The Arizona Republic - November 2006
Phoenix is the Valley's biggest city, but it has one of the area's lowest home prices
The typical, or median-priced home, in Phoenix sold for $250,000 through August, according to TheArizona Republic's survey of Valley home sales. That's lower than metropolitan Phoenix's overall median resale home price that fell to $256,900 in September.
Besides having some of the Valley's most affordable home prices, Phoenix had one of the smallest increases in home prices this year. Prices for new and existing homes climbed 11.1 percent for the first eight months of 2006, compared with 35 percent in 2005.
Like most parts of the Valley, Phoenix's housing market is returning to normal. In 2004, home prices in the city climbed 11 percent.
Of the Valley's major cities, only Glendale had a smaller median home price gain this year, 10.8 percent, climbing from $237,000 at the end of 2005 to $262,500 in August of this year. Phoenix has several areas where buyers, particularly first-timers, can find more affordable homes. Those areas include: south Phoenix, Laveen and the Maryvale area.
In west Phoenix's Maryvale neighborhoods, the median home prices are below $200,000. Those neighborhoods also had some of the biggest increases in home prices this year, at 30 percent or higher.
The city's priciest ZIP code is 85045 in Ahwatukee where the median home price was $575,000.
Most of the home-price gains across the Valley came during the first quarter of this year before the housing market peaked. Sales and prices have been falling steadily in most areas of metropolitan Phoenix for the past few months, which also is helping buyers struggling to find homes in their price range.
But run-ups in prices from early in the year are still enough to keep most Phoenix ZIP codes from posting negative housing returns so far in 2006.
