Right now, some of the best deals in the valley are coming from builders, and there's a plain reason why. Unlike an individual seller, who can simply wait for a better market, builders have finished homes sitting empty, and every month one goes unsold costs them, so they compete for buyers in ways a single homeowner rarely will. For you, that most often means a lower monthly payment, which is the benefit almost every buyer feels first. What it solves beyond that depends on who you are and what's standing between you and the home you want.

SR 30 is a planned 29-mile east-west freeway designed to run south of and parallel to the maxed-out I-10, creating a relief corridor for the overcrowded interstate. Funded through Maricopa County's voter-approved Proposition 479 transportation sales tax extension, the  total project buildout is estimated at over $5 billion and is being constructed in three segments.