Valley Of The Sun: A New Home Market Leader
August 23, 2017
Gregory Burger
RL Brown Reports
There has been a great amount of focus on resale housing; however, the new home market has gained substantial momentum over the last few years.
Today, there are approximately 147 builders and 752 subdivisions offering more than 4000 different floor plans valley wide. These plans include attached for sale housing and traditional detached single family residential housing of various sizes across the price spectrum.
Innovative design and features in both the new floor plans as well as the new neighborhood and master plan amenities have become very popular with buyers. Builders understand the need for product that is unique and affordable to entry-level buyers as well as the move-up, lock and leave, urban lifestyle and active adult segments. Each of these categories presents an opportunity for a real estate agent to focus on creating a business plan that meet the specific needs of the buyer.
While the Southeast Valley was the first to see real signs of recovery with 37 percent of the active new home communities in this area today, the West Valley has quickly gained momentum now sporting 36 percent of active communities. The Scottsdale and Fountain Hills area has also seen significant improvement as builders focus on land opportunities in areas that were not saturated with new home communities. The North submarket along I-17 as well as the central corridor market area has also seen an increase in new home development.
Our forecast is for continued improvement of the new home market segment steadily trending upwards as the new home market share increases over the near term – while the resale market remains stable at the current level of activity. We project +18,000 new home escrow closings in 2017 climbing up to +26,000 closings by 2020.
Builders have done an excellent job managing lot inventories to avoid a shortage while also being aggressive in speculative home starts for future buyers. This will help alleviate build times and more directly compete with resale housing. Mortgage rates remain very attractive and builders are prominently using closing cost incentives as a means to attract buyers.
Sales office surveys from the new home market indicate that high quality buyer traffic is generated from online “shoppers.” These buyers are doing their homework and are actively comparing one community from another before making an inperson visit. While many buyers may have real estate agents representing them, many more are acting on their own due diligence when searching for a new home.
If you are a new real estate agent or one with years of experience, marketing new homes can be a fun and exciting way to work in this industry. A key role in marketing new homes to your buyers is understanding how to work with on-site agents staffing new home communities. In most all instances, these licensed, on-site agents are well trained and understand how to communicate to a potential buyer the advantages of buying new versus an older, resale home.
By allowing the new home agent to demonstrate the features of the community and the model homes to your buyers, you will learn what is most important in their buying decision. As a buyer representative, educating your buyers about the mortgage process, the construction process, the length of time it takes to build a new home, and the closing process are important. This will earn you that referral that will sustain your business for years to come.
