Building permits for new homes in Buckeye have now reached pre-recession levels, but that’s not the case for much of Arizona.
In June, the city of Buckeye issued 166 single-family permits. That’s the highest number since 2008 when officials there first saw a decrease from the collapse of the housing bubble.
Buckeye Mayor Jackie Meck said the city has come a long way since the recession. In February of 2009 officials said they issued as few as nine permits.
"So in the pre-recession we went from sky high, if you will, to the very bottom, tremendous amount of foreclosures," Meck said. "We have recovered from that and we are well on our way back uphill."
Statewide, the housing market has also seen a recovery. But Mike Orr, a housing expert with Arizona State University, said much of the rest of the state is still trending below pre-recession levels.
"We are building a healthy number of homes," he said. "But we are struggling with pushing the numbers up much higher because of a shortage of labor and a shortage of affordable land."
Orr estimated that across the state, there are about half the number of single-family building permits being issued as there were in early 2008.
