Is Now a Good Time to Sell My Home in Ahwatukee?
The honest answer from someone who actually lives here.
If you've been sitting on this question for the past year or two, you're not alone. I hear some version of it almost every week, usually from someone in Ahwatukee who's been watching the market, reading the headlines, and trying to figure out if the window has passed or if it's still open.
So let me give you what I'd give a neighbor: the honest, unspun version.
The Market Has Shifted — But That Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means
Yes, the Phoenix real estate market has changed since the frenzy of 2021 and 2022. Inventory is up. Buyers are taking more time. Homes are sitting longer than they were a few years ago, when a well-priced listing could generate offers before the weekend even hit.
But here's what the headlines don't tell you: a more balanced market isn't a bad market. It's just a different one, and it rewards sellers who approach it strategically rather than reactively.
Here in Ahwatukee specifically — zip codes 85044, 85045, and 85048 — we're seeing what I'd describe as a selective buyer pool. There is genuine demand. Buyers are out there, and many of them are relocating from out of state, drawn to exactly what makes this community special: the South Mountain access, the school districts, the tight-knit neighborhood feel within a major metro. What's changed is that these buyers are no longer rushing. They have options, and they know it. So the homes that are winning are the ones that are priced right and presented beautifully. The ones that aren't? They're sitting. Then price-dropping. And ultimately selling for less than they would have if the seller had come out of the gate correctly.
So Should You Sell in 2026?
Here's my honest assessment. And I'll break it down by situation, because "should I sell" is never a one-size-fits-all answer.
If you've been in your home for five or more years, you've very likely built meaningful equity, even accounting for the cool-down from the peak. Home values in the Southeast Valley have appreciated significantly over the past decade, and while we're not seeing the same explosive year-over-year jumps, prices are still holding and showing modest appreciation. Locking in that equity now, while the market is stable, is a legitimate and smart strategy.
If you're thinking about downsizing or right-sizing, 2026 may actually be one of the better windows you'll see for a while. More inventory means you have more options on the buy side, which completely changes the calculus if you've felt stuck because you couldn't find anything worth moving into. That dreaded "but where would I even go?" problem is easing.
If you've been waiting for rates to drop back to 3%, I want to be honest with you: that's not what the forecasts are showing. Rates have stabilized in a range that's higher than the historic lows we got spoiled by, and most economists aren't projecting a dramatic change in 2026. Waiting for a rate environment that may never come could mean missing a window of stability you have right now.
If your home needs work, the stakes are higher in this market than they were two years ago. Buyers today have more choices, and they are factoring condition heavily into what they're willing to offer and how quickly they're willing to commit. This is one of the most important conversations I have with sellers right now: what's worth doing before you list, and what isn't. I'll be covering this in detail in a separate article specifically on pre-listing repairs in the Southeast Valley, so stay tuned for that.
What "Strategic" Actually Looks Like Right Now
I've been selling homes in this community for nearly a decade, and the sellers who are doing well in this market share a few things in common.
They priced their home accurately from the start. Not aspirationally. Not based on what their neighbor got two years ago or what Zillow suggested on a random Tuesday. Accurate, data-driven pricing based on current comparable sales, days on market, and absorption rate in their specific neighborhood. I've watched overpricing play out more times than I care to count. A listing sits, buyers start to assume something must be wrong, and the seller ends up negotiating from a weaker position than they ever would have faced with the right price on day one. Don't be that seller.
They prepared their home intentionally. That doesn't necessarily mean a major renovation. In fact, I often counsel people away from big projects that won't return their investment. But it does mean presenting your home in a way that lets buyers fall in love with it rather than walk through making a mental list of everything they'd have to fix. A professional staging consultation, which I provide at no cost to my clients, combined with strategic pre-listing updates, can be the difference between one offer and multiple offers.
They used a marketing strategy built for today's buyer. More than 70% of buyers coming into the Phoenix metro right now are relocating from out of state — California, Washington, Colorado, the Midwest. They are not driving by your open house on a Sunday. They're finding your home through YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and targeted digital ads, and yes, increasingly through AI search tools. I run strategic Facebook ad campaigns that put your home in front of buyers who are actively researching a move to the Southeast Valley, often before they've even started talking to an agent. Combined with YouTube video content and Instagram reach, your listing gets seen by the right people, not just whoever happens to be browsing the MLS that week. MLS exposure alone stopped being enough a long time ago.
The Bottom Line
Is now a good time to sell in Ahwatukee? For the right seller, with the right preparation and the right strategy, yes. This isn't 2021 where you could put a home on the market and watch the offers roll in regardless of condition or price. But it is absolutely not a market to be afraid of. Sellers who treat it like the strategic exercise it is are doing well. The ones who wing it are not.
The question I'd rather help you answer isn't "is the market good?" It's "is your situation good?" And that's a conversation worth having.
If you own a home in Ahwatukee or the broader Southeast Valley and you're wondering whether it makes sense to sell, I offer a free, no-pressure market analysis and home evaluation. You can get started right now at homevalue.savvyrealtyaz.com/home — just enter a few details about your home and I'll put together a real analysis, not a computer-generated estimate. No obligation, no sales pitch. Just honest information so you can make a confident decision.
And if you want to go a little deeper before we even talk, grab a free copy of my book — Savvy Solutions for Sellers: What to Expect When Selling Your Southeast Valley Home. I wrote it specifically for homeowners in this market. It walks you through everything: how to choose the right agent, how to prepare your home, how pricing actually works, and what to expect from contract to close.
You can download it here:
savvysolutionsforsellers.com/book. Consider it homework. The good kind.
You can also reach me directly at 602-448-8081. I've lived in this community for 18 years and I'm not going anywhere. Whether you're ready to move now or just starting to think about it, I'm here when you need me.
Amy Richardson is the owner of Savvy Realty Group, licensed under HomeSmart in Arizona, and has been serving buyers and sellers in Ahwatukee and the Southeast Valley for nearly a decade. She is the co-author of Savvy Solutions for Sellers: What to Expect When Selling Your Southeast Valley Home (2026).
