Published on 02/28/2009

The Valley's high end condo market which had been growing very fast since the construction of the Esplanade in the Biltmore area less than ten years ago has found itself with new buildings sitting waiting for buyers, and new projects put on hold or just outright canceled for lack of money, and lack of buyer interest.
This is expected to be a temporary set back for this segment of the market, the buyers and funding will return, I just do not want to go out on a limb and say exactly how long it is going to be! The good news for long term buyers is that prices continue to drop and sellers and builders are anxious to deal!

In addition, several projects in the valley sit in various states of completion since the builders ran out of funding or their funding company went bankrupt in the case of Mortgages Limited. A look at some of the new completed condo communities in the area, and how they are progressing:

W Hotel in Scottsdale has not sold any of their condo units.
44 Monroe in downtown Phoenix has closed 10 units out of 196 since completed in late 2008. About 70 more are in escrow.
Artesia Residences in Scottsdale has closed 7 units out of 85 phase one units. They have another 15 in escrow from a minimum bid auction held in early Feb of this year. Future phases include over 300 new condo's and brownstones.
Century Plaza in downtown Phoenix has closed 15 of the 147 total units since completed in late 2008. Another 50 are in escrow.
Centerpoint in downtown Tempe has not closed any of the 375 units, the exterior of the buildings are complete but builder needs another $80 million to complete. 41 units are held by deposits, but the developer and the construction loan funder are both in bankruptcy, so do not expect anything to change in the near term.
Ten Wine Lofts in downtown Scottsdale has not closed any of the 82 units. The complex is mostly completed but final funding is tied up with the construction loan funder's bankruptcy. All contracts were canceled by the builder.
Sotelo in Tempe has not seen any closings. The builder needs additional funding to complete the 56 units. All contracts were cancelled by the builder.
Safari Drive in downtown Scottsdale has closed 17 of the 89 units in Phase I.
Brownstones on Turney sit almost complete with builder waiting on further funding.
Residences at the Grove in Phoenix sits with a metal and concrete shell, vacant for the last 4 months.
New condo's at Troon North had the builder foreclosed by the lender last year.
Rancho Manana Villa condo's in Carefree are in pre-foreclosure.

These are several examples of the high end condo market in the valley. You could see some of these projects convert to rental properties, like 9920 Condo's near the I10/101 area of west Phoenix which had very few sales, so converted to a rental project instead. Time will tell.