The Arizona Republic - February 2007
Home building across metropolitan Phoenix hit a five-month high in January, signaling spec homes finally could be selling and more buyers are getting back into the market.
Single-family permits climbed to 2,876 last month, according to RL Brown's Phoenix Housing Market Letter. That's the highest level since August 2006, when builders pulled permits for 3,014 new homes.
Brown attributes the uptick in housing construction to builders cutting prices on homes and drawing buyers to some fringe communities once again.
In January 2006, 4,423 single-family permits were issued Valley-wide, but early last year the market was still operating at the frenzied pace of 2005 that couldn't be sustained.
"We have seen some life returning to the new-home market, albeit at a pace far below which we have been accustomed to in recent times," said Brown in his February newsletter.
