It looks like the market is finally showing signs of slowing down.  The sky isn’t falling, we’re just going from three consecutive months of 8000+ homes sold to 7040 for the month of August.  Based off the numbers, it looks like many of the cash buyers are stepping back either because the bottom of the market has seen a sharp increase in prices or maybe they’re going back to the stock market.  Either way, it’s certainly good news for many of the first time home buyers.

August Inventory of Homes Available in Phoenix

Another interesting trend is that the overall number of homes available for sale have continued to go down, despite the number of homes sales has slowed just a bit.  With the number of sales going down, though, monthly inventory naturally goes up.  Overall in Phoenix metro, we have gone from 4.59 months of inventory for July to 5.24 months in August.  Across the board, most of the cities have increased by about a month.  The exceptions would be Gilbert and Chandler, which have maintained the same level.

Status of Homes sold in August in Phoenix metro

Overall, we are seeing roughly 35% of homes bought in cash, 51% of are foreclosures, 18% are short sales, and 31% are traditional resales.

The next few months will be very interesting.  Just like when down payment assistance ended before, there will be a crazy rush here.  The deadline for the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is Dec 1.  That means that anybody participating in the program needs to be in contract by October 16th at the latest if they’re going FHA.  So imagine all the people bidding for homes in the first couple weeks of October.  They will be competing very strongly against one another.  I strongly suggest that if you are interested in this program, that you find something in the next couple of weeks.  Or else, you may find yourself outbidded during the most critical stretch.