Housing pattern crippled Phoenix

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

Sounds a lot like what is happening here in Florida.

Housing pattern crippled Phoenix

Excerpt from the article:

Everybody seemed to benefit as metropolitan Phoenix swelled from 1 million people in 1955 to 6.5 million today.

One reason the current housing collapse has been so brutal in Phoenix is how suddenly that pattern broke down. In only a couple of years, the breakdown trapped people in unfinished communities much like a fast-moving landslide buries people in their tracks.

Digging into the rubble of Phoenix's latest real-estate collapse, the damage is clearest in the edge developments, areas where home values have fallen the most and foreclosures are highest. Homeowners on half-empty blocks feel stranded and frustrated. Down unfinished roads, empty corners, vacant strip malls and stalled school projects suggest the ghost of a community buyers counted on.

“We have too many empty and foreclosed homes in our neighborhood and not enough stores and jobs. I have to do a lot of my shopping online,” said Jennifer Barber, who lives in Goodyear's Estrella Mountain Ranch. “The way we are growing is not working. We aren't getting many of the basic things we were promised.”

On the same streets where stranded homeowners watch home values plummet, builders can't sell the vacant homes next door. Businesses that did move in are struggling. Others have decided not to come. Cities and towns that counted on tax revenue from new residents and business have seen their budget plans fall apart.