What to know about Glendale, Arizona
Glendale, the sixth largest city in Arizona, has a population of over 200,000. Its entertainment and sports facilities make it a popular destination.
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Metro Phoenix’s growth has moved westward and will continue to move in that direction for decades.
West Valley dominates the residential construction and land sales market. Residential, commercial and industrial development is also developing in the area.
New homes are being built or planned on tens of thousands of acres in the West Valley, and several huge communities are under construction. Most developments provide the water supply required for new homes.
Large new communities are opening up, from the nearly 4,000-acre Elianto in Buckeye to the 1,100-acre Mystic in Peoria, which could be home to many of the nearly 300,000 people expected to move to the West Valley by 2030.
Much attention has been paid to the northwestern valley, where Taiwan’s Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is building a huge plant that will employ thousands of workers. But the West Valley has attracted many other large employers, including Amkor Technology and several large data centers.
“The West Valley will continue to dominate the region in terms of population growth and all types of new single-family and multi-family development,” said Greg Vogel, CEO of the Land Advisors Organization. “The quality and scale of employment and its centers attract attention at home and abroad.”
West Valley issued more than half of its home building permits in a 12-month period
About 51% of new home building permits issued in the 12 months ended in August were in the West Valley, according to Land Advisors. For comparison, in 2010, 38% of houses and apartment buildings were built in the West Valley.
The East Valley region has long dominated the metro Phoenix housing market, accounting for 41% of new residential construction in 2010. Last year, 21% of all house building permits were issued there.
More than 2,600 apartments are under construction or planned in west metro Phoenix.
West Valley is driving residential building growth. Through August, more than 17,600 single-family home building permits have been issued in metro Phoenix this year, according to RL Brown Reports. This is an increase of almost 34% compared to the same period in 2023.
The average home price in the West Valley is lower than in the entire Valley
The average price of a new home in the Valley in August was $470,000, down about $8,000 from a year earlier.
Demand in the West Valley is driving up home prices. Many of the region’s new residents who work at new jobs in the area earn more than average.
The number of new homes and resales for more than $800,000 in the West Valley increased 112% to more than 2,750 in the 12 months ended July 2024, according to RL Brown.
However, Tina Tamboer, senior housing analyst at The Cromford Report, said the West Valley still has a higher percentage of more affordable starter homes than the rest of metro Phoenix.
In this area, long considered the cheapest part of the valley, the average home sales price is $364,000, she said.
For comparison, the overall Phoenix area median is $440,000.
Where homes are being built in the West Valley
There are 219 units selling new homes in the region, Vogel said. But 90 of them will be built soon.
The 37,000-acre Teravalis community in Buckeye, west of the White Tank Mountains, will be one of the largest communities in the West Valley. The first “residential village” in Teravalis, called Floreo, is under construction.
New homes are being built on Goodyear’s 20,000-acre Estrella, which was completed in the 1980s. Construction companies recently purchased over 700 lots in the community.
“As the West Valley continues to expand rapidly with high-quality employment and more commercial, entertainment and retail options than ever before, homebuilders have definitely turned their attention to Estrella,” said Jeff Zimmerman, vice president of the developer.
Peoria’s Lake Pleasant area is home to the largest new developments in the Northwest Valley – Vistancia, Northpointe and Saddleback – that occupy tens of thousands of acres and have secured water supplies.
Shea Homes recently launched a 414-home boutique community with a private club for buyers 55 and older in Peoria. The development, called Ridgecrest, is located in the 7,100-acre Vistancia area, near Loop 303 and Lone Mountain Parkway.
Builders are competing for the last remaining plots of land in many popular West Valley suburbs. Shea also recently launched Legacy Place on the border of Glendale and Peoria, where more than 900 homes are planned.
Vogel said most of West Valley’s future development will be in large, well-planned communities.
“Transportation, energy, water and wastewater infrastructure will be the focus of the next decade,” he said.
Contact the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8040. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @KatarzynaReagor.