Median price drop in October...

Home resales, median price drop in October, from the Phoenix Business Journal, reports that for the first time since December 2003, the Valley's median home price declined in October. October 2005 had 8,420 recorded sales, down from 9,815 in September and 10,670 in August. Year-to-date, resales totaled 97,165, above the 84,555 year-to-date sales for the same period in 2004. The median resale price fell in October to $259,900, down from $263,000 in September, but still 44% above last year's price of $180,000. The information came from the Arizona Real Estate Center at ASU. "Because it is difficult to sustain the levels of activity evident in the last year, the cooling is a good sign for the sustainability of the market," said Jay Butler, director of the ASU Real Estate Center. "The primary key to sustainability is for the market to return to its more normal or typical pattern of sales activity and home price movement. However, with some slowing in the growth price rate, people may be bringing their homes to the market to lock in their profits."

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2005/11/07/daily47.html?t=printable