Tucson Market Report April 2008

With the first quarter of 2008 behind us, our industry is continuing to show small signs of recovery. No one is denying that the market is certainly not where it was in 2007; although the quarterly statistics for 2008 show a slight but steady increase month over month.

According to NAR research, increasing FHA loan limits will help an additional 138,000 Americans achieve the dream of homeownership and will allow nearly 200,000 homeowners to refinance and potentially keep their home. In addition, NAR believes that increasing the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will bolster the severely stressed housing finance market by immediately infusing much needed liquidity into the nation's mortgage market.

An economic impact study conducted by NAR earlier this year estimated that increasing the GSEs' conforming loan limits would result in as many as 500,000 refinanced loans and could help reduce foreclosures by as much as 210,000. In addition, over 300,000 additional home sales could be generated, housing inventory would be reduced and home prices would be strengthened by two to three percentage points.

Some of the factors to look for in a recovering market are active listings, new listings and pending contracts. With an increase of 27.11% in pending contracts over 2007, a decrease in active listings by 15.20% over 2007 and a decrease in new listings by 20.87% it would appear that Tucson is headed in the right direction.


Home Sales Volume
Decreased 32.76% from $367,164,710 in April 2007 to
$246,878,039 in April 2008.

Home Sales Units
Decreased 26.17% from 1,318 in April 2007 to 973 in
April 2008.

Average Sales Price (all residential types)
Decreased 8.91% from $278,577 in April 2007 to
$253,729 in April 2008.

Median Sales Price
Decreased by 13.30% from $224,921 in April 2007 to
$195,000 in April 2008.

Pending Contracts (not yet closed in escrow)
Increased 27.11% from 1,217 in April 2007 to 1,547 in
April 2008.

Active Listings
Decreased 15.20% from 10,387 in April 2007 to 8,808
in April 2008.

New Listings
Decreased 20.87% from 3,085 in April 2007 to 2,441 in
April 2008.