Tucson housing market continues boom; Oracle Road work on horizon | Business

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The Tucson real estate market will continue its current boom, barring global economic setbacks or disasters, Randy Rogers, CEO of the Tucson Association of REALTORS, said at the Greater Oro Valley Economic Outlook 2021 on Thursday, March 4th.

“We’re in southern Arizona and the real estate market is hot,” said Rogers.

The median home price has increased while the average number of days in the market has decreased.

The average price of homes is $ 70,000 higher than last year, Rogers said, while it takes less than a month to sell a home post-market.

Rogers said that while low interest rates and Tucson’s warm climate compared to other locations across the country have contributed to the hot housing market, the most noticeable element is the low inventory.

“There’s not much you can do if you don’t have inventory,” said Rogers.

Those who couldn’t buy a home can now afford a low interest home, and if they had a home before, they can gain some value and upgrade to another home.

During the pandemic, sellers should be mindful of where they are in their “life cycle” and buyers should be mindful of affordability.

Rogers said a good time to sell is when homeowners are ready to sell and face the rental challenge before buying their next home.

“Are you ready to travel the country on an Airstream for a year?” Asked Rogers. “Do it. Get your house on the market. It’s a great time to do it.”

As for buyers, Rogers said, be willing to bid above the asking price, perhaps several thousand dollars above it, while making an “as is” offer without compromise.

“Maybe a few things you would like to ask for. “Oh, I want them to upgrade the kitchen or the appliance or rip out the carpeting,” said Rogers. “You don’t have to do that because there is another offer right behind it.”

While business is cyclical, Rogers believes we may not see the big ups and downs of the past few years.

The market may not change much in the next three to six months as economists predict national interest rates will not rise, but in a year or two, with a return to “normal,” Tucson could see some changes .

With slight restrictions, changing school systems and returning jobs, people who otherwise wouldn’t move during the pandemic could move, Rogers said.

However, he continues to reiterate the need for business and local government officials to work together to address the affordability issue as average home prices rise dramatically over a 12 month period.

“How can anyone afford a home in our community?” Asked Rogers. It’s not just the elected officials. It’s a shared process and a real problem. “

Challenges for builders

As the pandemic began, home builders were faced with material shortages, labor problems and a slowdown in the start of construction, said Anjela Salyer, vice president and division manager of Mattamy Homes.

“We just can’t start as fast as we did before,” said Salyer. “Because of a pent-up demand in the municipalities, workers. We don’t have the manpower to get that many starts in the ground. “

Despite the troubles caused by the pandemic, Salyer hopes this will bring about change in a stagnant business.

“I think the greatest opportunity that comes out of this is all of the many parts and the people and units involved in building housing need to work better and more closely in partnership,” said Salyer. “Ultimately, the end user, our consumer, for whom we all work, gets the product and experience that he is looking for.”

The partnerships between communities, businesses, and local executives have made Paul Melcher, director of community and economic development for the city of Oro Valley, excited about the city’s future growth as the workforce engages in job creation and strengthening retail and housing opportunities deal.

A year and a half after the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy was adopted, Melcher said their 30-60-90-day strategy laid a solid foundation for job creation success.

They developed a 30-day strategy to keep helping businesses through the pandemic.

“We really wanted to focus on continuously supporting companies in the pandemic with OV Safe Steps in the city and also with our most recent grants for hardship cases,” said Melcher, who has only been in office for two months. “We wanted to make sure these elements were still there as the business community continues to deal with these negative effects of the pandemic.”

The 60-day strategy focuses on promoting business loyalty and growing recruiting, while the 90-day strategy was designed to bring partnerships together to make sure they were on the same page, Melcher said.

“We have targeted companies to ensure we understand their needs in dealing with the pandemic and the associated economic downturn as the community overcomes the pandemic,” Melcher said. “We want to make sure the city understands what it can do to help businesses recover.”

Companies can check https://ovsafesteps.com/ to see if they are eligible for reimbursement of expenses related to the pandemic. The deadline for entries is April 1st.

ADOT Oracle Road 10 Mile Project

The Arizona Department of Transportation will be running a 10-mile project on Oracle starting on I-10 to the south and the Miracle Mile to the north on Calle Concordia.

Brandon Construction made a $ 34 million bid on Friday, February 19, to begin its contract, said Doug Moseke, ADOT’s assistant district engineer for the Southcentral District.

He expects the project to begin in April on a 750-day contract and the project to be completed in March 2023.

The project draft focused on traffic maintenance and drainage problems.

They plan to add street lights from River Road to Ina Road, as well as curbs and sidewalks from River Road to Magee Road, and bus shutters for pedestrian and bus user safety to aid traffic flow, said Daniel Casmer, senior resident engineer for ADOTs Southcentral District at ADOT.

In April, ADOT will mail 14,000 informational postcards to residents within a quarter of a mile of the project, said Joanna Bradley, community relations project manager for ADOT Southcentral District.

To get updates on the project, go to https://azdot.gov/ and click on “Subscribe for Updates” in red in the upper left corner and select SR-77.

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