By Corbin Carson | KTAR
New homebuilders in Arizona are still waiting for their piece of the economic recovery, an economist said.
“Housing has been much slower to recover than expected,” Lee McPheters, a research professor of economics at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business.
Despite projections showing Arizona to be one of the top states for both job and population growth, not to mention the city being ranked as the hottest real estate market for 2017, McPheters said the state is running about half-speed when it comes to new homebuilding.
Arizona research firm Belfiore Real Estate Consulting is projecting 21,400 new home permits for the Metro Phoenix Area in 2017, up from around 18,000 in 2016. Jim Belfiore says the market is coming back but it has indeed been a slow recovery.
“Confidence continues to grow, driving demand. Many that want to buy are struggling to save that downpayment. They will get there. The metric to watch next year is appreciation, which I anticipate will be healthy.”
