Phoenix housing index fell for 2nd month

by Betty Beard - Nov. 5, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Phoenix housing values have fallen for the second month in a row, a sign that the housing recovery could be retreating.

Arizona State University's Repeat Sales Index, which is considered one of the more reliable measures of housing values, estimates that prices fell another 4 percent in September compared with a year earlier.

That is on top of a 2 percent decline in over-the-year prices in August.

Karl Guntermann, an ASU real-estate professor, said it's still too early to call that the start of a new trend. But if the index shows a third decline next month, that would indicate a trend has begun. And it doesn't look good.

"Continuing weakness in the Phoenix economy, the flow of foreclosures into the market and the seasonal slowdown that occurs in housing toward the end of the year are reasons to be pessimistic about house prices," he said.

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