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Valley's million-dollar
hot spots spreading out
Glen
Creno
The Arizona Republic
Paradise Valley and
Scottsdale used to be metropolitan Phoenix's
million-dollar home hot spots but big-dollar buyers
are beginning to spread the wealth.
These days, it's more common to see sales of houses
costing $1 million, or more, sprinkled in
Mesa, Ahwatukee, Chandler and
central Phoenix. Buyers are back in
the million-dollar market and they're
discovering that the house of their dreams might be
on a Mesa golf course rather than at the foot of
Mummy Mountain.
Five years ago, real estate agents wouldn't have
believed a house in Ahwatukee would sell for
seven figures. But last year a few did.
North Central Avenue and Arcadia ranch houses
are going the way of
Biltmore homes with prices climbing
above $1 million on many streets. Some analysts say
it's only a matter of time before there's a $1
million deal in a central Phoenix historic district.
Who's buying? The same business executives, out-of-staters
scouting for second or third homes, wealthy jocks
and rank-and-file doctors and dentists who write big
checks for pricey digs in more established luxury
enclaves.
Bob and Christine Zamora of Lodi, Calif., paid about
$2 million for a 5,300-square-foot house at
Superstition Mountain, a golf enclave east of Mesa
that takes its names from the nearby mountain range.
The couple shopped in such other pricey spots as
Desert Mountain, Desert Highlands and Mirabel
before settling in the far East Valley near the
Superstition Mountains.
They bought the house completely furnished for a
quick move-in. Its location will give him a quick
drive to the Honda car dealership he's opening with
a partner near Superstition Springs Center in Mesa,
their 19th dealership in the West.
When the Loop 202 connects to U.S. 60, the
Superstition Mountain house will give the Zamoras
access to their favorite Scottsdale restaurants.
Besides their Lodi house, the couple owns a place in
Carmel Valley, Calif., and they have a house and a
vacant lot in Oro Valley north of Tucson where they
expected to settle before he secured the dealership
in Mesa.
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Median resale price
in Paradise Valley
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Bob figures he has
bought and sold 15 houses and always looks at their
investment potential. He said a similar house in
California would cost 20 percent more but the couple
still enjoys such amenities as quick access to golf,
a dry-cleaning system in the laundry room,
fireplaces in nearly every room and a guest house
with a minibar and kitchenette.
"I think there's plenty of upside," he said.
"Frankly, I'm a businessman. Business people, we
tend to look at leisure properties first with a
business eye and then with an eye on the amenities."
Sales of houses that cost at least $1 million
have climbed steadily in the Valley even as the
economy has struggled. There were 570 such sales
last year, compared with 433 in 2002 and 380 the
previous year.
The million-dollar market tanked after the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks when people such as heads of
corporations stopped traveling. Now, the market is
rebounding with more sales though prices have stayed
somewhat flat with increases of 2 to 4 percent.
What's driving the market? people selling ski
properties so they can buy a place on a golf course,
lots of second-home buyers but few investors.
It's a strong niche market, million-dollar sales,
pointing out that the northeast Valley still
dominates but predicting that more big deals will
crop up in places such as Mesa.
Realtors. specializes in high-dollar properties,
have noticed more big deals outside the northeast
Valley luxury nexus. Extended freeways are opening
more areas to big houses and big deals.
Some big buyers insist on the prestige address of
Paradise Valley and Scottsdale. Others shop the
million-dollar market like a couple looking for the
best bang for their buck on a starter home in
suburbia.
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Desert Showcase
