What a difference a year makes. At the end of May,2016, the market stats were dismal across the board in all Sedona real estate sectors. 2017 is a whole different ball game – from luxury homes to even land.
Single Family Residences are certainly on a roll. Sales are up about 25 percent over last year – and we’re on track to rack up the highest number of sales since 2005 – if we don’t go off the rails. The Median Recorded Selling Price of those homes has been remarkably steady over the last three months at $510,000 – roughly 12 percent over last year. Their average price per square foot has also hovered, consistently, around $235 – up about 5 percent.
2016 was an odd year, though. Typically, spring is the strongest real estate season, followed by a summer slowdown before picking up steam again in the fall. Last year, we saw an uncharacteristically lethargic spring followed by a summer rally that gained momentum through the end of the year. That led to the strongest winter season in living memory and set the stage for the 2017 spring fireworks.
The rally in the Luxury Home Sector was even more dramatic. By June 1st, 2016, there had been only seven sales of homes over a million dollars. This year we more than doubled that with seventeen. If that trend continues to play out for the rest of the year, we’ll have the best year in luxury homes since 2007 – the peak of the luxury home market.
Last month’s column heralded 2017 as the “Year of the Land Market Comeback.” Happy to report that that is progressing nicely. Land Sales are up about 64 percent. The MRSP at the end of May was $159,000 – up 13 percent over May 2016. But, it’s 47 percent over the market bottom of $108,000 that we hit just last March. The consensus of the pros is that land buyers are now primarily “end users” – that is, people who intend to build fairly soon – rather than investors. That’s a healthy sign for a more stable market.
Sales in the Condo & Townhome Sector are roughly at 2016 levels, but beyond that things get interesting. Although there have been 35 closed sales this spring, there are 13 sales pending, and a mere 28 active listings. Demand is out-striping supply and prices are, obligingly, rising to the occasion. In 2016, the Median Recorded Sales Price of the Solds was $241,000. This year it’s $310,000 – up 29 percent. The average price per square foot is up 14 percent, from $203 to $232. Some of that is due to more sales of luxury townhomes, but clearly, it’s a hot market.
Hot, indeed, for the entire Sedona real estate market as we head into summer.