When shopping for homes for sale in Arizona, you probably think of your price range first. Arizona offers a wide range of home prices in its vast real estate offerings. Your home search will likely uncover sky-high prices and eminently affordable options. Both will sit in good neighborhoods with low crime rates, largely influenced by which neighborhood received good buzz or the best marketing plan for its new development.
Areas of the Greatest Expense in Arizona
In a previous article, we explored the range of prices for homes in Arizona, revealing that in the same town or city, you could find steals under $200,000 or wildly lavish compounds costing more than $1.5 million. Arizona offers it all.
Some areas of Arizona do carry expensive costs. Scottsdale and Litchfield Park offer some of the most abundant options in the state. Move to either location if you want a home overlooking the desert and providing a superb sunset every evening. Your typical single-family homes in those two cities cost about $750,000 to $1 million. Condos cost less, with steals as low as $150,000, but the median cost at about $300,000.
If you dream of living in the state’s biggest cities, such as Tucson or Phoenix, you’ll typically pay higher home prices. Phoenix has the fastest-growing home prices in the state. In the past two years, its home prices increased by 57 percent. That’s great if you own a home, or you can quickly purchase one of the great deals available.
Settling down on the outskirts of either city, in one of its bedroom communities, can reduce housing costs while offering a short commute. You’ll still live close enough to the city to access its entertainment and dining but pay less monthly mortgage payments.
Arizona Areas Costing the Least
Use the map view when shopping for a home in Arizona, so you can easily see areas nearby the city or town where you want to live. This method lets you uncover deals in Goodyear and Avondale, the two towns adjacent to Litchfield Park. Their homes share similar design elements as Litchfield Park and the same vistas. They cost less since they don’t have the name cache.
Shop the towns nearest a hot spot and shop savvily. Condos in Sun City may appear reasonable since they can cost as low as $125,000. Check the homeowner’s association (HOA) fees on each condo. They can run above $1,000 per month, while your home payment might be a reasonable $500 to $700 monthly. Once you’ve purchased the condo, you cannot pay the fees. You can find great deals near Sun City to its north in Wittman.
The area southeast of Phoenix offers excellent potential. Mesa, Chandler, and just north of Eloy, many properties sell for less than $200,000, whether you want raw land or an existing home.
If you want to live in northern Arizona, try Flagstaff for reasonable prices or travel west of it on I-40 to Seligman, a small town with good deals and easy access to the city.
What’s the Median Property Cost?
In Arizona, you can typically expect to pay about $330,000 for a home—many options in the $300,000 to $400,000 range. Although homes in metropolitan areas cost more, those areas also offer the majority of homes for sale.
Why is that?
The state of Arizona consists of a multitude of deserts and a small central area of oases. Most of the cities in the state lie within this central oasis area. On two sides, the metro area banks onto wilderness areas – the Sonoran Desert National Monument to the south and the Tonto National Forest to the east. To the north, Flagstaff and the small towns west of it dot I-40, offering a small metropolitan area with ample infrastructure.
Although a large state, the habitable portions of Arizona cost more because they’re habitable. Some desert homes exist in the furthest reaches of Arizona’s sandy environments, but they either sit atop the water table and can drill a water well or use holding tanks and import water.
Most areas of the state with a significant population offer single-family homes in the $330,000 range. Competition remains high for these homes.
What’s the Solution to Finding an Affordable Home in Arizona?
Savvy home shopping can help you find the right home. If you can sell your existing home first and have cash on hand to purchase, you can nab foreclosure deals. Shopping for sale by owner (FSBO) options can uncover hidden gems that realtors don’t know about. But what if you don’t have months or a year to shop? What happens if you can’t sell your existing home first or are a first-time home buyer?
Contact ITSSOLDAZ for help. Our service buys houses as-is, quickly. If you need to sell your existing Arizona home to purchase a new one in another area of the state, we can complete the home purchase process in just two weeks. That lets you pay cash for your next home, saving you money.
We can help first-time home buyers, too. Because we purchase homes every day, then renovate them, we offer many lovely homes for sale, too. Ask us what we have available and receive a pleasant surprise. We consistently carry an inventory of homes located throughout the state.
Contact us today using the form on our website. Let us know whether you need to sell or buy, and we’ll get back to you quickly, often the same day. Call ITSSOLDAZ to sell or buy your home.