Phoenix housing market picks up while other major markets slow down
Sep 2, 2018, 4:45 AM
PHOENIX — The Phoenix housing market picked up in the past year while other major markets including Seattle, Sacramento and Portland experienced a slowdown, according to online real estate database company Zillow.
The July 2018 Zillow report found that home values in Phoenix rose 7.7 percent in the last year, with a median home value of $256,000. The average rate of home value growth was 4.8 percent, which the report said is faster than average.
The U.S. as a whole saw home values rise eight percent in the last year, with median home value reaching $218,000.
Although the average U.S. home value rose, the rate was slowing in 20 out of 35 of the largest U.S. housing markets, with Phoenix being one of the few exceptions.
However, the report did find that the growth of median rent in Phoenix slowed to 1.7 percent over the past year, down from the 2.6 percent increase last year. Median rent in the Phoenix area came in at $1,362.
Median rent across the U.S. also experienced a slow in growth, rising only 0.5 percent in the last year compared to a 1.6 percent growth one year ago.
“The nation’s pricier markets are starting to feel an affordability squeeze as buyers begin to balk at the sustained, rapid rise in prices that have followed the strong job growth and high housing demand of the past half-decade,” Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas said in a press release.
“But despite the slowdown, home values are still growing faster than their historic pace in almost all large markets, and it’s far too soon to call it a buyer’s market. And in many of the nation’s more affordable areas, aside from the pricey and exclusive San Francisco Bay Area, home value growth has perked up as buyers continue to seek good value for their money. But it’s clear that the winds that have boosted sellers over the past few years are ever-so-slightly starting to shift.”
