First was this tiny little egg, which made me look up and find the nest, nestled way up in the tree.  I have no idea what kind of tree that is, but it dropped whatever sort of bean pod is sitting beside the egg.

Can you find the bunny?  He sat there for quite a while and let me take his picture.  This is from the golf course at La Paloma – I love the cityscape in the background and the blooming saguaro.  Now if only my photo skills were up to par.  Haha.  Bad golf joke.  Okay, moving on…

La Paloma is certainly lovely to drive through.  There’s nice medians between lanes with lovely plants.  The blooming season is just about over, but there are still pops of color along the way.  To the North sit the Catalina Mountains, so you have nice mountain views in one direction and city lights in the other.

La Paloma is a gated community in North Tucson.  You can see all homes for sale in La Paloma here.

There are incredibly diverse housing options in the area.  There’s several "severe" fix-ups in the area for sale, a decent sprinkling of remodeled loft projects, the grand restored Armory Park homes.  The mid-range partially-upgraded but not quite historic type homes. 

You can get into Ice House Lofts now for under $200k, for the smaller units.  Lots of little duplexes and bungalows with guest houses.  Homes from the early 1900s and brand new homes.  Tiny lots, huge lots.  You just never know what you’ll find around the corner, exploring the Barrios, but there’s always construction and restoration going on somewhere there. 

I drove by Jerry’s Lee Ho market, one time Chinese market from 1910, later housing rooftop fondu dining.  Looks like there’s some renovation going on at the building, I wonder what it will be next…

So what are house prices doing in Rancho Sahuarita?  Pretty much what you’d expect in this market.  This is the price per square foot of homes in Rancho Sahuarita since the start of 2005. 

I was down at Rancho Sahuarita a couple weeks ago, and was pleased to see the decent amount of retail that has moved into the area.  Back when the community first started, it was rather out in the middle of no where.  It’s good to see the community growing and taking shape.

The West University area in Tucson is located just where you think it’d be.  West of the University of Arizona. Generally, it’s South of Speedway, between Euclid and Stone, and North of Broadway as it curves up into downtown Tucson (that includes parts of the Pie Allen and Iron Horse neighborhoods as well, but we’re not being too picky today). If there’s one thing West University has, it is charm. There’s a very distinctive style: large front patios, peaked roof lines, raised wood floors, often built somewhere around the 1920’s.

West University is also desirable in terms of location. The University of Arizona is just on the border of this neighborhood, downtown Tucson is not even a mile away, and the ever eclectic 4th Avenue has plenty of shopping and dining options, and runs through the middle of this neighborhood.

So what’s the West University market like? Do homes here hold their value?

That’s a chart of price per square foot of homes sold in West University in Tucson since 2000. Much like the rest of the market, there’s a run up in values, peaking near the end of 2006, and coming down somewhat since then. Typically, university area homes in Tucson do well in terms of retaining value as there is nearly always high demand for houses in that region. However, that doesn’t make it immune from the forces of the market in general. While there are parts of Tucson where values have plummeted, this West University area hasn’t done terribly in comparison.

La Cholla Airpark is unique among Tucson’s luxury home communities – namely because it has a private airstrip and because horses are allowed.  Several homes have both horse facilities and hangars.

A typical lot in La Cholla Airpark is about 7 acres, and there are roughly 100 homes in the subdivision.  Given the large lot size, the homes are private and usually have fabulous views of either the Tortolita Mountains, the Catalina Mountains, or of sunset and city lights.

What I find amazing is that La Cholla Airpark is nestled up against the Tortolita Mountains, right on the outskirtrs of Oro Valley, so you have amenities of a much more rural area, but are still very close to town.  You can fly home, taxi over to your private estate, park your plane on your property, go for a ride on your horse, and the closest light night pint of ice cream or nice meal out is only 10 minutes away.

As of today, homes range from $799,000 to $6,400,000, which is quite a spread.  More typically, homes sell in La Cholla Airpark between $1-3 million, with more expensive homes having larger lots, larger homes, more amenities, and the lower end tend to be the older, smaller homes, on average lots.

Occasionally, bare lots come on the market as well.  Today, there are two La Cholla Airpark lots for sale, both at $650,000 for roughly 7 acre parcels.

You can see all homes for sale in La Cholla Airpark here, and the lots for sale here.

Tucson is a big place, geographically.  We generally don’t build up, we build out, especially the further you get from the Central/Downtown/University area.  For people that want a more dense, urban environment, there are a couple areas where I think we can, well, approximate that.

First would be the region around 4th Avenue – neighborhoods like Iron Horse and West University.  Close to all the stuff around the University, close to downtown, and close to 4th Avenue means there is shopping, coffee shops, dining, and a couple of markets for groceries nearby.

Second would be around Campbell between Grant and Fort Lowell – neighborhoods like Catalina Vista, North University (Samos and Hedrick Acres), and the Campbell-Grant neighborhood.

Of course, there’s the ever popular Sam Hughes as well, which is about a mile square, but borders the University, Speedway, and Broadway Boulevards, with plenty of amenities in those areas.

There’s a site called WalkScore that analyzes an address and assigns it a measure of how walkable an area is.  There’s a heat map for Tucson in general, which is interesting, and confirms what we already know – more dense urban areas are usually Central.  Something missing from WalkScore that is frequently missing in Tucson – sidewalks.

Received a packet today about a new(ish) land subdivision up in Northwest Tucson – in Marana, actually.  It’s called Sonoran Preserve on the Bajada, which was where the 2008 SAHBA Parade of Homes was held.

It’s a gated land community, and there’s about 20 lots left, of 29 total.  Most are just under an acre, with a building envelope of roughly 17,000 sq ft or so.  Today, Prices are ranging from $274,000 to $330,000.

So for that money, you get to be up in the Tortolita Mountains, right next to Dove Mountain, with it’s Gallery golf club (home of the PGA Accenture Match Play Championship) and the new Ritz Carlton resort and spa scheduled to go in. 

Having been to the area for the Parade of Homes, I would think most of the lots would have either lovely mountain or city views, or both.  The sales brochure says:

“Careful steps have been taken through CC&Rs and design guidelines to protect the land around each homesite and ensure that each home will blend into the desert environment.  A design review architect will review each site plan to ensure that scenic views are preserved for residents.  Natural watercourses meandering the site have been embraced to create lush vegetation areas.  As its legacy, Sonoran Preserve will reflect the appropriate balance for desert preservation and custom home living.”

‘Bajada’ means ‘descent’ or ‘downward slope,’ by the way.  If you’re at all like me, that was your first question…

Sonoran Preserve on the Bajada is off of Camino de Oeste and Moore Road, North of Tangerine Road, which puts it just a couple of miles away from I-10.  The area is served by the Marana School District.

The homes from the Parade of Homes are on the market now, between $1,375,000 and $1,795,000.  One has sold already, for $1,698,635.  You can see the Sonoran Preserve on the Bajada homes for sale here, and the Sonoran Preserve on the Bajada lots for sale here.

Sonoran Preserve on the Bajada is brokered by Long Realty.

The first is privacy.  A typical lot in Saguaro Cliffs is easily an acre and a half, if not 2 acres or more.  Houses are well spaced and most owners have carved out a reasonable yard space and left the rest natural desert, so the neighborhood doesn’t feel over-developed or crowded.

The second is views.  Saguaro Cliffs sits just at the base of the Tucson Mountains, overlooking the city to the East.  Depending on the lot and house, some have spectacular city views, some have gorgeous mountain views, and many have both.

Saguaro Cliffs details:

• According to assessor data, there are 61 lots and 39 homes in Saguaro Cliffs, with a typical home having been built in the early 2000s.
• Average house size is around 3500 square feet.  I believe there’s a 2600 square foot minimum house size in Saguaro Cliffs, but the HOA would have to confirm that.
• Most lots are gated, but there is a section of homes outside of the gate, accessed along Trails End road.
• The most recent house sale, per the Tucson MLS, was at $575,000, in April 2008, for a relatively small 2579 square foot home in the ungated portion that sold in an incredible 9 days.
• There are still lots available, resale.  The most recent lot sale in Saguaro Cliffs was back in November 2006, a 1.79 acre parcel that sold for $310,000.

You can see all Saguaro Cliffs homes for sale here and the Saguaro Cliffs lots for sale here.

And some yellow flowers, just for fun.

There’s always a lot of talk about loft projects, especially in the downtown Tucson area.  I often get calls from people in other states, looking to purchase a little loft downtown, especially as a vacation home.  They want to live in a low maintenance place, where they can get to a grocery store and restaurants and other shops within easy walking distance.  Some are ecologically minded, wanting to use a car less, some are just drawn by convenience.

All, however, want something affordable.  Which is a little harder to find.

In general, I see interest in loft projects, but not at the current pricing.  And I think that’s reflected in the number of loft projects that have stalled.

Take a look at the article, it has a list of "lofts in limbo" and "lofts pending."

Among the pending lofts is the Post Lofts, at 56 E Congress.  The developer has promised to start construction, but they’re already well behind schedule.  These lofts went into MLS for a short period of time and then were all withdrawn.  Units started in the high $200s.

44 Broadway is under construction, but as far as I know, there is an interest list but no reservations or sales taken yet.  And no pricing that I can see.

The Ice House lofts started much earlier, and sold out in 2005, while the Academy Lofts started in 2006, I believe, are partially rental units due to the agreement when the place converted, but of the 11 units that could be sold, only 6 have.

Did Tucson hit the loft market too late?  There’s certainly still interest in living downtown, but the timing – is there enough downtown to keep people living there right now?  Will there be if and when some of these loft projects finish?  You need people downtown to support downtown businesses, but you need the businesses there to draw the people.

Something to keep an eye on.  If prices were lower, I’d be more interested, personally.