State University. It compares values of the same home through repeated sales.

Compiled by real-estate Professor Karl Guntermann, it shows prices are still down, but the rate of decline is slowing month-to-month.

The breakdown for northeast Phoenix shows similar results, using data from Information Market, available on azcentral.com.

85028

The area, which includes million-dollar mountain-preserve and golf-course homes as well as solid middle-class neighborhoods, is north of the Dreamy Draw mountain pass. It runs from there up to Cactus Road, and from the preserve to Tatum Boulevard. The Piestewa Freeway bisects the area.

The area has seen the median home-sale priceincreasing since Jan. 1, compared with figures from a year earlier.

Of the 20 weeks of data available since then, the median price has gone up in 14 of them. Four of the six declines took place in the first four weeks of the year.

Sales have increased, compared with a year ago, in 17 of the 20 weeks.

85032

The mostly middle class ZIP code includes the lower-income Palomino and Campo Bello areas, but it has several areas of high-priced homes. It runs from Cactus north to Union Hills Drive, and from Cave Creek Road to Tatum. The Piestewa Freeway also cuts through the area.

Just like its neighbor to the south, 85032 has seen the median price rising since Jan. 1, with 15 weeks of 20 showing higher median prices than a year ago.

85050

The area that includes the west side of Desert Ridge is bisected by Loop 101, running between Cave Creek and Tatum, Union Hills and Pinnacle Peak Road.

There, the median price has risen in only two of the 20 weeks, compared with a year ago, when the median price was in the $300,000s.

85054

The eastern half of Desert Ridge is not heavily populated, with mostly vacant land south of the freeway.

Prices have risen in only two weeks since the first of year, compared with the same period a year ago. Much of that is accountable to the lack of new homes in the area, which is dominated by vacant land.

85254

The ZIP code covers the portion of the city from Tatum to the Scottsdale line, and from Shea Boulevard up to the Central Arizona Project canal, with numerous golf-course homes and horse properties, as well as standard single-family areas.

The median price is up in only three of the year's first 20 weeks, compared with the same period a year ago.


Northeast Phoenix home sales up but not prices