Below is a map of the Phoenix Metroplex.  Phoenix is very LARGE and spread out over many square miles.  Commute times can get severe from the fringe areas to the central core so it is important to identify an area that interests you the most.  Below the map you will find some information about some of the major sub-markets in The Valley to assist you in narrowing down your search.  PLEASE NOTE:  Statements made on future real estate values are the opinions of the author only and should not be relied upon as facts.  No warranties or guarantees are expressed nor implied and the reader should make their own determination of value prior to making any decisions.

Click on a city below to zoom down to the selected information:

Phoenix - Scottsdale - Fountain Hills - Paradise Valley - Cave Creek/Carefree - Tempe - Mesa - Chandler - Gilbert - Queen Creek - Maricopa - Glendale - Peoria - Surprise - Goodyear/Avondale/Litchfield Park/Tolleson - Buckeye

Scottsdale - Scottsdale is home to more than 237,000 people and is visited by an estimated 6 million vacationers who flock to this resort destination every year.  For a city in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, Scottsdale is remarkably green. Scottsdale is home to nationally acclaimed golf courses and Indian Bend Wash, the centerpiece of its extensive recreational amenities.  With zoning ordinances designed to protect the city's "destination" atmosphere, commercial buildings in downtown Scottsdale were once restricted in height to approximately 4 stories.  This caused the city to grow out, instead of up, and expanded its territory from 1 square mile in 1951 to 185 square miles today.  Over 69 hotels and award wining luxury resorts host leisure travelers and convention goers year-round.  To cater to this crowd, much of the city's development is retail oriented.  Central Scottsdale streets are lined with clothing boutiques, art galleries, restaurants and retail stores.  Because the city is bordered by Phoenix to the west, Tempe to the south and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian community to eh east, new commercial and residential construction continues to expand rapidly towards Scottsdale's northern city limits although, the city is now close to build out for residential construction with more tear-down building occurring within the city's core.  Scottsdale's housing is considered some of the most expensive in the metro region and attracts residents, both full and part time, from across the globe.  This area has tended to hold its values relatively well during the current downturn as it has been more isolated from investor purchases of new homes (seeing as there isn't much new home construction in the city).  The hardest hit segment of the market has been the $450k to $1m price range that has suffered from inability to finance.  The top tier homes have been somewhat insulated as the super wealthy in not as dependant on income to afford housing in that price range. 
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Fountain Hills - Located on the eastern border of Scottsdale and surrounded by Indian reservations and federal land, Fountain Hills is a truly unique community in the northeast Valley.  With a population of approximately 25,000, Fountain Hills sports one of the tallest fountains in the world and is characterized by rolling hills and washes with unique, custom housing spread throughout the town.  It is very different from other part of the Valley in topography and home styles.  You won't find many track home communities here!  Home prices. 
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Paradise Valley - The Town Of Paradise Valley is Nestled in the heart of The Valley surrounded by the City of Phoenix and Scottsdale within close proximity to the Biltmore Financial district and downtown Phoenix and Scottsdale.  Paradise Valley has long been known as the "Beverly Hills' of Phoenix with an average home price of $1,765,000.  Strict zoning has resulted in most of the housing being custom and built on 1 acre lots although a few very high end subdivisions have been planned and built in the last few years.  Housing Values have held up fairly well in this area in the latest real estate market downturn with prices falling only 5-15% in the past 2 years on average. 
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Cave Creek/Carefree - Next door neighbors, Cave Creek and Carefree may share the same piece of the beautiful Sonoran Desert overlooking the Valley of the Sun, but each has its own personality.  Lifestyle is definitely slower and more laid-back in these 2 northeast Valley communities - they are more of bedroom communities with limited shopping/retail and a strong selection of local restaurants and hand-outs/dives.  The 2 communities have a combined population of approximately 8,500.  Situated about 20 miles north of downtown Scottsdale at an elevation of 2,500 feet, the temperature ranges from 5-6 degrees cooler than Phoenix.  There is an abundance of recreational options in this area from hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, golf and jeep touring..  The average price of real estate in this area is significantly higher than the Valley average with Carefree prices averaging $944,000.  Values have not dropped nearly as much in this area as other part of the Valley due to the lack of new construction and the higher net worth owners being more immune to housing market fluctuations and income drops. 
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Tempe - 'University Town', Tempe is home to Arizona State University (ASU) and the Sun Devils.  It is located in central Maricopa County and is completely land locked and surrounded by other metro Phoenix cities - Scottsdale to the north, Mesa to the east, Chandler to the south and Phoenix to the west.  Its population of 166,000 makes it the 6th largest city in Arizona.  Tempe's strategic location is a boon to businesses and residents who have convenient access to all areas of The Valley.  More than 750 high-tech and manufacturing firms are located in Tempe employing more than 32,000 people including such giants as Motorola, Honeywell and Medtronic.  ASU is one of the premier research universities in the nation and has placed in the top 20 universities in the country for National Merit Scholars for the past 7 years.  Downtown Tempe is a cultural center in its own right and is pedestrian oriented with a large entertainment center featuring a wide variety of restaurants, shopping, movie theatres, hotels, etc.  Tempe is also home to the amazing man-made Tempe Town lake which is visited by over 2 million people annually.  Due to is strong business base and large university campus, Tempe has weathered the real estate downturn extremely well so far with prices dropping only 5-10% over the past 2 years. 
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Mesa - Mesa's population has climbed to over 450,000 people making it the third largest city in Arizona behind Phoenix and Tucson.  The main factors fueling Mesa's growth are the three A's:  affordability, amenities and the annual migration of "snowbirds".  Mesa's shopping, recreational, educational and cultural amenities are some of the most extensive in The Valley.  Mesa is also home to over 20 golf courses and within an hour's drive east of the city are 4 popular lakes for fishing and boating.  Mesa has an extremely diverse real estate market ranging from affordable single family homes and condos/town homes to expensive large homes in gated master planned communities that dot the city. 
Mesa has suffered price drops in the current housing downturn, although not as severe as some of the other outlying areas.  This probably has much to do with the large employment base in the city, diverse housing options and extensive transportation system linking it to the rest of the Valley. 
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Chandler - Located in the southeast Valley, Chandler has experienced tremendous growth over the past 25 years going from 30,000 residents in 1980 to over 235,000 by mid 2006.  The median age in Chandler is under 31 years, reflecting the large number of families with young children.  Because much of the city's infrastructure was built recently to accommodate the population explosion, there is a strong feel of newness to the city.  Chandler also has a large high-tech industrial base highlighted by Intel's large operations in the city.  The city has experienced real estate price drops in the past 2 years but again, not as severe as some of the outlying areas due to its proximity to amenities, jobs and transportation. 
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Gilbert - Also located in the southeast Valley a little east of Chandler, Gilbert is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.  Insulated from the 'frantic' pace of metro Phoenix, Gilbert offers many amenities.  A village concept of planned communities includes parks, equestrian trails, fishing, boating and local business services.  Being a little bit further out and containing more new housing communities, Gilbert is being hit a little harder during the current housing downturn with prices falling 10-20% since the highs a couple of years ago.
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Queen Creek - Queen Creek is on the far south-eastern tip of the Metro Area.  It is a town consisting of approximately 20,000 residents.  This was an area that was proliferated with new builders in the early and mid-2000s as people moved farther and farther away from the central core to afford cheaper housing as land was very inexpensive in those areas.  People were more concerned with getting a great value on a home than on commute times and costs.  As the market turned in 2006-07, and gas prices began their rise to ridiculousness people began to move back in closer to the city as prices dropped.  Since many of the builder sales at the height of the market were by investors looking to make money by speculation, these buyers either walked away before they closed as the market worsened or were forced to default on their mortgage if they already owned the home.  This has resulted in Queen Creek being one of the hardest hit areas in the greater metro areas in terms of housing values with prices dropping over 25% on average over the past 2 years.   Like many other areas on the Valley fringes where new homes were built in droves, short sales and bank owned REO s compose a very large percentage of the active for-sale real estate market in this area.  While there are significant opportunities to purchase real estate in this area that are well below values from 2 years ago, you must consider the downside as well.  Namely, this area is fairly isolated from The Valley and a fairly long commute into the metro area (15 minutes to the SE Valley to over 45 minutes to central Phoenix).  Also, there is a good probability that this area will recover more slowly that the areas closer in to metro core. 
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Maricopa - Located 20 miles south of Phoenix, has been a hot spot in the last few years for builders and affordable housing.  The population now stand at over 26,000.  Maricopa is another one of those areas with limited services a little bit far out from the city core.  The difference is, good access and decent shopping and local jobs make this a more viable area.  Maricopa has been hammered by home value drops in the past 2 years and new construction has ground to almost a standstill.  There are plenty of opportunities in this area for affordable, depressed housing if you can afford to wait for the market to recover and don't mind being so far out from the city core.  I can see this area picking up quicker than some of the other outlying areas of the SE Valley due to its transportation access and other positives highlighted above. 
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Glendale - Glendale is one of Arizona's largest cities and the financial and business hub of the northwest Valley. Glendale 's mid 2006 population was over 240,000 and has been experiencing rapid growth due in large part to 2 large arenas built in the city in the past few years - one for the Phoenix Coyotes professional hockey team and the other for the NFL Arizona Cardinals.  Around these 2 arenas are being built a massive complex of retail, office, condominiums and housing called Westgate which is presently underway.  The first phases of retail are complete with years of further development to follow.  Glendale has good excellent access to the rest of the Valley by way of I-17 and the loop 101 freeway systems.  Real estate has been hurt here as well with many new housing communities going up in the past few years.  Prices have fallen 10-20% in the past 2 years. 
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Peoria - A rapidly growing population and recent annexations have made Peoria one of the fastest growing cities in the US.  Peoria spans over 162 square miles and has approximately 145,000 residents.  An abundance of quality schooling, medical services & health care facilities make the area attractive to live in.  Shopping and quality transportation are abundant as well.  The Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres train each spring at the Peoria Sports Complex.  Peoria is also home to Lake Pleasant far to the north, a 24,000 acre water wonderland with hiking trails, campgrounds, a lake overlook and boat ramps.  Real estate options are across the board in Peoria including master planned communities, condos, townhomes and single family homes.  Housing prices have fallen 10-20% here as well over the past couple of years during the current housing correction. 
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Surprise - This is another area of explosive growth in the Valley.  The current edition of Money magazine put Surprise at the top of its national job growth list.  The mid 2006 census showed its population at more than 95,000 as compared to 30,000 in 2002.  Surprise is home to many spring training facilities for MLB teams and is within range of Luke Airforce Base - a major employer in the area and training facility for F-15 fighter pilots.  One aspect moving to this area is addressing the noise from this air force base and its affect on the enjoyment of your home.  The other consideration is the lack of major arterial highways to other parts of The Valley making it difficult to navigate to other parts of metropolitan Phoenix.  This will be addressed in the future as highways are built, but for now, the access is a bit tedious.  With the large amount of new housing communities in this area, this is one city that has experienced more than its fare share of short sales and foreclosures which brings its own set of challenges and problems.  Price drops in this area have been steep - over 15-20% in the past 2 years and a large number of the current listings for sale are bank-owned or distressed short sales. 
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Goodyear, Avondale, Litchfield Park & Tolleson -   These smaller communities are situated in the West Valley of the metro area.  Each has undergone substantial growth in the last 10 years and are peppered by new housing subdivisions.  Goodyear has a couple of well-known popular master planned communities - Estrella Mountain Ranch and Palm Valley.  Both very nice housing communities for various reasons.  Due to the incredible growth in the last few years, there is now an abundance of shopping and restaurants  in this section of the Valley.  Phoenix International Raceway is also in this area, home to 2 annual NASCAR vents.  Due to its proximity to I-10, access to the rest of the Valley is very good from this region making it a good spot to find affordable, newer housing.  With the proliferation of new subdivisions in this area, the housing slowdown has hit this area hard with prices falling 15-20% over the past 2 years.  It can be a good area to find housing deals if you're prepared to be patient on short sales and Bank-Owned properties as a large portion of the listings on the market constitute distressed properties of one kind or another.  My opinion is this area offers a good opportunity to capitalize from the market downturn as I expect it to pick up strongly as the market improves in the future. 
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Buckeye - another fringe area, this time in the far west end of the Valley.  Buckeye is the area along the I-10 freeway heading out of the Valley on the way to California and Los Angeles.  With a population of over 30,000, this area appears to be headed for high growth in the future due to its size and proximity to transportation and services.  Again, this area has suffered significantly in the housing correction over the past 2 years for the same reasons as Queen Creek. 
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