This is out of a local paper here:
Valley new-home market to set record
Glen Creno
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 29, 2005 12:00 AM
Metropolitan Phoenix's new-home business is poised to set another record this year despite a second-half slowdown that is reining in what had become a runaway market.
The number of permits issued for new homes fell 6.53 percent in November compared with a year earlier, said analyst R L Brown, publisher of the Phoenix Housing Market Letter. But barring an unlikely December collapse, the Valley is positioned to beat last year's record without breaking a sweat.
Through November, builders had pulled 58,491 permits in the Valley. And with monthly permit numbers typically exceeding 4,000, it's clear that last year's milestone of 60,872 is about to become an old standard. advertisement
The Valley also has a chance of hanging on to its title as the country's top new-home market, although Brown says rising prices may be finally eating into demand.
Yet he believes the big reason for the drop-off in permits is overloaded cities that can't process them fast enough and delays getting approvals for and installing subdivision basics like water and sewer lines and streets.
Larry Seay, executive vice president of Scottsdale-based Meritage Homes, expects 2006 to be "robust" for Valley building even if it's not another record.