PHOENIX (AP) -- A glut of homes on the market has resulted in falling prices and is expected to keep pressure on metro Phoenix housing prices until sales pick up.

About a third of the homes for sale sit empty. That's about one out of every three homes for sale across metropolitan Phoenix.

It's forced home owners to get motivated and cut prices while home builders with an oversupply are offering deals, real estate agents say.

"There's a whole collection of must-sell sellers in the Valley's housing market now," said Jim Sexton, president of the Phoenix real-estate firm John Hall & Associates. "It's a great time to buy, but sellers have a lot of competition now."

About 36 percent of Phoenix-area homes posted on the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service are empty. That's almost 20,000 of the 55,000 houses for sale now. The prices on many of these empty homes have been reduced several times, according to listings

According to the MLS, homes sitting empty are scattered throughout most metro Phoenix neighborhoods.

And it's now taking the average home 94 days to sell when it took only 73 days to sell a year ago.

"There are a lot of people who have to sell now," said Brett Barry of Realty Executives.

"We tell our clients to drop their prices every 30 days because they have to compete with so many other motivated sellers."

---

Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.