By Catherine Reagor | The Arizona Republic
Rising interest rates, and the expectation home prices will rise soon, spurred a lot more people to buy new houses in metro Phoenix during the past month.
It’s a nice boost for the Valley’s homebuilding market that’s still recovering from the housing crash.
New-home sales were up 22 percent in the Phoenix area, reports Belfiore Real Estate Consulting.
“Demand for new homes is healthy,” housing expert Jim Belfiore told me. “Between mid-April and -May, more new homes sold in the Valley than any other period in the past decade.”
