Sedona and Verde Valley Real Estate Third Quarter 2020

Unparalleled, Extraordinary, Record, Exceptional, Unmatched, are all adjectives that can be used to describe what has occurred in the Sedona and Verde Valley market in the “time of Covid”.

We have had a reduction in residential inventory over the last several years. The market was paused in March and April, but since that time we have seen an influx of buyers fleeing from California and big cities from throughout the country, resulting in record all time median sales prices in all areas of the Verde Valley. The median sales prices for single family homes in the Sedona area in the last 12 months rose 9% year over year to $610,000, the highest median sales price in the last 14 years. To add an exclamation point to this record setting pace, the median sales price for single family homes for the first 9 months of the 2020 is at $620,000 a 10% increase over the first 9 months of 2019.

The Covid 19 pandemic has put a light on so many aspects of our society and real estate has not been excluded. Since the downturn in 2008, housing inventory has been on a trajectory that handed us the housing shortage that the Verde Valley and many places in the United States are facing today. Nationwide, we create 1,000,000 new households a year. The housing industry has not been building that many units a year since the downturn, in 2008. The excess inventory created during 2004 to 2008 has been soaked up leaving us with the housing shortage that we have today.

There are so many extraordinary facts about our current market I am going to bullet point some of them to easily see:

Current Active (not under contract) residential inventory of all types in the Verde Valley

• Sedona area 93
• Cottonwood/Cornville 82
• Camp Verde 23
• Rimrock/Lake Montezuma 11

Based on the rate of sales for the first 9 month of the year that is a 45-day supply of homes on the market.

All-time record sales last 12 months:

• Sedona area single family median sales price $610,000
• Cottonwood/Cornville area single family median sales price $307,000
• Camp Verde area single family median sales price $294,500
• Rimrock/Lake Montezuma area single family median sales price $233,500
• Sedona area sales over $1,000,000 – 93 sales, previous high 58

Increases in Median sales price in the last 12 months:

• Sedona 9%
• Cottonwood/Cornville 6%
• Camp Verde 10%
• Rimrock/Lake Montezuma 4%

Just the Facts:

Sedona area:  The median price of a single-family home was up 9% in the last 12-month period to a median sales price of $610,000 up from $560,000. The number of transactions came in at 556 sales for the last 12 months compared to 477 sales in the previous 12-month period, up 17%. For the first 9 months of the year single family sales spiked up 15% coming in at 435 sales for 2020 compared to 377 sales in 2019. And, in addition to the spike in the number of sales, the median sales price came in at $620,000 up from $560,000, a 10% increase.

Vacant land transactions year over year were up 7% coming in at 159 sales for the last 12 months compared to 148 sales in the previous 12-month period. The median price took a significant jump of 19% to $185,000 for the last 12-month period.

This is the highest median sales price for vacant land in the Sedona area in the last 11 years. This may be signaling a real resurgence in the vacant land market.

The Sedona area luxury market, prices over $1,000,000, came in at a staggering 93 sales in the last 12-month period, a 60% increase over the previous 12-month period and the highest total in sales history in the Sedona market.

The median sales price for Condos and Townhomes in the Sedona area for the last 12 months came in at $374,000 a 20% increase over $310,000 for 2019. The number of transactions for the last 12-month period came in at 110 sales a 4% increase over the number of sales in 2019.

Cumulative days on the market came in at 90 for the last 12-month period up 11% from 81 days from the previous 12-month period. This increase is most likely due to the number of sales in the over $1,000,000 price point having a longer time on market.

Camp Verde: The median sales price for single family homes in the Camp Verde area for the last 12 months set an all-time record at $294,500, up 10% over the previous 12-month period’s $267,500.  The median sales price for the first 9 months of 2020 came in at $298,000 up 12% from the first 9 months of 2019. Inventory shortage for the Camp Verde area is having a significant impact on sales price and the number of transactions.

Lake Montezuma and Rimrock: The median sales price for single family homes in the Rimrock and Lake Montezuma area for the last 12-month period came in at $233,500 up 4% from a year ago’s $225,000. This is the highest median sales price for a 12 month period ever recorded for this area. The number of sales was up 9% to 75 sales compared to the previous 12-month periods 69 sales. A further indication of the power of this market the  median sales price for the first nine months of 2020 came in at $232,750 up 6% from the first nine months of 2019.

Cottonwood and Cornville: The median sales price for single family homes in the Cottonwood and Cornville area for the last 12 months came in at $307,000 up 6% from a year ago, this is highest median sales price for a 12 month period ever recorded for this area. The number of transactions posted a 3% year over year increase to 556 transactions compared to 542 for the previous 12 months. The median sales price for the first nine months of the year posted a record price coming in at $315,112 compared to the previous high of $290,000 for the first nine months of 2019.

 The Bottom Line: It is pretty straight forward: records sales prices and record low inventory fueled by flight from populated areas from all over the United States. With the pandemic still in full swing, natural disasters energized by climate change, the inability of being able to create new housing overnight, our market is in for a wild ride for the next year or two, at least.

For the complete Sedona and Verde Real Estate Third Quarter 2020 Report