By Parker Leavitt
The Arizona Republic
Homebuilders are once again seeing Gilbert as a land of opportunity as they build hundreds of new houses each month, making the town by far Arizona’s fastest-growing community last year.
For two consecutive years, Gilbert has issued more single-family home permits than any other Arizona municipality, according to data from town officials and the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona.
Last year, the town issued nearly 50 percent more new home permits than Phoenix, which was second on the list.
After receiving national attention for its rapid growth rate in the 1990s and early 2000s, Gilbert appears to be emerging from the recession in similar fashion, though homebuilding has not yet reached the peak levels seen eight years ago.
With an average household size of three people, Gilbert’s issuing of 2,430 new-home permits in 2012 could add about 7,500 residents to its population, which the U.S. Census Bureau estimated to be about 212,000 in 2011.
Much of the growth has been concentrated in the town’s neighborhoods south of the Santan Freeway, data show.
