By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
Regional real estate expert Jim Belfiore expects to see the current strength in the Phoenix housing market translate into renewed and new growth in Pinal County.
Low mortgage interest rates are spurring first-time and other homebuyers in the region. But the supply of homes and new development in closer-in communities is running low.
That is prompting a fresh set of land deals and home builder interest in Pinal submarkets such as Coolidge, Florence and Casa Grande.
“The finished lot supply is going away,” said Belfiore, who is president of Belfiore Real Estate Consulting in Phoenix, referring to Pinal County submarkets. “They are all being bought up.”
Buyers who are now looking for homes in submarkets such as Queen Creek and Buckeye could end up navigating more to Pinal County.
Jordan Rose, President and Founder of Rose Law Group says, “The combination of large new employers locating in Pinal County and demand outstripping supply has caused this to feel like the busiest we’ve seen Pinal since before the last big economic chaos.”
Rose has done so much zoning work in the county that Phoenix Business Journal dubbed her “Queen of Pinal County.”
Pinal County’s real estate market was hit hard by the Great Recession, but the area has been seeing renewed growth and the influx of new jobs.
Lucid Motors is bringing a $700 million electric car manufacturing plant to Casa Grande with an estimated 4,800 new jobs.
Nikola Motors is also building a new $600 million production plant in Coolidge that will build hydro-electric trucks. That project is expected to create 1,800 jobs.
The investments will help evolve Pinal County from a bedroom community to more of an employment hub.
Belfiore expects to see more overall growth in the Phoenix region as the COVID-19 pandemic potentially eases. He projects more business and residential moves out of more expensive markets such as California and the Pacific Northwest hit hard by the events for 2020 including COVID, wildfire and social unrest.
He also expects to see Arizona gain jobs back after the employment losses during pandemic.
“We are going to see employment tick back up,” said Belfiore.
