INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS:  Mon., April 13, 2009

Home sales spring thaw

The backlog of residential homes waiting to be sold is showing some signs of a spring thaw, according to March data from the Tucson Association of Realtors’ Multiple Listing Service. 

There were 892 units sold in the market last month, up 35% from the 695 units sold in February and off 4 percent from March 2008.  Pending contracts were up 18% to 1,204 in March from 1,020 in February.  Meanwhile new listings in March grew by a relatively modest 10% to 1,989 from 1,799 in February. New listings were down more than 18 percent from March 2008.

“If this trend (fewer listings/more sales) continues, we’ll start to absorb some of that excess inventory,” said Kimberly Clifton, president of the Multiple Listing Service.

After an uptick in February, the median home sale price dropped again in March. The March median was $165,000, February was $178,000 and January was $163,250.