September 20, 2008 by Donna Anderson.

Wow! I just previewed an incredible new, custom, 2,161 square foot home right smack in the high Pusch Ridge! This Mediterranean home is sited on an incredible lot for this list price of  only $750,000! Although it is small with only 2 bedrooms  and  den, 2 1/2 bathrooms and 2 car garage, in the recent  past the homesite alone would be worth the list price.  It is sited on a lot with better views than many of the Pima Canyon homes which many believe offer the best views in Pima County.  Give me a call at 520-918-2410 if you would like to see this exquisite home located in one of Tucson Luxury Foothills premier gated communities.

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March 6, 2007 by Donna Anderson.

There has been a lot of talk about more affordable housing in Vail, which is located  45 minutes Southeast of the Foothills. Since I had clients who were interested in finding a community that offered less of a commute than the Foothills or Oro Valley  to Raytheon, we decided to explore Vail.  Vail is only 20 minutes away from Raytheon.  What we found was a sleepy town with no infrastructure.  If you need  groceries, medical facilities, a vet, restaurants, etc., you must travel at least 8 miles to Rita Ranch, or further into Tucson.  There is one restaurant at Rancho Del Lago Golf Course (which just opened and serves good food–we stopped there for lunch), one gas station with small convenience store attached, one coffee shop and very little else. My real estate company, Long Realty, ( which is the largest in Southern Arizona), wisely opened an office in the only small plaza in Vail. There will be a grocery store in Vail in about a year, but they have not broken ground yet. Other shopping and more amenities will gradually be built over the next 10 year period. Our first visit was to the resale houses at Rancho Del Lago Golf Course. We found  they were reasonably priced (in the $300,000s) and were represented by such reputable builders as Pepper-Viner( a local builder) and Lennair -US Homes (a national builder).  The problem with buying one of these homes is that they are likely to depreciate more since on every street there are many “For Sale” signs. This very strong buyers’ market happened because many investors thought Vail would offer great appreciation since most of the desirable areas of Tucson are built up. The lack of infrastructure and  that neighboring Tucson is experiencing a buyers’ market with greater selection of homes than the past few years, has hurt Vail. It never took off the way it was predicted.  As disappointing as the lack of infrastructure was to my clients, they still wanted to explore new construction right down the street. We visited the national builder, Pulte, at Rincon Trails II, who was offering many incentives on new homes.  You had to feel bad for the first owners that did not get the upgrades such as granite as a standard feature. We were amazed that Pulte had some unappealing exterior color schemes–some houses were a putrid green.  My clients did not think they would want a home built next to a putrid green house.  It made the houses that were mostly from the high $300,000s and up, look cheap, even though the interiors of the houses were quite upscale and appealing. I have been in Pulte models all over the country, and never seen such poor taste in an exterior color–what were they thinking? This journey to Vail made me realize, however, that although Vail does not suit  people who want to be close to amenities, it did have a sleepy charm to it, and if you like country living, Vail may be right for you. Just make sure you get a very good deal since prices appear to be on the downswing.

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February 4, 2007 by Donna Anderson.

I was amazed to find spectacular large semi-custom homes with extraordinary views of the Pusch Ridge at this new development.  They are priced from the mid $600s; homes comparable in the Foothills would be over a million.  They have one great homesite left where they are taking back-up offers; the Buyer is having a hard time selling his house and therefore  has less than a month left to sell it when it will be available to the next buyer.  This one is priced at $745,000 and has the most fantastic views.

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January 26, 2007 by Donna Anderson.

Oro Valley only saw 14 homes sell over 1 million dollars in 2006; in 2005 there were 18 homes  that sold over one million.  The highest priced homes for both years  were found in Honey Bee Ridge for the 85737 zip code; the highest prices were $1,950,000 for 2005 and $1,562,500 for 2006.  In 2006 the 85755 zip code had an incredible $4,200,000 sale at LaCholla Air Park; this property was on over 16 acres and the new owner can fly to the homesite. In 2005 the 85755 zip code saw the highest sale come from Stone Canyon III at $1,443,915. The 85737 zip code really stayed pretty level as far as the average dollar per square foot goes from 2005 - 2006; however, the 85755 zip code saw approximately a 6% increase in the average dollar per square foot. The over 4 million dollar sale skewed the figures upward and it is probably safe to say that Oro Valley luxury homes just held their own as far as the final sales price is concerned from 2005 - 2006.

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January 26, 2007 by Donna Anderson.

I started this blog in January 2007 to give my sphere of influence up -to -date information on the Tucson and Oro Valley luxury real estate market from my perspective. Please feel free to write to me with any of your questions, comments or observations.  I look forward to this new adventure and hope we can learn a lot from one another!

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