With today’s planned lifestyle communities, Phoenix golf enthusiasts have an opportunity to purchase the home of their dreams just a chip shot away from the green. Even if you are not an avid golfer, Phoenix and Scottsdale area golf communities offer residents an active and diversified lifestyle experience complete with first-class amenities and services. Out of the 1,500 master planned golf course communities across the United States, over 40 are located right here in the Phoenix metropolitan area. If you are thinking about relocating to one of these golf course communities located in Phoenix area or the outlying region, it is crucial to be able to distinguish one community and know what to look for before you buy.
Community Types
In the past, master planned golf communities catered to distinct segments of the housing market, namely middle to upper-income empty nesters and retirees. Things have changed. Today, golf course developments are designed to accommodate budgets of all levels, and generally fall into one of two categories: multi-generational and age restricted.The construction of multi-generational communities represents a recent trend in planned community home building. The underlying idea is to attract a diverse population of families including retirees and young professionals of varying income levels and backgrounds in order to establish a robust and vibrant community. After decades of building age restricted communities, builders and developers have recognized that the traditional elements of planned community living such as security, on-site amenities and low maintenance housing appeal to home buyers of all ages.
Most new communities are multi-generational developments. Vistancia, situated in the beautiful Sonoran desert outside of Peoria, Arizona, is a golf community attracting individuals and families of all ages. In the first year of home sales at Vistancia, almost 500 families moved into this scenic development with 1,700 total acres of open space and a 900-acre mountain preserve. When it is completed, Vistancia will include almost 17,000 homes.
Conversely, age restricted planned communities are developed for the +55 home owner with amenities and facilities for today’s discerning empty nester and retiree. Typically, the age restriction requires one resident to be at least 55 in order to qualify for home ownership. Over the last decade, an evolution has occurred with the age restricted community model of yesteryear making way for contemporary activity-based developments, complete with lavish amenities and world-class recreation areas, not to mention the conventional facilities required by the +55 demographic.
The undisputed leader in age restricted master planned community development is Del Webb. Since the 1960s, Del Webb has constructed numerous age restricted golf communities across the United States. Del Webb’s Sun City developments are arguably the most recognizable line of age restricted communities stretching from coast to coast, with Sun City Hilton Head in North Carolina and Sun City Lincoln Hill in California. In Arizona, Del Webb has two golf communities: Sun City Anthem in Anthem, and Sun City Grand in Surprise.
Next Page >> Location and Amenities
