The Present

Stone Canyon has experienced a surge of activity since the late 2010’s and into 2023 as the real estate market has taken off post-COVID. Builders such as Fairfield/One Oak, Monterey, Sombra, and a plethora of custom homes builders have met demand at all price points in Stone Canyon. Since COVID in March of 2021 the local Tucson real estate market has seen incredibly price appreciation. Today in Stone Canyon there are essentially no options under $1,000,000 for homes and the typical sale is usually between about $1,500,000 – $2,500,000. There have even been numerous higher end sales over $3,000,000 in the last couple years, a drastic change from 10 years ago.

In the custom lot market the longstanding abundance of listings is now gone and a vastly lower number of lots are currently available for sale. Mirroring the custom home market, the average price of these lots is also increasing with the reduced lot inventory that now exists. Years back the majority of lot sales were under $200,000 and now there are relatively few lots listed that low, while many are exceeding the $350,000 barrier. New lots are coming on the market as infrastructure work continues into Phase VIII to the east and Phase VII to the north. These will again create more lot options, but the prices of these lots are going to generally be on the higher end. Building prices have increased substantially in both materials & labor costs, with some commodities at near all-time highs, so while it’s still a good option for some to build a dream home, the resale homes are staying relevant options.

The past economic downturn has certainly played a major role in shaping Stone Canyon as it sits today. Most notable is the vast fragmentation of the community from one primary developer to a collection of separate interests. Not having a single major stakeholder with inventory for sale has led to limited marketing of the community as a whole. A full-scale marketing campaign is quite expensive and without a unified developer such a campaign may not be realistic today. This will, to some degree, limit the growth of the community. However, there does remain enough awareness from marketing in years past and individual marketing efforts ongoing today, combined with low inventory across Tucson, that Stone Canyon is one of the sought after choices in the Tucson region. Recent investments made by local builders should help to propel this further and once again bring Stone Canyon to the forefront of the Tucson area luxury market.

Simply put there are very few communities with the inherent beauty of Stone Canyon. Add to that the strong attraction of being surrounded by a fantastic growing community like Oro Valley and the things are looking up. Learn more about what the future may hold for Stone Canyon in our next section.