Signs that the new home building industry may be stabilizing: Closings and median prices in September were up.

For the first time since February, permits for new single family homes dropped from month-to-month.

According to the monthly Southern Arizona Housing Market Letter from Bright Future Business Consultants, closings on new construction homes totaled 187, up from 176 in August but down from 261 in September 2008.

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“Typically, the final quarter of the year has the highest monthly closing figure for new construction due to the end of the fiscal year for most builders,” John Strobeck said in his housing letter. “There have been 1,589 closings for the first three quarters of the year, on track to hit 2,100 or more by the end of the year.”

The 221 permits issued in September, were down from 235 in August and down from 231 in September 2008. September was the fifth consecutive month that the number of permits issued has been above 200.

At the beginning of the year Strobeck, owner of Bright Futures Business Consultants, forecast there would be 2,000 permits issued this year which is attainable if an average of 160 permits are issued over the final three months of the year.

Price-wise, the median sales price of a new home in September was $185,000, up from $182,000 in August. It was the fourth consecutive month that the median has been under $200,000. The median price in both September 2007 and 2008 was $235,000. 

Without any September sales of new construction homes priced more than $1 million, the average sales price dropped $11,000 to $209,000.

There were 331 foreclosure sales in September, 32.5 percent of all resales. In August there had 334 foreclosure sales accounting for 31.3 percent of resales. For the year, there have been 2,822 foreclosure sales accounting for  30.7 percent of the resale market.

Inventories tick up

Amidst the positive indicators, the Long Realty Reseach Center reports September home inventories increased to 6.6 months, from 6.4 months in August. A market is considered balanced at 6 months supply of inventory, which is a calculation of inventory and current sales rates.  

Active inventory totaled 6,114 homes, up from 6,095 in August.

And while Strobeck reported new home closings in September were up, Long reports overall closings were down to 927, from 957 in August.

The shortest amount of inventory is in zip code 85706 on the southside where inventories are at 2.5 months supply, down from 4 months in August. The near southside zip code of 85714 had 3 months supply of homes, down from 3.3 months in August. The northwest side zip code of 85741 had 3.2 months of inventory in September, down 5 months in August.

By price range, homes below $50,000 have just a 2 months supply with homes in the range of $150,000 to $175,000 at 3.7 months supply.

Gold veterinary hospital

Tucson can now boast of having the first LEED gold veterinary hospital in the country, as certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Central Animal Hospital, 4020 E. Speedway, will show off its new building at an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 7.

In addition to such features as extensive use of natural light, automatic lighting adjusters, solar hot water, rain-water harvesting and use of photovoltaic panels for energy, the building was constructed using sustainable materials including insulation that was made from remnants from blue-jean manufacturing.

Central Animal Hospital’s new building was designed by DESA, 1202 E. Broadway, and constructed by Lang Wyatt Construction, 2127 E. 14th St.

Water demo home opened 

A Pepper Viner high performance house that was opened Oct. 17 in Civano North Ridge is a demonstration home for the City of Tucson’s residential gray water ordinance.

The ordinance, which will take effect June 1, 2010, requires installation of gray water “stub-outs” in new residential construction.

Pepper Viner Homes partnered with the German-based firm BASF to build the home which includes several water efficiency features and is 81 percent more energy efficient than a typical new home.

The home has both active and passive water collection systems, a gray water system, dual flush toilets and the use of water conserving lavatory faucets and showerheads.

“The landscaping includes bioswales or water collection areas that help water plants,” said Bill Viner, CEO of Pepper Viner. “There is a rain harvesting system to reduce the use of potable water for watering plants and the gray water system delivers water directly to the roots of the trees.”

Apartment foreclosure notice

Ajo Way Apartments LLC has received notice of a trustee’s sale on a $9.5 million loan on Westlake Village Apartment Homes, 1502 W. Ajo Way.

The California-based company purchased the 100-plus unit apartment complex in May 2007.

Sales and leases

• Affinity Eye Care purchased a 2,974 square-foot building at 6615 N. Oracle Road from the Michael J. and Charlotte A. Harris Trust for $570,000. David Hammack of Volk Company Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer.

• Southwest Gas Corporation purchased a 5,000 square-foot building at 1850 E. Ninth St., Douglas, for $500,000 from T&W Properties LLC. Ron Zimmerman and David Blanchette of Bourn Partners represented the seller. Gordon Rasmussen of Martin Property Advisors Inc. represented Southwest Gas.

• 3G Holdings LLC purchased a 12-unit multi-family building at 220 E. Fort Lowell Road from Purpus Trust LLC for $450,000. 3G Holdings is planning a major renovation of the site. James P. Robertson Jr. of Long Realty Commercial Services and John McClearly of Long Realty represented the seller. Greg Borccardo of Hoot Gibson Realty Company represented the buyer.

See more listings at the AzBiz blog at insidetucsonbusines.wordpress.com.

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