Single Family New Build Permits Year to date

October 27 – The Census Bureau has published single family permit data for September 2017. Across Maricopa and Pinal counties we see 1,625 permits, the lowest monthly total since February. However it is up 11% from 1,467 in September 2016. As a result, the 12 month total has risen to 20,023 the first time we have seen over 20,000 permits since February 2008.

Looking at the year to date counts, the ranking by city or place is as follows:

Phoenix – 2,120
Mesa – 1,930
Buckeye – 1,642
Unincorporated Pinal County – 1,599
Peoria – 1,452
Gilbert – 1,260
Queen Creek – 889
Maricopa – 842
Goodyear – 836
Unincorporated Maricopa County – 628
Surprise – 575
Scottsdale – 546
Chandler – 408
Avondale – 198
Florence – 156
Wickenburg – 128
Glendale – 127
Casa Grande – 93
Eloy – 88
Litchfield Park – 63
Fountain Hills – 57
Tempe – 41
Apache Junction – 35
Carefree – 24
Cave Creek – 23
Guadalupe – 9
El Mirage – 8
Tolleson – 4
Coolidge – 2

The top 2 are not a surprise, but look how Buckeye is outbuilding Chandler, Scottsdale and Surprise combined.
Most of the activity in Unincorporated Pinal County is in the San Tan Valley area. When combined with the nearby incorporated towns of Queen Creek and Florence we have a total of 2,644.

Cromford Market Index Now compared to Last month

Cromford Market Index for 10-26-2017

October 26 – Our regular table showing the Cromford® Market Index for the single-family markets in the largest 17 cities is shown below:

The usual increase in supply that we see during the first part of the fourth quarter is bring down many of the indexes and we have 12 cities deteriorating for sellers. However 5 cities are bucking that trend, with Paradise Valley and Buckeye drawing attention.

Avondale has conceded its place at the top once more with Chandler taking first place for the first time and former top-spot holder Mesa close behind. The Southeast Valley is doing particularly well in the CMI stakes at the moment. This not due to demand which is actually close to normal, but due to supply which is not only very low but has deteriorated much faster than the rest of the Phoenix area over the last 12 months. In contrast supply has been pouring in for Fountain Hills where the CMI has dropped 16% in the last month. Surprise and Peoria are other cities that dropped 5% or more in the last mont