The Prescott Area Association of Realtors® (PAAR) reports last year’s red-hot real estate market set quite a few records as its market rode the same high-demand, low-supply conditions found in the rest of the U.S.
Overall home sales in the area increased 2.3% year-over-year to a total of 4,823 transactions and the median home price rocketed 22.7% higher to $417,615.
On average, homes spent just 11 days on the market, slicing the previous year’s number in half for a new low as supply lagged far behind demand.
Some relief may be on the horizon: PAAR reported that for January 2022 inventory was slightly higher than at the same time last year, at 1.4 months versus 1.2 months. Last year’s average level of inventory for the year increased slightly over 2020, 1.4 months as opposed to 1.2 months.
George Beitzel, 2022 president of PAAR, said this started happening as optimism about the economy began to creep upward.
“In 2021, we were in the grips of the pandemic nationally, with an uncertain future ahead. That gave homeowners pause to put their homes on the market. In 2022, homeowners are beginning to feel more comfortable. They know more where things stand, the pandemic has eased, and they feel better about putting their homes on the market,” he says.
Dewey-Humboldt and Chino Valley both saw their home sales rise by 7% over 2020, while in Prescott sales fell nine homes short of the previous year’s, and Prescott Valley’s decreased by 2%. Land sales rose by 20% to 24% in Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt and Prescott, while Prescott Valley’s raw land sales were up a relatively modest 4%.
Beitzel said the Prescott Valley trends should not be alarming to those with interests there: “The drop in home sales is a function of supply, not demand. In other words, the number of homes going on the market has dropped. As homes are becoming more and more expensive, and with fewer homes to choose from, some buyers are buying land in hopes of building now or in the near future,” he says.
