Single-family home prices in the Phoenix metro market have finally stopped diving, but the townhouse/condominium segment of the market continues to sink, according to the latest ASU Repeat Sales Index (ASU-RSI).

Forecasts by the Greater Phoenix Blue Chip real estate consensus panel show that perceptions of the metro real estate market continued to deteriorate in the third quarter of 2009.

The market for foreclosed homes in the Phoenix metro area appears to be approaching a turn around, according to a new index from the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School.

Foreclosures have traditionally accounted for only a small fraction of the real estate transactions in the Phoenix area market, but in January, as in past months, foreclosures were the whole story. Almost half of the existing-home transactions — 45 percent — were foreclosures.

Big picture, the Phoenix housing market showed gradual improvement overall through May, but zooming in on the various segments the picture changes, as some are still declining while others are improving — but only slowly.

The Phoenix resale market slowed a bit in May when compared to April, possibly because activity spiked last month as the federal first-time home buyer program came to a close, according to Jay Butler, associate professor of real estate and author of the monthly Realty Studies Report from the W.&n

The Phoenix housing market appears to be stabilizing as preliminary data for April shows a 1 percent year-over-year price increase for the first time in almost three years, according to the ASU-RSI (Repeat Sales Index).

The median price for resale homes in the Phoenix area has been edging up for several months. Does this signal that the market is approaching normalcy?

The resale season starts in March with an upswing in real estate transactions, but last month's numbers were much higher than might be expected if this were a "normal" year.

According to the latest ASU-Repeat Sales Index (ASU-RSI), overall house prices declined by 13 percent in December compared to December 2008, an improvement over the 17 percent year over year decline seen in November and the 20 percent decline in October.