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Phoenix Real Estate Property Listings continue to decline: April 2011

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Metro Phoenix Homes BR518431000

At the beginning of April 2011, Phoenix real estate property listings have continued their downward trend for the sixth consecutive month. Our Phoenix housing tracker chart illustrates the 9,047 property drop in Arizona MLS homes / listings.

There has been talk about "shadow inventory" for at least the last 16 months or more. Shadow inventory homes are homes owned by the bank and those on the verge of foreclosure, but not listed on the market as Phoenix real estate property listings. The reason shadow inventory is important is because of the dramatic affect they would have on pricing if they were all released into the market at the same time. Housing prices could plummet if there was a dramatic increase in Phoenix foreclosures. The banks are doing us all a bit of a favor by holding onto these homes.

As seen in the chart, the initial drop in real estate property listings (indicated in yellow) was rather small compared to the escalating decreases over the last two months. Simple economics dictate that the smaller the supply, the greater the possibility of increased prices. Let's see what happens to residential home sales by the end of this month.

chart indicating Phoenix real estate property listings April 2011

Another indication of the validity that banks are holding onto shadow inventory is the decrease in the percentage of foreclosure listings currently on the market. Notice that the numbers in orange indicate total foreclosure listings, expressed as a percentage of total listings, and that they have been decreasing in sync with the decline in overall listings.

Phoenix housing tracker

Article on my main real estate blog: Phoenix real estate property listings

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