Highline Autos
5089 Wilkinson Road
Frank Aazami’s Featured Listing
The Spark in Luxury Spec Homes written by Frank Aazami with David M. Brown Until 2020, the luxury spec home market in the Phoenix area was standing still. Then real estate changed, the world changed. The pandemic transformed the way we design homes, build and live in them.
before willing and able buyers saw them. Prior to 2020, the numbers were not penciling for investors and builders to build luxury specs north of $8 million. Often, they ended up carrying the bare property because of a down market or they didn’t finish building the home or they lost money when it finally sold to a savvy low buyer watching it sit for an extended time.
When professionals started abandoning dense work spaces and working at home –– a lifestyle change many of us might have chosen as soon as the internet made office presence not universally necessary –– they wanted additional amenities such as dual offices and more sophisticated work-out rooms and spas. Why not incorporate multiple services into the live/work space if your home is going to be used more?
Now with a robust home market, particularly in Arizona, investors and builders are investing money in premier properties. That’s because quality buyers are there and willing to purchase specs on premium land built by superlative builders.
Then the cost of money dropped for the well-credited, and income for many considerably improved. Executives found working at home beneficial: You don’t have to duel with traffic, and pajamas or work-out clothes, rather than business suits, allowed comfort and productivity at the same time.
“A few years ago, people were downsizing, but now it’s a good time for entrepreneurs who want larger custom homes,” says Bill Bulaga, my colleague at Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty in Scottsdale in our Private Client Group.
The luxury home market expanded, in particular for spec homes, which began to appear on high-quality properties
“They want those multiple offices, an attached or separate guest house, they want the luxury amenities, the smart
Volume XVIII, Number 10
48
www.highline-autos.com
