A new report from ASU shows median home prices in the Phoenix area were flat between August and September, at $150,000. But, as KJZZ’s Mark Brodie reports, other numbers may provide reasons for optimism about the housing market.

MARK BRODIE: The study shows the average price per square foot rose more than 23 percent, and both foreclosure starts and completed foreclosures were down between August and September. The report’s author, Mike Orr of the W.P. Carey School of Business, calls September a transition month. He says volume is still low, but expects it to increase as prices do the same.

MIKE ORR: Prices go up until we get enough sellers that the market can rebalance itself. At the moment, they haven’t gone up enough to achieve that yet. But, every month that goes by, we get some more sellers coming into the market, and that creates the supply to balance the demand that we’ve got.

BRODIE: Orr says when that happens, prices will go down a bit, but adds the Valley’s housing market is now behaving appropriately. He predicts home prices will go up when he looks at October’s numbers.