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By Julianne Stanford
Tucson's housing market continued mostly positive trends in August, including a sales volume increase of 10.2 percent, the Tucson Association of Realtors reported.
"Southern Arizona real estate is at about its healthiest level in five years," the association's monthly trend scorecard report said.
It showed 1,276 houses sold during the month, compared with 1,158 a year ago. That maintained the 2015 trend for the market.
The average sales price for a Tucson home in August was $211,068, up 2.9 percent from August 2014, the scorecard showed.
"It was a bad month" for permits for new home construction, the report said, with 164 issued, compared with 200 in August 2014. That led the association to lower its forecast for the year, saying it will finish below last year's 2,284 permits countywide.
The association said that a Federal Reserve Board move to increase interest rates from their current historic lows should not harm the real estate market. An eventual "sensible increase" in interest rates will accompany increases in employment and wages, making higher rates affordable.
"In the short term, most housing experts believe sales will remain steady even with higher rates," the report said.
Julianne Stanford is an Arizona Public Media intern and a journalism student at the University of Arizona.
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