By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
The Phoenix housing market may be seeing some improvements with new home supplies.
Steven Hensley, advisory manager for real estate research firm Zonda, said there has been a marked uptick in lot developments and evacuations in the Phoenix market.
That could help alleviate the very tight supply levels seen locally since the spike in housing demand last year and during the first part of 2021.
Tight supplies have challenged builders’ pipelines and helped drive up home prices challenging first time and entry level buyers. The new supplies could help ease some of those upward price pressures, Hensley said.
Hensley said the number of active new home communities is down 16% from a year ago. He said there are 456 active new home communities in Maricopa and Pinal counties.
That compares with 544 active residential communities a year ago.
Zonda’s lot development research shows builders are looking to regain some of their inventories and bolster supplies that were eaten up last year.
Buyers spurred by low mortgage interest rates spiked demand even in the blistering Phoenix summer and as the economy was dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hensley said lot developments in the Phoenix metro area are up 25% when comparing second quarter 2021 activity to the third quarter of 2020. “That is encouraging,” Hensley said.
Hensley said evacuations for new homes were up 27% in 2Q 2021 compared to the first quarter of this year. “That’s a big jump. The machine is now moving. The builders are growing their supplies,” he said.
Outlying submarkets, with available land and growth, are seeing a significant amount of activity, according to Hensley.
Those include Maricopa, Buckeye and Laveen, he said.Some improvements could be coming with new homes for sale
