The latest information from ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business shows foreclosures as a share of overall Valley home sales are declining.
Their May 2010 report says the number of foreclosures dropped from 40 percent of the market’s recorded activity in March to 33 percent in May.
The good news may be brief, though, as a number of indicators show we are far from out of the woods.
“Defaults and late payments are still at record levels and could be a precursor of additional foreclosures,” said Jay Butler, associate professor of real estate and author of the report. “The main issues center on whether income will increase enough for people to hold on to their current homes, and whether they can maintain payments on their houses.”
Butler says some may choose to walk away from their homes in the face of declining neighborhood values and high debt levels, especially after the school year ends. New foreclosures plus sales of previously foreclosed properties still represented 60 percent of the recorded activity in the Phoenix-area housing market in May.
More than 3,200 single-family homes in the Phoenix area went into foreclosure during May of this year. That’s down from almost 3,500 in April, but up from roughly 3,000 in May 2009.
The median single-family home price was $144,000 in both April and May, up from $130,000 in May 2009.