PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) – There are more for sale signs popping up around the Valley. Currently, there are over 20,000 real estate listings in the Phoenix area.
Last three months, there were less than 10,000 listings, according to the Cromford Report. “The dramatic increase in inventory that we’ve seen means more opportunity for buyers and means a little panic on behalf of sellers,” said Trevor Halpern, a Phoenix-based real estate agent.
Recent Google searches bear it out. Some of the top searches related to real estate in the Phoenix area include, “What is my home worth,” “How do I sell my home fast,” and “Is my home losing value?” It’s still a seller’s market, but sellers now have to compete for bids, according to Halpern. “We’re having to dust off our old playbooks as real estate agents to say, ‘Hey, you need to do a few things to your house to entice people to move in. Maybe get rid of 25-30% of the things in your house. Maybe we should paint the interior for a brighter and more updated color palate. Maybe you want to redo your land.'”
In the Phoenix area, home prices fell about 4% in the past month, but over the past year according to Halpern, they are still up about 9%. “Once the shock wave of the interest rate hike dissipates through our market,” Halpern said. “We’ve seen a lot of buyers come and hold their hands and say, ‘Hey, I can compete now’. We are trending towards balance.”
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