Gilbert home construction outpaces other cities in Valley

Gilbert home construction outpaces other cities in Valley Home construction in Gilbert continues to outpace every other Valley municipality, and the town is on track for its most robust year in new-home permits since 2006. A lack of inventory for resale houses is driving more real-estate agents to point prospective buyers toward new homes instead, Pulte Homes spokeswoman Jacque Petroulakis said. Nearly every Valley community has seen a significant jump in permit activity during the first few months of the year, but nowhere is the spike more pronounced than in Gilbert, according to data produced by the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona. Pulte Homes is selling houses in two partially built subdivisions in Gilbert: Stratland Estates and Lyon's Gate. Meanwhile, prices for the new homes have increased slightly with the rise in demand, she said. Furthermore to single-family construction, at least three apartment plans are in Gilbert's pipeline that would result about 900 total units. About 95 percent of the town's housing inventory is single-family detached residences, according to the General Plan. Then the recession put the kibosh on speculative construction, and the number of residential permits issued plummeted to 1,109 in 2008 before rebounding to 1,275 in 2009. About two dozen other communities, mainly in the town's southern region, were issued single-family permits in March and April, records show. The vast majority of home permits result in a finished house with occupants, Planning Gilbert home construction outpaces other cities in Valley Trade News selected by Local Linkup on 03/05/2012