"Sellers Got Greedy Last Year, Buyers Are Greedy Now..."

Housing resales slow, from the Arizona Republic, reports that Metro Phoenix's resale housing market continued to slow in March, with prices holding steady but the number of sales down from a year ago. There were 7,265 resales in the Valley in March, down from the 10,035 in March of 2005. The information came from the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU. Jay Butler, director of the center, said the numbers show that the housing market is returning to more normal levels after last year's frenzy. The price for a typical Valley resale home was $263,000 in March, up from $213,000 in March 2005, but down $2,000 from the February 2006 median resale price. Butler noted that the first quarter of 2006 was the weakest since the first quarter of 2003, and that we will get a better indication of where the market is at later this summer. "Prices will start to come down in certain areas," he said. "Some of the older areas will hold prices better. We will see some decline but not significant declines." Now, buyers have the leverage and are making sellers suffer, according to local agents. "Sellers got greedy last year," said Diane Watson of Realty Executives in Scottsdale. "Buyers are greedy now. Buyers need to recognize it is a healthy market. They can't sit on the sideline waiting for it to fall apart. It's not going to happen."



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