Metro Phoenix is experiencing tremendous population growth. There a lot of people moving here from other states," said Milinovich. "In addition, Phoenix has very low unemployment, very good job growth, and a relatively low cost of living; all of which is helping to draw people to Arizona. Entry-level new homes can still be found for less than $200,000 in several parts of the valley.
As new people arrive, they're buying new homes in high growth parts of our market where retail developers are planning and building creative retail projects. Our new home growth has slowed, but the level is more sustainable than the heated growth we experienced in the last few years," he added. US Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates back up those assertions. The Phoenix area experienced 23.2% population growth from 2000 to 2006. Unemployment has decreased from 3.7% to 3.0% and the workforce has grown by 2% over the past year while authorized housing starts are down 14% over the past year.
According to Alba, "Most of our retail development is following the Loop 101 & Loop 202 freeway system, which provides access to these new home communities and allows retailers to tap easily into these suburbs [he listed the communities of Gilbert, Chandler, Glendale, Peoria, Avondale, and Goodyear as prime examples]. A lot of new regional power shopping centers are dotting the Loop Freeway system and bringing regional retail tenants closer to the suburbs."
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