Pollack: Jobs, real estate will power 2016
Melissa Johnson/Rose Law Group Reporter
By Melissa Johnson | Rose Law Group Reporter
“In the post 2007 World – 2016 just looks like an excellent year,” economist Elliot Pollack stated at the end of his annual economic forecast at Friday’s Pinal Partnership breakfast.
Pollack said 2016 will be the first real year of expansion in employment.
“The real estate market is growing rapidly, and I expect the boom in real estate to really power us through the next few years in terms of demand growth and employment growth,” Pollack said.
Millennials rent an average of six years longer than previous generations, which is great for the apartment market and driving up rents, he said, but means they have delayed purchasing homes; something that will change in the next few years as millennials come back to the market and begin to start their families.
Potential new homebuyers are not buying because of several factors including negative equity and FHA loan limits.
Pollack referenced a Metro Study that says there are still 52,000 lots left, of which 27,000 are zombie lots. Zombie lots and subdivisions are those built in 2010 and haven’t had any activity over the past six years. They are too far out, too big, too small and there’s currently no market for them but that will change over the next few years, specifically in Pinal County as the lots become more attractive simply because they have to be. That’s where the lots are.
