Phoenix home values to outpace the nation in 2012

Phoenix home values will have the largest national gains in 2012, according to a recent forecast by Zillow Inc., a Seattle-based real estate tracker. Released Wednesday, Zillow’s report for the first quarter of 2012 predicted Phoenix home appreciation of 6.5 percent between March 2012 and March 2013, the largest growth among the 30 major metros included in the report. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist, credits the recent month-to-month performance of Phoenix home values for this forecast. “In Phoenix, your February-to-March change is 1.4 percent, which is really quite extraordinary,” he said. Humphries explains that Phoenix has be experiencing “very fast monthly appreciation,” a pattern that has led to the Zillow to forecast this substantial increase in home values in the next year. “Clearly what’s happening in Phoenix is that demand is outstripping supply,” said Humphries. “Phoenix is seeing a lot of investor demand, a lot of second-home and retiree buyers, and a fair bit of international buyers.” Ultimately, Humphries describes the Valley’s residential price growth as “surprising.”

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