Recent teardown and land-value sales by enclave, who is building, and what makes a lot a builder lot.
What Builders Pay for Paradise Valley Lots (Updated Q4 2026)
By Clayton Wolfe, Partner at The Agency · Published November 2, 2026 · Last updated November 2, 2026
I'm Clayton Wolfe, Partner at The Agency in Scottsdale. On many Paradise Valley sales, the buyer is paying for the lot, not the house. The house is coming down.
The table below shows recent sales of older homes on larger lots, the kind builders buy to tear down and rebuild. I include the price, the lot size, and a price-per-acre figure so you can see land value by enclave.
Recent per-acre figures ranged from roughly $1.3 million to $9.1 million, driven by enclave, slope, view, and how much of the lot is buildable. Smaller, flat, view lots price highest per acre.
Below the table I name who is building in Paradise Valley right now, explain what makes a lot a builder lot, and walk through how to think about a 1970s home on an acre.
Older homes on larger lots sold at or near land value, most recent first. Price per acre is a land-value proxy; it includes the existing structure, which is typically removed.
Enclave or corridor | Close date | Price | Lot acres | $/acre | Original year built |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elmaro Estates | Aug 3, 2026 | $14,000,000 | 2.22 | $6,311,993 | 1986 |
Paradise Mansion Estates | May 27, 2026 | $9,000,000 | 5.90 | $1,525,424 | 1967 |
Saguaro Road corridor | Apr 8, 2026 | $32,500,000 | 9.14 | $3,556,188 | 1972 |
Casa Blanca / Lincoln Drive corridor | Mar 6, 2026 | $16,000,000 | 3.19 | $5,009,393 | 1988 |
Tilyou Ranchitos | Mar 4, 2026 | $20,000,000 | 4.07 | $4,918,839 | 1990 |
Camelback Lands | Mar 3, 2026 | $9,500,000 | 2.26 | $4,205,401 | 2001 |
Saguaro Road corridor | Jan 22, 2026 | $14,300,000 | 4.75 | $3,009,893 | 1952 |
Paradise Hills | Dec 9, 2025 | $10,550,000 | 1.19 | $8,895,447 | 1996 |
Saguaro Road corridor | May 22, 2025 | $30,000,000 | 9.14 | $3,282,635 | 1972 |
Paradise Hills | Aug 13, 2024 | $10,200,000 | 1.19 | $8,600,337 | 2001 |
Sanctuary | Jul 15, 2024 | $12,000,000 | 1.62 | $7,398,274 | 1996 |
Las Estancias | May 21, 2024 | $13,300,000 | 3.18 | $4,181,075 | 1999 |
Tilyou Ranchito | Sep 14, 2023 | $8,000,000 | 2.53 | $3,160,806 | 1961 |
Malcomb Estates | Oct 11, 2022 | $14,500,000 | 3.27 | $4,441,041 | 1995 |
Camel Dale Properties | Mar 2, 2022 | $12,500,000 | 3.87 | $3,233,316 | 1984 |
Malcomb Estates | Feb 9, 2022 | $13,700,000 | 3.27 | $4,196,018 | 1995 |
Kerr Estates | Nov 10, 2021 | $10,100,000 | 3.00 | $3,372,287 | 1978 |
Tumbling ND Estates | Jul 15, 2021 | $10,000,000 | 1.09 | $9,132,420 | 1997 |
Saguaro Road corridor | Jun 11, 2021 | $12,100,000 | 9.17 | $1,319,520 | 1972 |
Camel Dale Properties | May 13, 2021 | $10,000,000 | 3.87 | $2,586,653 | 1984 |
Tilyou Ranchito | Apr 23, 2021 | $13,500,000 | 2.53 | $5,338,078 | 1996 |
Source: ARMLS sold records, Paradise Valley closed sales of homes built before 2005 at $5,000,000 and above, 2021 to 2026; cross-checked to Maricopa County Recorder (deed and Affidavit of Property Value). Price per acre is sale price divided by recorded lot acres and is a land-value proxy, not a vacant-land price. Compiled by Clayton Wolfe. As of November 2, 2026.
These are builders and developers active on Paradise Valley estate projects in 2024 through 2026, named from ARMLS listings and consistent with Town permit activity. The list is not exhaustive and not a ranking.
Most active by recent $8 million-plus closings: BedBrock Developers and Patterson Homes. Also active: Brimley Development, Arcadia Custom Builders, MDF Development, Paramount Luxury Development, Norton Luxury Homes, Travis Custom Homes, DNP Homes, and J.M. Wall Development. Additional firms on recent high-end projects include Modern Nest, Living Stone Builders, Bespoke Homes, Hawk Builders, Sonoran West, and Tinker Development.
Clayton Wolfe and The Agency Scottsdale are not affiliated with these firms unless stated. Attributions are from public records and the firms' published portfolios.
Buildable area, not just acreage. Builders pay for what they can build on. Slope, setbacks, washes, and the Hillside Development ordinance, the Town code that limits disturbance on sloped land, can shrink a large lot's usable footprint. A flat acre can beat a steep three.
A protected view. A view that cannot be blocked by a future neighbor adds value a builder can resell. I check what the downhill parcel is allowed to build before I price the view.
An older, lower-value house. When the structure is dated enough that no buyer pays for it, the sale is effectively land. A 1960s to 1990s home on a good lot is the classic builder target.
Clean access and utilities. Direct street access, no shared driveway disputes, and utilities at the lot reduce a builder's cost and risk, which raises what the builder can pay.
Resale ceiling of the enclave. A builder prices backward from what a finished home resells for in that enclave. A lot in a higher-ceiling corridor supports a higher land price, even at the same size.
Short answers to the questions I hear most. Each one is covered in more depth above.
Usually not as a house. A builder values the lot and treats the structure as a cost to remove. Your number is land value minus demolition.
Start from recent per-acre sales in your enclave in the table above, then adjust for your lot's buildable area, view, and access. One headline number rarely fits two lots.
If a retail buyer would pay more for the finished home than a builder pays for the land, list it. If not, a builder sale is cleaner and faster. I run both numbers before advising.
It depends. A view slope can add value; a slope that triggers Hillside review and shrinks buildable area usually subtracts. I get a slope and buildable-area read before pricing.
Builder lots in strong corridors move quickly when priced to land value. Overpricing for the house is the most common reason a teardown sits.
Clayton Wolfe, Partner at The Agency, Scottsdale. Luxury real estate specialist for Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, and Arcadia, with a niche in airpark and hangar-home properties. $100M+ in closed sales. RealTrends Verified #59 in Arizona by sales volume. Member of REALM. Founding member of the American Real Estate Association. Commercially rated pilot, 2,000+ hours.
More about Clayton. Thinking about buying or selling here? Start the conversation.