Our Phoenix housing tracker reports that the number of homes for sale has dropped to 23,621 real estate listings, a level not seen since 2006. Home listings have been on an 8 month decrease. The 39,309 listings that were on the market last October 2010 has dwindled to 23,621 to begin June 2011 — an amazing 39.9% decline.
June 2011 Phoenix Scottsdale AZ Real Estate Listings
To add some perspective to these numbers let’s go back into history. When I became a realtor in 1999 it was common to see between 20,000 – 25,000 listings on the Phoenix real estate market. During the boom years MLS listings dropped to between 10,000 – 15,000 when homes were flying off the market in mere hours. Residential home listings increased to a whopping 54,000 when foreclosures from the resetting of 3/1 adjustable rate mortgages peaked in 2008. They began a decline to the 30,000 mark in September 2009 but rose to 39,309 in October 2010 as a result of 5/1 adjustable rate mortgages that were resetting.
Everyone has heard the news that there are still an extremely high number of pending foreclosures that will eventually end up as MLS listings because of “Option ARM’s” resetting and because of job losses in a slow economy. So where are all these homes and why aren’t they on the market?
We mentioned in an earlier article (Real estate property listings May 2011) that banks have learned how to play the real estate game and manage their losses. After the first few years of sustained foreclosure losses, banks have begun to control the number of homes on the market in an attempt to control falling prices. That has resulted in what industry insiders call “Shadow Inventory,” or homes under the control of banks but not released into the Arizona MLS.
We all know what happens when sales increase and inventory falls (Phoenix Housing Tracker and May 2011 home sales). Read (Sell My House Phoenix Arizona: prices rebound in May 2001) about rising price in Phoenix real estate.
Real estate property listings: Housing Tracker April 2011
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