Here is the Flagstaff market report as included in ou client newsletter, mailed earlier this month:

            The number of homes listed for sale in the Flagstaff area continued to rise during the month of May, according to statistics of the Northern Arizona Association of Realtors^® Multiple-Listing Service. Nine hundred forty-seven homes were listed on MLS as of June 3, 2007. This is an increase from 739 on April 3 and 892 on May 3. The number of homes sold did not increase proportionately, thus raising the number of months a home can be expected to take to sell.  The expected length of time to sell in the overall market is substantially higher than last year (4.59 months last year compared to 9.47 months now). As I have said in past reports, the average and median prices are impossible to compare to last year because of the flood of condos now on the market from apartment conversions. This is an entirely new product to the Flagstaff market that has reduced the prices overall. These condos are selling at a brisk rate, especially the units named "The Villages at University Heights," which are represented by agents of RE/MAX Peak Properties, our firm. Call us if you are interested in one.

Because of the difficulty of comparing this year's market to last on an overall basis, I am presenting statistics in two separate tables. Statistics for the overall market are in the first table and separately, in the second table, for single family, free-standing, residences. These numbers represent any units with Flagstaff mailing addresses, whether inside the city limits or not:

MLS data for single family, townhomes, condos and manufactured homes with Flagstaff mailing addresses. See note.

MLS data for single family residences with Flagstaff mailing addresses. See note. *Exact figures unavailable.

Note that the median price of single family homes on a year-to-year comparison shows a small price increase. Homes are still selling and prices have not dropped.  There is a larger supply of homes for sale than we have had in recent years, but we're still under 1000 units. In July 2002, there were over 1400 units for sale in a slower economy and a much lower population. We do not have the incredible price increases of 2004 and 2005, but equity is holding steady for homeowners. That is much better than owners in other parts of the country can say. My expectation is that this is the way the market will be until at least this time next year when we might begin to see faster sales and rising prices again. But, perhaps not. I don't have a crystal ball that goes that far in advance!

The number of days on the market prior to closing is noteworthy. Homes that are selling are selling in the same number of days as it took to sell a home last year. The lesson here is that to get sold in this market, a home needs to be well prepared for sale - prepared in appearance and prepared with careful analysis of price and the competition. For a number of our listings, we have partnered successfully with Mountain Home Staging. We have listed homes and held them off the market for over a month in order to allow time to do work to make the home look its best in the critical first two weeks of marketing. In this market, it's not how fast the sign goes up that counts, it's how well the marketing strategy is planned before the sign goes up. This is because while there are buyers ready to buy, they will move on to the next house if yours does not appeal in the same way.

Note: "MLS" data is based upon information from the Northern Arizona Association of Realtors® and is deemed reliable for sales reported to the association, but is not guaranteed and does not include all sales in the market area.

Ann Heitland, Flagstaff Real Estate 

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