Avondale is the hottest city in the Phoenix area. (HOA, house)

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by MotleyCrew

We like the west side. We are frequent flyers at San Diego Zoo and find it a not so bad drive from here. I love the newness of the west side. The decay in the bad areas of the east side turns me off.

There are swaths of the West Valley that are not new. Old Town Avondale/Goodyear, Cashion, Liberty, the downtown areas of Glendale, Peoria, El Mirage, Surprise, and Buckeye as well as some of the incorporated parts of the West Valley. It does seem like the older, not as nice areas of the East Valley are a lot larger than on the west side.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by new2colo

There are swaths of the West Valley that are not new. Old Town Avondale/Goodyear, Cashion, Liberty, the downtown areas of Glendale, Peoria, El Mirage, Surprise, and Buckeye as well as some of the incorporated parts of the West Valley. It does seem like the older, not as nice areas of the East Valley are a lot larger than on the west side.

Many of the places on the east side where people were just starting to "colonize" when I came here are now getting quite seedy. It is sad to see Fiesta Mall is now a rundown area that people avoid. But there are still new areas on the east side - Gilbert is where the Mesa people fled to and that is mostly new construction, for example. If new is what you want, then it's everywhere. It is closer in on the west side of the valley though. Pretty much everything west of the 101 was built in the last 20 or even 10 years. I think that a lot of the new construction in the west valley is going to go downhill pretty fast too - the Laveen area will be the pits in just a few years if it is not already.

[Rico Valencia]

I think the East Valley is grossly overrated (Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa). Tempe and Scottsdale are definitely worth there weight in gold though Scottsdale's not considered the East Valley. Tempe is considered East Valley but if you look at a map it's more or less the geographical center of the Phoenix Valley.

In my opinion the most desirable and appealing sections of metro Phoenix are the areas generally north of the 101 extending from North Peoria all the way to north Scottsdale/ Fountain Hills and up north into Cave Creek/Carefree. I firmly believe these mentioned areas will see the greatest home appreciation in the years to come as the schools are highly rated and the topography is much more appealing than flat, boring cities like Gilbert, Chandler, Avondale.

[sunluv]

Originally Posted by Rico Valencia

In my opinion the most desirable and appealing sections of metro Phoenix are the areas generally north of the 101 extending from North Peoria all the way to north Scottsdale/ Fountain Hills and up north into Cave Creek/Carefree. I firmly believe these mentioned areas will see the greatest home appreciation in the years to come as the schools are highly rated and the topography is much more appealing than flat, boring cities like Gilbert, Chandler, Avondale.

I visited some Cave Creek houses and was in the beginning stages of buying a house in a centrally-located area of Scottsdale at the bottom of the market four years ago, and agree with that in general.

However, Cave Creek and some other areas there can be a little remote, plus appreciation's not the only goal for me. Scottsdale/PV are pricey and very much part of the rat race as is much of the east valley. There is more going on there in some respects, but that includes higher volumes of traffic. Generally I'd agree with what you're saying, but there are pros and cons. Each area of the valley has its pockets of good and bad, and because the city's so spread out, it's not a clear cut situation. There may be more going on in the east side, at some costs.

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by Rico Valencia

I think the East Valley is grossly overrated (Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa). Tempe and Scottsdale are definitely worth there weight in gold though Scottsdale's not considered the East Valley. Tempe is considered East Valley but if you look at a map it's more or less the geographical center of the Phoenix Valley.

In my opinion the most desirable and appealing sections of metro Phoenix are the areas generally north of the 101 extending from North Peoria all the way to north Scottsdale/ Fountain Hills and up north into Cave Creek/Carefree. I firmly believe these mentioned areas will see the greatest home appreciation in the years to come as the schools are highly rated and the topography is much more appealing than flat, boring cities like Gilbert, Chandler, Avondale.

Gilbert, Chandler, and especially Avondale are growing rapidly and showing no signs of slowing down.

There must be good reasons why people are still buying in those flat boring cities, and those reasons are affordability, safety, and family friendliness.

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

Gilbert, Chandler, and especially Avondale are growing rapidly and showing no signs of slowing down.

There must be good reasons why people are still buying in those flat boring cities, and those reasons are affordability, safety, and family friendliness.

Avondale only added 3,000 people in the years between 2010-2014. It added more than 40,000 people between 2000-2010. I highly doubt Avondale is a "boomtown" any longer. I find a lot of holes in what local realtors and people with an interest in the metro's real estate market report versus actual reality. In the handful of years I have lived in the Valley, I really haven't noticed any major activity in Avondale. The cities that are still growing rapidly all seem to be in the East or Northwest Valley. Tempe has added 10,000 people in the past four years. In the years between 2000-2010 it only added 3,000. Buckeye and Goodyear are still growing at a decent rate but nowhere near pre-recession levels, Litchfield Park and El Mirage are pretty stagnant in growth, and Avondale is growing at a snail's pace.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Avondale only added 3,000 people in the years between 2010-2014. It added more than 40,000 people between 2000-2010. I highly doubt Avondale is a "boomtown" any longer. I find a lot of holes in what local realtors and people with an interest in the metro's real estate market report versus actual reality. In the handful of years I have lived in the Valley, I really haven't noticed any major activity in Avondale. The cities that are still growing rapidly all seem to be in the East or Northwest Valley. Tempe has added 10,000 people in the past four years. In the years between 2000-2010 it only added 3,000. Buckeye and Goodyear are still growing at a decent rate but nowhere near pre-recession levels, Litchfield Park and El Mirage are pretty stagnant in growth, and Avondale is growing at a snail's pace.

The story in the original post was that demand for homes in Avondale was greatly exceeding supply. From there it kind of morphed into Avondale must be growing like crazy. I suspect most of the demand is from institutional buyers mopping up cheap properties south of I-10 to rent. That would create demand in the absence of growth - for a while anyway.

As for pre-recession, no one is growing like that anymore. Those years were just insane (and unjustified). I don't know if we are back to normal pre-boom, either, though. I doubt it. Back in the days before the boom, you saw new developments everywhere with those flag poles sticking up. They still are not as common as they were. New home building is still below long term trend.

[BoiWonder13]

West Valley is slow compared to the Eastside...

I wouldn't appreciate driving west into the sun during the winter and it's less centralized with things to do and inconvienet for young people to enjoy compared to Tempe and Scottsdale.

Maybe the can invest into downtown Glendale? Much more potential than Westgate tbh!

[LagunaMom]

We're in escrow in a lakefront house in Avondale. It was on the market for a day and had multiple offers.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by BoiWonder13

West Valley is slow compared to the Eastside...

I wouldn't appreciate driving west into the sun during the winter and it's less centralized with things to do and inconvienet for young people to enjoy compared to Tempe and Scottsdale.

Maybe the can invest into downtown Glendale? Much more potential than Westgate tbh!

The funny thing is that when Westgate was just getting started, the plan was for the area surrounding it to develop into a massive business, residential, and retail hub (more like a true downtown). Glendale's original downtown would then be considered more like an "old town" historic district. Those were among the original ideas, which never materialized because Westgate became a failure that created a huge financial mess for taxpayers ... and the large masses of vacant land surrounding Westgate are still in existence where development was supposed to have taken place years ago.