Realtors: Buyers in southwest Valley being selective

By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

During summer in the Valley, the real estate industry tends to slow down, but this year some Realtors say July’s numbers showed a jump in activity in the southwest Valley market where supply is tightening and buyers are being selective.

While home sales in greater Phoenix have generally been flat, Goodyear’s median sales price increased 4.3% year over year.

Realtor Sammy Glassman said homes sold nearly 10% faster than last July, with sellers receiving 99% of the list price, amid declining supply.

What stands out is Goodyear’s relative strength compared with the broader Valley, Glassman said.

“Those are encouraging indicators when buyers have gained more leverage,” she said.

Glassman said Litchfield Park tells a different story, where closed sales jumped 69.4% year-over-year and months of supply fell significantly, but the median sales price declined 13.4%.

“Because Litchfield Park is a much smaller market, its percentages can move dramatically based on a relatively small number of transactions in a given month, so I would be cautious about interpreting that decline as a broad loss in values,” Glassman said.

In July, the average sale price was $502,745 in Goodyear, up 3.3% year-over-year, and $606,545 in Litchfield Park, down 2.1% year-over-year.

Jen Taege, vice president of the board of Phoenix Realtors, said list prices have stabilized and in some markets, like Litchfield Park, due to smaller inventory overall, may be showing a slight downward trend due to seasonality and a lack of buyer interest.

This isn’t cause for alarm, she said.

“This trend has less to do with overall market value and more to do with buyer choice and sellers needing to properly prep their homes for sale and price those homes intelligently to offset less buyers looking,” Taege said. “In short, buyers have choice and sellers need to prepare properly and not over price their homes.”

Glassman said the number to watch most closely in the southwest Valley is pending sales, which fell 33.5% in Goodyear and 25% in Litchfield Park.

“That could translate into softer closing activity in the months ahead if new contracts don’t pick up. However, inventory is also declining, which is important because fewer homes coming to market can help support pricing when buyer demand is softer,” she said.

Senior News Editor Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on X @philiphaldiman. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.