It is Phoenix's time to shine.
After four decades, Phoenix's urban renewals have been experienced from the city's core and into the suburbs and sales of condominiums are rising compared to those of single-family homes, according to Phoenix New Times.
The Valley is now occupied with a number of townhomes, condos, and loft developments, whereas way back in 1997, Phoenix was on top of the countries list of cities with vacant landfill. It certainly is no longer true today as developers and builders now have bidding wars to get their feet planted on the vacant lots. Mind you, older buildings are even selling hot, to be reused and constructed into high-density infill developments
East and Valley cities have their own developments to boast and be proud of, while in the Glendale, Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa and Peoria areas, condominium developments are selling hotter than the traditional single-family homes. But when it comes to downtown condominium projects, the skyscrapers at Portland on the Park, Scottsdale's concrete-and-steel Envy Residences and the downtown Aerium lofts are the ones catching the eyes of many for being high-profiled.
New high-end downtown condos' median price have increased by 15 percent, reported by Arizona Business Journal, which means that the increase puts new downtown condos at an average price of about $150 per square foot, up from $123 in February 2013.
If you want to know why this is happening now, Scott Jarson of Jarson and Jarson, a real estate firm that specializes in the sales and marketing of unique Valley homes, shares his ideas. "I think the recession made Phoenicians rethink their priorities and their lifestyles," he says. "A desire to spend less led to a less-is-more ethic."
He added that the downtown redevelopment has made it more alive, with better restaurants, shopping, and culture. "Suddenly, we're looking at the community we live in and saying, 'Downtown is more interesting. I want to live there.'"
In addition, he says, "In many cities, the movers and shakers who are dictating the way a city is shaped are the bankers and the financiers."
"This is as exciting a time to live in Phoenix as any other in my memory," says Jarson. He lived in the Valley his whole life. "The city is coalescing around a sense of place that we haven't had for decades. And it's getting better every year."
With all these, is the bubble expected? That we will have to see.
