Buying a Home Near SR-24? The March 2026 Noise-Wall Rule You Need to Know

Will ADOT build a sound wall behind my new home on SR-24? It depends on when your subdivision was permitted. That detail almost never comes up at the sales office. Here's what buyers near the SR-24 corridor in Queen Creek and San Tan Valley should know before signing.

The Rule

As part of the $350 million SR-24 widening (Loop 202 to Ironwood Drive), ADOT ran a noise study projecting traffic through 2050 and identified where sound walls would be effective and eligible for federal funding.

The catch: ADOT set March 2026 as the project's official "date of public knowledge."

• Residential developments permitted before March 2026 can qualify for federally funded noise mitigation.
• Developments permitted after that date generally don't. Mitigation then falls to the developer or builder, if it happens at all.

What's Planned

• Sound walls up to 16 feet high along the north side of SR-24, from east of Ellsworth Road to 222nd Street, pending residential eligibility and developer coordination.
• Construction is expected to start in early 2027 and last about 2.5 years.

Questions to Ask Before You Buy Near SR-24

1. When was this subdivision permitted? Before or after March 2026?
2. Is a sound wall planned behind this lot? Who is building it, ADOT or the builder?
3. What's the construction schedule near this home? Expect lane shifts and overnight work at times.
4. How far is the lot from the freeway? Backing to the corridor and sitting a few blocks away are very different.
5. Can I visit at rush hour? Hear the traffic noise for yourself.

The Upside

Living near SR-24 means faster access to Loop 202, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler. The Ironwood Drive interchange is being converted to a partial diverging diamond to move traffic more efficiently. Once construction wraps (around 2029), proximity to SR-24 is likely to be a selling point.

FAQ

Who pays for sound walls on SR-24? ADOT can use federal funding for eligible developments permitted before March 2026. For newer developments, it's typically up to the developer.

When does the SR-24 widening start? Construction is anticipated in early 2027.

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The full guide covers the SR-24 extension, the North-South Corridor and what it all means for buyers and sellers: SR-24 Expansion & Your Commute.

The Kallhoff Team | RE/MAX Premier · 📞 480-275-9566

Based on ADOT information as of September 2026. Verify eligibility for a specific property with ADOT and the builder.

Florence Unified vs. J.O. Combs: Choosing a School District in San Tan Valley

 

Which school district is better in San Tan Valley, Florence Unified or J.O. Combs? Neither one is simply "better." They're different sizes with different feels, and the right choice depends on your kids, your neighborhood and which campuses you're zoned for. Here's a practical comparison.

At a Glance

	Florence Unified (FUSD)	J.O. Combs Unified
Size	The largest public district serving San Tan Valley	About 3,900 students
Local high schools	Poston Butte HS, San Tan Foothills HS	Combs High School
Typical areas	Skyline Village, Wildera, Bella Vista Farms, Johnson Ranch, San Tan Heights, Copper Basin	Neighborhoods along Combs Rd, Ironwood Dr, Schnepf Rd
Feel	More campuses and program choices	Smaller-district, "everyone knows you"

Florence Unified: More Campuses, More Options

High schools:

• Poston Butte High School (Broncos), 32375 N. Gantzel Rd. Opened in 2009 and known for its one-to-one laptop program in place of textbooks.
• San Tan Foothills High School (Sabercats), 1255 W. Silverdale Rd. Opened in 2009, with smaller class sizes.

Elementary and K–8 campuses in San Tan Valley: Anthem, Circle Cross Ranch, Copper Basin, Magma Ranch, San Tan Heights and Skyline Ranch, plus Walker Butte and San Tan Mountain for the middle grades.

J.O. Combs: The Small-District Choice

• Combs High School (Coyotes), 2505 E. Germann Rd. Strong arts, theater, orchestra and band programs.
• J.O. Combs Middle School
• Elementary: Jack W. Harmon, Ellsworth, Simonton, Ranch and Combs Traditional Academy

How to Decide

1. Look up the specific schools your address feeds into on azreportcards.azed.gov. Grades vary by campus within both districts.
2. Tour the high school, even if your kids are young. Future buyers will ask about it when you sell.
3. Compare charter options too. Many San Tan Valley families use charters such as American Leadership Academy and Legacy Traditional.
4. Verify by exact address. Don't rely on the listing or the builder brochure.

FAQ

What school district is San Tan Valley in? Mostly Florence Unified or J.O. Combs Unified, depending on the address.

What high schools serve San Tan Valley? Poston Butte and San Tan Foothills (Florence Unified) and Combs High School (J.O. Combs Unified).

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Comparing San Tan Valley with Queen Creek's A-rated districts? Read our complete schools guide for San Tan Valley and Queen Creek.

The Kallhoff Team | RE/MAX Premier · 📞 480-275-9566

Boundaries change. Verify with each district before purchase.

Retiring to San Tan Valley or Queen Creek? A Healthcare Checklist for 55+ Buyers

 

Is San Tan Valley a good place to retire if healthcare access matters to you? It's getting better every year, but where you buy matters. The hospital, the new specialist campuses and the future cardiac lab are all concentrated along one corridor. Here's what 55+ buyers should know before choosing a neighborhood.

The Key Facts

• One full-service hospital: Banner Ironwood Medical Center, 37000 N. Gantzel Rd. (Gantzel & Combs)
• Cardiac cath lab coming: part of a 32,000-sq-ft expansion targeted for December 2027
• New cardiology offices: Tri-City Cardiology (27 board-certified physicians) is the first tenant at Terraza Medical Village, about 2 miles north of Banner Ironwood
• Orthopedics nearby: OrthoArizona opens at Ironwood & Ranch in Q1 2027
• Cancer care: the closest major center for most residents is Banner MD Anderson at Banner Gateway in Gilbert

The Healthcare Corridor: Gantzel Rd and Ironwood Dr

Most of the new medical investment sits along the north–south Gantzel/Ironwood corridor between Ocotillo Rd and Combs Rd. If being close to care is a priority, start your search there:

• Encanterra (Queen Creek), a resort community with select 55+ Trilogy neighborhoods near the San Tan Mountains
• North San Tan Valley neighborhoods near Ocotillo & Ironwood
• East Queen Creek communities near Combs Rd

South San Tan Valley (the Hunt Highway corridor) is still reasonably close to Banner Ironwood, but it's farther from the Gilbert hospitals.

Your 55+ Healthcare Checklist

1. Drive to the ER at rush hour from any home you're serious about.
2. Check your Medicare Advantage or supplement network for Banner and Dignity affiliations.
3. Find your specialists first. Cardiology, orthopedics and oncology can decide which side of town makes sense.
4. Ask about single-level plans in communities near the corridor. Many new builders offer them.
5. Know your backup hospital. Dignity Health Mercy Gilbert and Banner Gateway are the next closest full-service options for most residents.

FAQ

Is there a hospital near Encanterra? Banner Ironwood Medical Center at Gantzel & Combs is the nearest full-service hospital to most Queen Creek and San Tan Valley 55+ communities.

When will Banner Ironwood have a cardiac cath lab? Completion of the expansion that includes it is targeted for December 2027.

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The full guide covers larger hospitals, what's being built and drive-time tips: Hospitals & Healthcare in San Tan Valley and Queen Creek.

The Kallhoff Team | RE/MAX Premier · 📞 480-275-9566

General information only, not medical advice. In an emergency, call 911.

Why Buyers Need to Buy That New Home Now

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 09, 2015

Your client has decided on new-home construction, but they're dragging their feet. Need to give them extra motivation to get that contract signed this fall or winter?

“Fall and winter are a great time to start working with a builder and do much of the upfront planning and legwork that goes into a new-construction home,” says Brian Brunhofer, president of Meritus Homes. “Plus, there are some definite advantages to beginning that process before the end of the year that buyers might not be aware of.”

Read more: Build or Buy?

BUILDER online recently highlighted some of those advantages, including:

1. Low interest rates: The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is still under a 4 percent average, according to Freddie Mac. But most economists are predicting that interest rates will soon be on the rise, and when rates do rise that will deflate buyers’ purchasing power.

2. Buffering in more time: Many buyers fail to take into account the length of the permitting and approval process, which has to take place before the actual construction. “The reality is that after a buyer signs a contract with us, it takes anywhere from 60 to 90 days to get architectural plans submitted and permits approved before we actually start construction,” Brunhofer says. “Buyers who begin that process in the fall or winter can relax knowing they have plenty of time to get all those details taken care of and be 100 percent ready to roll when the early spring construction season starts. And if we have a mild enough winter, we might be able to get a jump on construction for them even earlier in the year.”

3. Taking advantage of the financial benefits: Before the end of the calendar year, builders will have secured their 2016 contract prices for labor and building materials. As such, they’ll adjust their home prices to reflect any increased costs. Buyers who decide to sign a contract with a builder this fall rather than waiting until next spring may see some cost savings by taking advantage of 2015 pricing. 

4. Timing the market right: Many families prefer to be able to move into their new-home prior to the beginning of a school year. Buyers who work with builders in the fall and winter will likely be ready to move into their new home by next summer. “Buyers should expect anywhere from five to six months of actual construction time,” Brunhofer says. “That means if we get all the upfront approvals and permitting taken care of during the fall and early winter, we’ll start work the minute the ground thaws and we’ll be wrapped up in time for a summer move-in date.” Also, for buyers with an existing home to sell, they will be able to sell their current home then during the spring time, which is traditionally a busier housing market.

Source: “Give Customers Four Reasons to Buy Now,” BUILDER (Sept. 30, 2015)

www.KallhoffTeam.com

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/11/09/why-buyers-need-buy-new-home-now

Slight Drop in Rates Pushes Loan Demand Up

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2015

A drop in mortgage rates last week helped to push mortgage applications higher, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports. Total applications – for both refinancing and home purchases – increased 1.6 percent week-to-week on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending June 19. Overall volume is nearly 11 percent higher than one year ago.

Broken out, refinance applications increased 2 percent last week and are up about 4 percent from a year ago, MBA reports. Meanwhile, applications for home purchases—viewed as a strong indicator of future home buying activity—rose 1 percent from the previous week, and are 18 percent higher than they were a year ago.

"The 18 percent [annual] gain in purchase application volume is yet another sign of growing strength in the housing market following this week's stronger numbers on new and existing home sales," says Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist.

Mortgage rates offered a slight relief to borrowers last week. MBA reports the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage last week dropped to 4.19 percent; it was averaging 4.22 percent the week prior. But the drop was likely short-lived and there were signs of lenders moving rates higher Tuesday, CNBC reports.

Source: “Weekly Mortgage Applications Rise 1.6%,” CNBC.com (June 24, 2015)

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/06/24/slight-drop-in-rates-pushes-loan-demand-up

www.KallhoffTeam.com

Developing Affordable Housing for Millennials

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015

Cities across the country are having to adapt to the needs of the millennial generation, who make up the largest share of home buyers, according to a generational trends report by NAR. Due to the recent economic climate, millennials don't mind making sacrifices, often choosing compact housing and not owning a car, as long as they can live in a vibrant city with a lot of perks.

Read more: The 8 Fastest-Growing Cities for Millennials

"They [millennials] seem more willing than other cohorts to trade space for access to transit and a walkable, mixed-use lifestyle," says Stockton Williams, executive director of the Urban Land Institute's Terwilliger Center for Housing in Washington, D.C. "It doesn't necessarily mean they're all saying they want to live in downtown central cities. It can be smaller towns or suburban towns that have these features."

To meet the need for affordable housing options, many cities are being proactive. In Austin, Texas, which is a hotspot for young professionals, builders are catering to millennials by offering homes that are much smaller than the national average and close to public transportation and local attractions.

"The demand for the smaller homes was enormous, and millennials bought them," says REALTOR® Scott Turner, owner of Riverside Homes in Austin, Texas and broker-owner of Turner Residential. "Millennials are much more willing to make the location-over-space trade-off than prior generations. They're happy with less space and less stuff. We found that 850 square feet with two bedrooms and one bath is fine if it’s in a good location."

Housing affordability remains a huge issue in Manhattan, and builders are going a step further by offering up micro housing as a solution. Micro housing is loosely defined as an apartment less than 350 square feet with a functioning and accessibility compliant kitchen and bathroom. Micro housing projects are also cropping up near Washington D.C. and Seattle.

"In places like Seattle, more micro housing units are popping up, and that does seem to be a viable option," says says Matt Kelly, a policy analyst and researcher at Florida State University in Tallahassee. "Smaller and smaller square footage seems to be viable for short-term year apartment leases because there needs to be a low-income housing alternative."

In the past, many cities had zoning regulations that banned small housing. New York City, for example, only recently waived a requirement that housing must be larger than 400 square feet. San Francisco recently allowed housing as small as 220 square feet, and two cities on the forefront of the micro housing trend, Seattle and Portland, have no minimum size requirement.

As housing affordability is outpacing income growth for many across the country, it continue to be important for cities to think out of the box and develop accessible and affordable options, not just for millennials, but for everyone.

Source: "Reducing Everyday Costs for Affordable Neighborhoods," On Common Ground (June, 2015)

www.KallhoffTeam.com

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/06/18/developing-affordable-housing-for-millennials

Why Renters May Be Losing Out

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015

Americans are better off buying than renting in the majority of places across the U.S., but the number of renters continues to be at record highs.

Realtor.com® finds that it's cheaper to buy rather than rent in 80 percent of the counties in the U.S. That's because renters continue to face sharp price increases. A record number of renting households are leading to fewer apartment vacancies, which in turn is continuing to push rents upward, notes Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®'s chief economist, in recent commentary at realtor.com®.

But many renters – with home ownership aspirations – are struggling to break into the housing market. Indeed, 81 percent of renters indicate they would prefer to own a home if they could afford to do so, according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking. Fifty percent of renters reported that they lack the funds for a down payment and 31 percent of renters say they could not qualify for a mortgage. Other reasons given for renting included 27 percent of renters saying it was cheaper for their household; 25 percent who thought renting was more convenient; and only 12 percent said they rented because they preferred it over owning.

Read more: Renter, Home Owner Gap Grows

The amount of income renters may have influenced their responses for why they choose to rent. For example, for renters earning less than $40,000 year, their top responses on why they rent were because they were unable to save for a down payment (52%) or qualify for a mortgage (35%). On the other hand, for renters who earn more than $100,000 a year, their top responses for renting were because they believed renting was more convenient (39%) or they preferred renting to owning (17%). Twenty-nine percent in the $100,000 and up earner group said they plan on moving in the near term.

Source: "Federal Reserve Report on Household Economic Well-Being," National Association of Home Builders Eye on Housing Blog (June 10, 2015) and "Midyear Report: The Housing Market Is on Track for Its Best Year Since 2006 (and it Ain’t a Bubble," realtor.com® (June 10, 2015)

www.KallhoffTeam.com

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/06/11/why-renters-may-be-losing-out

The Most Common Delays Toward Closing

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, JUNE 09, 2015

The majority of contracts – 64 percent -- are settled on time with no delays to closing, but some REALTORS® acknowledge facing delays or even having contracts terminated for numerous reasons, according to the latest REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey, a survey of more than 1,500 REALTORS®. Twenty-six percent of REALTORS® surveyed identified a delay to settlement, while 10 percent said they have even had a contract terminated prior to closing.

Read more: Don't Get Thrown by Doc Overhaul

About 60 percent of REALTORS® reported some type of issue on their contract in April. For example, 12 percent of REALTORS® identified a financing issue; 8 percent had home inspection problems surface; and 7 percent had an appraisal issue. Three percent of REALTORS® also identified issues buying/selling distressed property; titling and deed issues; or with contingencies stated in the contract.

"It is surprising that in a 'tight' and 'difficult' credit environment, only 12 percent of contracts that were reported to have settled or terminated had financing issues," economists at the National Association of REALTORS® report. "One explanation may be that potential home buyers are deciding to sit on the sidelines for now, so these buyers were not captured in the data."

Source:"64 Percent of Contracts Are Settled on Time," National Association of REALTORS® Economists' Outlook Blog (June 8, 2015)

www.KallhoffTeam.com

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/06/09/most-common-delays-toward-closing

Landlords Say They're Raising Prices Again

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015

CEOs of the largest companies renting out single-family homes say they plan to raise rents up to 5.7 percent this year.  Investors are switching their focus from buying properties to optimizing the revenue from the thousands of properties they bought, taking advantage of the increased demand for rental homes, Bloomberg reports.

Read more: Why Renters May Be in Trouble

“In the 2015 rental season, we’re really seeing the ability to move rents,” David Singelyn, chief executive officer of American Homes 4 Rent—the largest publicly-traded single-family landlord, with about 35,000 homes—said at a recent conference in Miami Beach, Fla.

Large-scale investors—those who purchase at least 10 properties a year—have spent about $68 million snatching up 528,000 single-family rental homes since 2011, according to a report last month by Haendel St. Juste, a Morgan Stanley analyst. Now the CEOs of Silver Bay, Starwood Waypoint, American Residential Properties, and Blackstone Group all say they plan to raise rents this year.

“We are focusing aggressively on rent bumps,” Stephen Schmitz, American Residential Properties CEO, said during a panel discussion. “There’s a supply imbalance in some markets. The same thing that keeps occupancy high also drives rents.” Schmitz says they plan to bump up rental rates by 4 percent on renewals and up to 5.7 percent for new tenants.

Source: “U.S. Single-Family Landlords Are Raising Rents, CEOs Say,” Bloomberg (April 21, 2015)

http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2015/04/23/landlords-say-theyre-raising-prices-again

www.KallhoffTeam.com