Valley development company sees steep decline in new-home orders
Apr 26, 2014, 8:41 AM | Updated: 8:41 am
PHOENIX — New-home orders in the Grand Canyon State are on the decline according to one local real estate development company.
Speaking to the Phoenix Business Journal, Meritage Homes, which is based in Scottsdale, saw a big drop in orders across Arizona during the first quarter.
The decline, estimated at 28 percent, is reportedly the most the company has witnessed in any of the states it operates in, which includes California, Colorado and Nevada.
“In Phoenix and Arizona in general we probably increased incentives in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $15,000 on average,” CEO Steve Hilton told BizJournals.com. “And (that) may impact our margins here by about 3 percent.”
While demand is apparently down, Meritage has still raised its price per new-home order by eight percent this year, an increase from $336,000 to $364,000.
