HomeSmart Elite Group

Licensed REALTORS® with HomeSmart Elite Group  ·  Scottsdale, Arizona

Equal Housing Opportunity REALTOR®

The Great Climb Back from the Great Recession

Six Year City Appreciation Rates

2011 was the bottom of our real estate market value-wise. As we near the mid-point of 2017, we’re taking a look at appreciation rates from the same 25th week of 2011, (6 years ago) and offer a few observations. No doubt many of you will find more than this. This week we’ll be looking at Metro Phoenix’ 20 major cities.

All 20 major markets in Phoenix Metro increased in value. Today, we take that for granted, but we should not easily forget the horrific downturn from the great recession which started 10 years ago and registered only depreciation for 4 years.

Some of my observations that stand out, include the fact that the most expensive cities on a price per square foot basis, appreciated the least. The highest average sales price per square foot 6 years ago was Paradise Valley at $280. Today it stands at $313, which is by far still the highest sales psf in the valley, but PV only appreciated 12% in the past 6 years, or 2% per year.

Fountain Hills’ value 6 years ago was $168 per SqFt and now has increased to $203, which is 3% per year appreciation. The other city which is priced above $200 psf, is Scottsdale at $252 up from $279, translating into a 7% annual increase.

If you were an investor and looking for the greatest return, you would have loved the west valley, and in particular El Mirage which rose 179% – almost 30% per year! Other notable meteoric rises include Phoenix (122%), Avondale (125%), Buckeye (116%), and Glendale (106%). In the North Valley, Anthem increased 101%. And everyone’s joking favorite, Apache Junction, increased 124%! Who’s laughing now, eh?

The SE Valley has done quite well too with Queen Creek leading the pack with a 113% increase in value, while Chandler increased 92%, Gilbert rose 67%, Mesa 84%, and Tempe rising 71%!

And we’re not done yet. Some might say we’re still just starting!

City / June 2017 / June 2011 / % Increase

Anthem $145 $72 101

Apache Junction $132 $59 124

Avondale $115 $51 125

Buckeye $110 $51 116

Cave Creek $191 $134 43

Chandler $157 $92 71

El Mirage $117 $42 179

Fountain Hills $203 $168 21

Gilbert $142 $85 67

Glendale $132 $64 106

Mesa $138 $75 84

Peoria $141 $80 76

Phoenix $160 $72 122

Paradise Valley $313 $280 12

Queen Creek $115 $54 113

Scottsdale $252 $179 41

Sun City West $131 $95 38

Sun Lakes $151 $110 37

Surprise $122 $69 77

Tempe $164 $96 71