URBAN - Welcome To Maricopa City, AZ, Where People Are Flipping Houses Like It's 2005

According to Case-Shiller, home prices are going crazy in Phoenix - +20.4 percent YOY.
We wanted to take a look at what exactly is going on down there.
But on our (virtual) way southwest, we ran into Maricopa, AZ, population 45,000.
According to Zillow, Maricopa's home value index leads all Phoenix-area towns (it's a 40-minute drive from the city).
Now, Zillow's data is not entirely scientific - they rely on a propietary calculation to determine home values.
Still, looking closely at what's going on in Maricopa reveals a home market that is practically indistinguishable from your average bubble town of six or seven years ago.

Maricopa has seen a 38-percent year-over-year increase in its Zillow Home Value Index - Zillow's proprietary market value calculation

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From this bird's eye view map of 2012 sales in the city, you can already tell something's going on

http://www.businessinsider.com/maricopa-housing-market-2012-