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.

The Phoenix resale home market rebounded slightly in February, according to the Realty Studies Report from the W. P. Carey School of Business. Compared to January, the number of transactions increased and prices were up a bit.

In the U.S. and around the world, the recession is forcing shopping center developers and retailers to re-think the design of the places where we spend our money. Some say the very nature of shopping has changed.

The latest ASU-Repeat Sales Index suggests that the end of the slide for the beleaguered Phoenix metro real estate market may be in sight, but how close it looks depends on how you parse the numbers.

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.

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.

Looking at the responses from the Greater Phoenix Blue Chip Forecast panelists this quarter, consultant and Greater Phoenix co-editor Elliott D. Pollack asks: "Is the glass half full or half empty?" If the glass is half empty, he says, there will be no quick recovery.

2009 was a record year for real estate transactions in the Phoenix metro market. In fact there were 2,000 more transactions last year than in the previous record-setting year, which was 2005.

The Phoenix real estate market began to turn around in 2009, but the improvement was driven by foreclosures and by investors drawn to the resulting low prices, according to the latest ASU Repeat Sales Index (ASU-RSI) report.

Real estate experts are watching for signs that the Phoenix market is returning to normal. Activity slowed a bit in November — a hopeful sign because it is consistent with seasonal norms. But the market is still feverish.