They say smart people know where to invest their money. In our current real estate market, people hear conflicting stories all the time. One article says we are stabilizing or even improving, the next says we have room to drop further. One thing that seems consistent is the old “location, location, location” saying that has been around before the boom and before the bust.
We recently learned of a $20 Million investment by two large fund groups for a new Sustainable Communities Development Fund which should be available later this year. See: $20 mil to boost fund for affordable living near light rail on the AZCentral web site.
The demand for affordable living is real. Adding more affordable homes near light rail and public transit services is a huge benefit for people struggling to pay their bills in our current economic environment. Many studies have been done concerning the affordability factor of combined housing and transportation costs.
We have seen a couple of examples of affordable housing along the lines. However, two that come to mind are for senior living. Yep, seniors want to be close to transportation and the conveniences of the light rail system just like the cool kids… The Apache ASL Trails project is coming along very nicely and the more recently announced, Encore On Farmer project will become a reality towards the end of this year or early 2012.
I haven’t seen information on specific projects yet, but the interest in transit-oriented development along the line continues to be very high. Soon, more and more people will be able to leave the car behind.
The widget above shows samples of some of the available homes near the light rail line in the Phoenix area. Some are quite affordable and some may be out of reach for the average home buyer. It will be interesting to see what this $20 million affordable living investment into our community brings. Stick around, we’ll be sure to have more information soon.
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