May to November 2007

Posted at 5:26 PM, Nov. 30, 2007

Is this market normal or is it tracking the national decline? Neither. If we look at the overall activity for this year, it will probably turn out to be a "normal" year. If we look under the microscope, and specifically the past six months, our market is strong but very different. There are currently 50 or so homes on the market between Patagonia, Sonoita and Elgin. That is a bit above normal inventory levels, but when you consider there are 18 homes in escrow, the number is way above the norm. It is particularly skewed when you consider this is a normally slow sales time. So far this year, 35 homes have closed ranging in price from $55,000 to $1,670,000. The median price was $379,000 and the median price per square foot was $185.00. With the price to build a new home, exclusive of land costs, at $200.00 per square foot or more, buying a house in the resale market makes for prudent economic sense. This is undoubtedly what is driving our housing market. Land is another interesting situation. There are about 160 parcels on the market ranging up to 240 acres. So far there have been only 68 sales with the lowest price being $32,000 and the highest being $1,100,000 for an 80 acre parcel. The median price was $122,500 and the median price per acre was $19,075.00. That also means the average parcel size was just under 6.5 acres. It looks as if we are heading to a total market of something over $60,000,000 this year. That is very healthy! If you are looking to buy in our market, I would suggest there is nothing to be gained by waiting. In fact, it would seem that just the opposite might be true. (All figures above are based on dat from the Tucson Association of REALTORS(R) Multiple Listing Service. They are presumed accurate, but may not include all transactions in the market.)