Newcomers to this article might not know that the Sedona Real Estate market is fairly predictable – with peaks in Spring and Fall and slow times in Summer and Winter.  This Fall proved to be on target – with the exact same number of sales in October 2016 as October 2015… and YTD we’re 12 sales + over last year – making a 4.4% increase.  Inventory overall seems to be trending downwards… within the Sedona city limits, residential listings are down 27% over last year.  That directly corresponds with the average price per square foot jumping 18% over the last year (for 86336 zip code at least).  We’re currently at 256 per square foot in October – compared to $215 psf in October 2015.  Good times for sellers and smaller supply lead to shortened time on market and more competitive buying market.  We’re seeing multiple offers and tough competition for the best homes, with many buyers offering cash to trump any buyers that need a loan.  

I was helping a buyer recently – and checking the number of available homes in Sedona shocked me.  Single family homes under $450k in Sedona (86336 only)… there are only 20 homes currently available.  That’s a pretty small inventory of homes – so look for pricing to rise in the coming months.  The Sedona market overallhas 285 homes on the market of which 63 are already tied up in escrow with a buyer – making a grand total of 222 homes available in all of Sedona (town and the VOC combined).  There are an additional 44 condos/townhomes on the market – but 11 of those are tied up as well.  I’d anticipate a stronger than normal winter season leading into a strong spring season… so if you’re buying – look now as prices are trending upwards – and if you’re selling – conventional wisdom says to wait until February, but inventory is low now – you might consider coming on the market sooner than later to take advantage of the lack of listings!