'Worst Is Over' in Housing Crunch

The decline in home values and the lethargic housing market are coming to an end in Phoenix, and where Phoenix goes, the rest of Arizona will follow, says an Arizona State University real estate expert. "In greater Phoenix, the worst is definitely over," said Michael Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at ASU's W.P. Carey School of Business. " ... Most of the signals I look at are looking up." Orr, who tracks real estate data for the Phoenix metro area including Maricopa and Pinal counties, said in an interview for Friday's Arizona Week that the Tucson real estate market usually follows Phoenix trends by up to 12 months. The two metro areas take in nearly 90 percent of the state's housing market. Orr said prices are beginning to rise as housing inventory falls, and that is leading some builders to become active again. But he said demand will outstrip supply for a while. "Each week that goes by, we're seeing less and less homes available, so anybody who's in the market to buy is getting more frustrated and more desperate, and that tends to mean they'll bid higher prices against their competition," he said.

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