Could be relief from the conclusion of the particularly contentious presidential election season (finally), rising interest rates, a booming stock market, a host of strong economic indicators and projections, or “all of the above.” Whatever the driving force, the Sedona real estate market appears to be in high gear – at a time when it typically cools down for the winter off-season.
Truth be told, the Sedona real estate market has had its own inherent legs. The rally was first evidenced back in August – well before the election and the other factors were being fully felt. But, the momentum has clearly gained strength. General Single Family Residence sales have pushed past 2015’s numbers already and prices are up as well. At $480,000 versus $437,000, the Median Recorded Selling Price is up 10 percent over last year at this point. Average Cost Per Square Foot of those sales is up 6 percent, from $217 to $230. The most significant evidence of new consumer confidence, however, is that Pending Sales are unusually high, especially for this time of year: 69 single family homes under contract versus 55 in 2015. That’s a 25% increase.
378
Sedona home sales year to date
%25
Pending home sales up from this time last year
Vacant Land and Luxury Homes
We’re even seeing a bit of that in the Vacant Land Sector. Although prices remain depressed, down 9% from 2015 – sales have already exceeded 2015’s by 6% and we’ve got another week to go in the year. As in the housing market we’ve seen a significant increase in Pending Sales: 20 this year versus 11 last year.
The Luxury Home Market is experiencing a similar phenomenon. Sales numbers for 2016 have now pretty much caught up to 2015’s. At Mid-year only 9 homes over $1,000,000 had been sold. We’re at 25 sales now. There were 26 by the end of 2015.
Whatever the driving force, the Sedona real estate market appears to be in high gear.
In general, that market sector seems to be coming out of the funk that has plagued it since the Mid-year 2015. Beyond the upswing in Pending Sales lately, prices are trending up and those homes are selling faster. In December 2015, the Median Recorded Selling Price for luxury homes was $1,250,000. This year it’s $1,500,000. And, the Average Cost Per Square Foot has moved up from $359 to $373, thanks to an increase in the number of sales of homes in the higher end of the range.
Sellers will be happy to hear that Average Cumulative Days on Market has also started moving in their favor. In 2015 it took an average of 466 days to sell and close on homes sold over one million dollars. This year that’s been pared to 423 days. More good news for sellers: the active inventory of luxury homes for sale is down from 66 last year to 47 at present. So, considerably less competition. That’s the fewest we’ve seen in well over a decade.
All-in-all, there is plenty of data support behind optimism for a continued strengthening of the Sedona real estate market. We may well be poised for the strongest year across the board coming up in 2017.