But given the prices of homes in metro Phoenix today, it’s tough to make a buck building new homes in Phoenix.
The 2011 outlook for single-family housing continues to deteriorate. The Greater Phoenix Blue Chip real estate consensus panelists have lowered their forecasts from a projected 11,000 single-family units for 2011 as of fourth quarter last year to 9,300 units as of the first quarter to 7,800 in the latest forecast (second quarter). Moreover, the panelists have modestly deteriorating expectations for 2012. In the fourth quarter, the panel expected 17,000 units for next year. In the first quarter of 2011 the expectation was 15,000 units. The current expectation is less than 13,000 units. The good news is that the panel expects 2011 to be the bottom in permits with the big percentage gain anticipated in 2012.
Source: Phoenix Blue Chip Economic Forecast
Can you imagine what a kick to the Phoenix economy it will be when new home construction starts increasing instead of decreasing?