Home Prices Continue Climbing in North Phoenix and Nationwide

Existing home prices continued a long upward trend in North Phoenix and around the country as scant inventory put the squeeze particularly on buyers shopping for lower-priced homes, based on multiple recent reports.

In NoPho—the region of North Phoenix along I-17 from Norterra to New River— inventory remained tight in November, ranging from just 1.3 months in Anthem Parkside to 4.7 months in New River and Desert Hills, according to the latest analysis out this week from North Phoenix News and In&Out Magazine. (Note that small numbers in each zone are easily skewed by a handful of sales in any given month.)

Nationally, inventory stands at 3.8 months. Less than 6 months is considered a “seller’s market.”

Even as three NoPho zones saw lower sales volume, existing NoPho home sales in November reached 127, up from 122 in the same month last year. See the overview/summary or get details on each zone:

Monthly NoPho Home Sales Summary

• New River & Desert Hills
• Anthem Parkside
• Anthem Country Club
• Tramonto & Sonoran Foothills Area
• Norterra Area

The lack of homes for sale nationwide continues to put upward pressure on prices, creating an affordability gap as wage increases fail to keep pace, analysts say. First American Financial Corporation says affordability of homes—comparing prices and wages—declined 8 percent the past year. “Demand continues to outpace supply,” said Mark Fleming, the company’s chief economist.

Nationally, home prices are up about 6.2 percent from a year ago, according to the most recent S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index.

“Most economic indicators suggest that home prices can see further gains,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Rising prices mean that some people will be squeezed out of the market.”