In agreement with other recent news, Michael Orr, housing expert with the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at Arizona State University, found that December 2015 was the best month for new home sales in the Phoenix region in over 7 years -- since May 2008. This doesn't mean that a large quantity of inexpensive homes were sold -- the median home sale price actually increased 9.2 percent from the December 2014 figures. Peoria, then Mesa and Gilbert lead the Valley in number of new home closings.