Phoenix home-price increases stall as sales fall

• The median sales price of a Valley house was $205,000 in April, according to the latest report from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.
• The median price was $204,900 in March and $205,000 in December.
• The number of sales has dropped, and more houses are on the market.

Metro Phoenix home-sales prices were flat in April, one of the region's prime sales months. And the forecast isn't upbeat for price increases during the rest of 2014.

The median sales price of a Valley house was $205,000 in April, according to the latest report from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. That compares with $204,900 in March and $205,000 in December.

"The market has completed its rebound from the artificially low prices that prevailed between 2009 and 2011, and further significant increases are unlikely without some growth in demand," said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at W. P. Carey.

Fewer sales are the reason behind the price stagnation. The number of home sales was down 16 percent in April compared with April 2013. But the supply of houses for sale is up. The number of houses on the market as of May 1 was 73 percent higher than on the same date later year.

Orr said the number of listings could fall if demand and prices don't pick up because potential sellers might opt to stay out of the market, waiting for a better time to make a profit on their house.

He said investors continue to lose interest in Phoenix's housing market, instead buying in other parts of the country where there are more foreclosures and lower home prices.. About 16 percent of all sales in April were investor-driven, down from a peak of 40 percent in July 2012. That's adding to the slowing of sales and adding to the downward pressure on prices.

Metro Phoenix home sales prices in April

Median-sales prices have been flat in 2014 but still are showing increases compared with last year.