So what is going on in San Tan valley?
As you know the Mid-term elections are coming to a close and if your favorites won or lost i’m sure we can all agree we are happy it is over. However there will still be a lot of politics going on in San Tan Valley. If you didn’t already know the largest water provider for the area Johnson Utilities has been in the news quite a bit. The ACC (Arizona Corporation Commission) has appointed an Interim manager to take over running the day to day operations of the utility. It has been reported by AZ Central that the new interim manager Epcor has found a lot of issues with the utility and the way it has been managed. There are several million (over 100) worth of updates that need to be done to the utility infrastructure in order to service its existing clients.
You ask what does this have to do with real estate?
On Wednesday the ACC voted 5-0 to place a limit on new connections to the system. The number they landed on was 28 per month. Some exceptions will be made for customers with health and safety concerns. So what is the impact on the housing market? Based on previous numbers the utility provider was adding on average 280 new connections per month. That will be a huge impact on home builders. Per a different AZ central article
The Rose Law Group that represents several builders and landowners in the area have some concerns. “There is concern about the 28 number,” Rich said. “That is a very low number. The one (hookup per month) per community could have negative implications on some communities, where they are not able to maintain a sales office.”
Where does this leave home buyers looking for new builds in San Tan Valley?
So to put that in perspective that only allows roughly one connection per month per subdivision. As I sit here and try to think of all the new communities in San Tan valley I can’t even name them all. I can also tell you that I personally had two new builds close last month in the JU service area. While I personally feel that this is probably the right thing to do, i’m sure the builders and land developers in the area might not agree with me. I know that this has a potential to significantly hurt my business since I specialize in helping buyers and sellers in the the San Tan Valley and Queen Creek area. But I feel that taking care of the existing clients while making the needed updates to the infrastructure is what is best for the community as a whole.
