Maricopa County Housing market showing some life

New-home sales in Maricopa County were down significantly from a year earlier during the first quarter, according to The Arizona Republic's latest quarterly housing snapshot, based on numbers from realty studies at Arizona State University and Mesa-based Ion Data. Sales of new homes fell by about 24 percent from the first quarter of 2010, from 1,530 sales to 1,170 sales. Meanwhile, existing-home sales increased slightly from a year earlier, accompanied by a decrease in median-sale price, according to the data. Total sales volume for existing homes in the first quarter was 16,535 transactions, an increase of almost 8 percent from 15,335 sales during the same period in 2010. Housing analyst Jim Belfiore, president of Phoenix-based Belfiore Real Estate Consulting, said the increase was especially encouraging because it came primarily from an increase in "move-up" buyers: those with existing homes who are selling in order to buy a larger or nicer home. "I'd attribute that to consumer confidence being higher overall," he said. The decrease in new-home sales occurred primarily because the 2011 new-home-buying season got off to a late start compared with the previous year, when there was still some momentum from a now-expired federal tax credit for new buyers. Belfiore said new-home sales picked up significantly in the latter half of March and have remained strong through the first three weeks of April.

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