By Catherine Reagor | The Arizona Republic
Steady improvement in metro Phoenix’s new-home market has developers and homebuilders scrambling to buy property for dozens of new subdivisions projected to spring up over the next few years.
Their land purchases offer a road map for population growth in the region for years to come. Where houses are planned, schools, retail and service businesses and other employers soon follow.
Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler and Queen Creek, along with north Peoria, are the hottest spots for new-home sales now, but Surprise, Buckeye and Goodyear are expected to move up quickly.
With new-home building up 71 percent in 2012 over 2011 and the number of available lots dwindling, homebuilders sealed nearly 100 land deals in December alone that will create thousands of homesites. Based on those deals, as well as hundreds of others between builders and landowners in 2012, it’s clear homebuilders are now buying more land in more moderately priced areas in the northwest and southwest Valley as prices continue to rise in the southeast Valley.
The land rush is further evidence that metro Phoenix’s homebuilding industry is recovering from its devastating six-year slump. The area is leading the U.S. for home-price increases, according to S&P Case Shiller. The number of empty lots ready for construction has shrunk to its lowest level in more than a decade, with only enough lots in hand to last builders a year. The shortage, particularly in the southeast Valley, has sent land prices soaring.
In Arizona, the housing recovery is especially important to the broader economy. For decades, the homebuilding industry has been one of the state’s biggest economic engines, with at least one out of every three dollars generated statewide tied to housing, according to Arizona Republic research.
If you’d like to discuss real estate matters, contact RLG founder Jordan Rose, jrose@roselawgroup.com
