OK. I don’t have a degree in economics. I’m just a lowly real estate agent. But these guys over at ASU are only now saying that home prices are going up and I think they’ve spent a little too much time away from the light of day!

“The March figures also show the first monthly increase in the median price of non-foreclosure homes since the end of 2007,” said ASU Professor Karl Guntermann, who is the Fred E. Taylor Professor of Real Estate. “This may signal the start of price stability throughout much of the housing market.” (4/28; Phoenix Business Journal)

This is great news, but I still maintain that prices have been going up, albeit slightly, over the past year.

Here is the data, directly from the Multi Listing Service:

I think it might be that the folks at ASU are reporting prices for active listings, not what that actual sales prices were. Look above and you will see that Active Listings $/SF (price per square foot) shows $179.63 on this day in 2009, but $148.18 yesterday. Looks like things are going down.

But, wait! All that this is telling us is that people are listing them for lower now, not that they are selling lower.  Probably because they are more realistic about prices when they list them.

Look at Monthly Sales $/SF. In April of last year they were $82.49 and now they are sold at $90.18. That is down from last month slightly, but up from 2009.

Even the Average Price – Monthly Sales is up.

I think these guys at ASU are running these numbers through some complicated and possibly unnecessary equation just to come to these conclusions.

I still maintain that they are dead wrong.

At least they might be starting to come around. As I said yesterday, watch for folks who have been hesitating to get back in the market in May.

I am happy to help you with any further analysis, listings or home searches. Please contact me at realestate@kenclarkforaz.com