Arizona Home Sales Volume Decreases, Home Prices Increase

Arizona home prices were up again in August, according to the home data provider RealtyTrac.  It says median home prices were up 20-percent from a year ago, putting the state in the top five in the country for increasing prices. But, RealtyTrac Vice President Darren Blomquist says sales volume was actually down in Arizona last month, putting the state in a group of only four states with such a decline.

Blomquist says institutional investors, those groups and individuals that have purchased ten or more homes in the last twelve months are beginning to leave the state.

“I actually think the institutional investors starting to back out of the Arizona mark et is a good thing, because that means its becoming a more broad based recovery, as opposed to based just on the backs of these institutional investors,” Blomquist said.

Phoenix was among the top metro areas for price increases in August.  RealtyTrac says the median price in the metro area was up 25-percent from August of 2012.