Honest Assessment Of Tucson Housing Market 2021

[grmi66]

I just got back from a house closing and spoke with the title officer. They told me that in a normal market, Tucson should have around 8500-9000 active listings, currently we sit at about 1000. The market gets tighter at the under $275,000 market with current estimates of 250 or so homes on the market. Even million dollar homes are selling in weeks instead of months or years.

[apple92680]

Originally Posted by steiconi
Same thing has been happening in California for decades; outsiders drive up prices so native borns can't afford to stay. Maybe everybody should be required to stay in their home town forever.

Originally Posted by tijlover

Outsiders? You mean the Chinese, who if they pay $500k or more for a house, and stay there for 3 years, they automatically become US citizens? I had read one out of 5 buying homes in CA are Chinese.

If you read the California forums, specifically in the Bay Area, there are posters who are longtime locals who discuss recent teardowns/rebuilds, going for $1 million plus, in their neighborhoods that are being snapped up like its nothing. Who is buying these? Not Chinese. Although completely anecdotal, they are reportedly being purchased by out of state wealthy Americans.

[ArniBoy]

Originally Posted by dump1567

.... wanted a quieter life in this area.

Quieter life?!? If Tucson is any quieter, it would be the moon.

[recycled]

Originally Posted by ArniBoy

Quieter life?!? If Tucson is any quieter, it would be the moon.

Depends on your definition of quiet. I lived in Tucson for a good part of the time from 2017 until last October. There are many noisy parts of Tucson, especially within a mile or so or the main railroad tracks, interstate 10 or 19, or within a few blocks of the main cross town surface streets that carry the bulk of the vehicle traffic. As a renter, it mean that the bulk of apartment locations were out of my consideration, because most are located along the main streets. Few apartments are set back in the quieter residential areas.

If I decide to return to Tucson to stay long term, I'll look for a small rental house, condo or duplex that is further from the main streets to find a quiet place. I favor the east side, roughly between Pantano & Houghton Rd, mostly to the north of 22nd St.

If definition of quiet is something like nightlife or entertainment, in Covid times that is true. No surprise there, but the same applies almost anywhere else on the planet. In non-Covid times, Tucson has a decent selection of activities, but you can't realistically compare any medium sized, somewhat isolated southwestern metro area to NYC, LA or Chicago for entertainment.

[DAXhound]

Originally Posted by dump1567

I felt when I got to this area 2 years ago it was the best kept secret around. Homes were still cheap ($50K to $70K less than the Phoenix area) & would soon start increasing. Personally, I believe this area just started coming out of the 2007-2008 crash. Some home owners who bought in that time frame are just now breaking even on value or have a little equity built up now. This is what happened in Orange County, CA in 2013. It just takes longer in other areas depending on desirability.

With the COVID work from home crowd, job availability in this area isn't needed like it used to be. There's also a ton of Seniors who aren't job dependent moving here.

IMO, this area will continue to boom for the next few years. That's great for home values for those that own. More shopping, eating choices, Medical, and newer areas. Not so great for those getting priced out of the market & wanted a quieter life in this area.

Back, when I was pricing homes in Tucson in 2000-2001, prices were very similar to Phoenix, and I will let others chime in, but historically, it is a fairly recent phenomenon that Tucson is somewhat less than Phoenix for a very similar home. Phoenix recovered much better from the 08 GFC. BTW, I ended up getting a 3/1/2cc on 1.02 Acres with city water and tremendous views in Rio Rico for 47,500. It was a HUD home, but it was relatively well made on a ridge top lot.