ARIZONA DAILY STAR: Weds., Aug. 13, 2008

Bottom may be nearing: Encouraging signs in Tucson housing

By Christie Smythe

It's like the constant refrain heard on long car trips — "are we there yet?" Or rather: "Are we at the bottom yet?" Real estate observers in Tucson have been asking that question all this year as sales reports continue to show declines. While the market is by no means in an upswing, the latest report from the Tucson Association of Realtors offers some hints that the bottom might be in sight.

Sales and prices, though down, dropped at a lower rate in July than in months past, said the report released Tuesday by the association's Multiple Listing Service. The glut of listings, once as high as 10,387, fell below 8,000 in July for the first since since March 2006, the report said.

"We're in a mode of stabilizing right now," said Tom Sloyan, Tucson Association of Realtors president. "My feeling is we probably have hit bottom and we're going to be stabilizing for probably the next year or so."

The inventory drop is a particularly encouraging sign, said Marshall Vest, director of the Economic and Business Research Center at the UA Eller College of Management.

FULL STORY: http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/252474