Watch A Dead Housing Development Come Back To Life

The U.S. housing market is officially back, and we have proof.

Lindsay Park, originally a 156-unit subdivision in Mesa, Ariz., had been mothballed (as well as repossessed) from 2007 to 2010, after the housing bubble burst.

It's since come roaring back thanks to Woodside Homes, which purchased the project in December 2010. All its remaining units have now been sold, said Paul Scroff, president of Woodside's Arizona division. The last one, which had opened at $169,000, closed for $228,000 just last week, he said.  

We have the pictures to show the project's evolution from boom to bust and back. 

We'll start with Google Earth.

Here's what the empty lot looked like in October 2005, after it had been bought by the original developer, Landmark Homes, but before construction had begun. 

Google Earth

The first set of units had gone up by November...

Google Earth

But that basically proved the top.

By May 2007, things had basically ground to a halt, with just a few other units having been built in the intervening years.

Google Earth

At the low point of the recession, all the place had to show for itself was a new pool.

Google Earth

Woodside Homes came in in early 2011 and set up a model house...

Google Earth

By last spring, construction had exploded.

Google Earth

Which brings us to today: the entire thing's been built out.

Google Earth

Fran Bangert, a Woodside Homes rep at Kovach Marketing, sent us an additional series of on-the-ground before and after photos of the subdivision.

(May 2009-August 2010)

Fran Bangert/Kovach Marketing/Woodside Homes

Fran Bangert/Kovach Marketing/Woodside Homes

Fran Bangert/Kovach Marketing/Woodside Homes

Fran Bangert/Kovach Marketing/Woodside Homes

(May 2013)

Fran Bangert/Kovach Marketing/Woodside Homes

Fran Bangert/Kovach Marketing/Woodside Homes

Fran Bangert/Kovach Marketing/Woodside Homes

Fran Bangert/Kovach Marketing/Woodside Homes

Woodside's Scroff told us the project's prime location — minutes from schools and Mesa's main freeway — along with aggressive courting of the community helped leapfrog the project to the front of buyers' lists. There is no typical purchaser profile, he said: everyone from retirees to foreclosed homeowners "coming out of the penalty box" are now neighbors.

Nothing really changed in the Mesa-Phoenix market itself, he said. As soon broader financial conditions became ripe, the area's reputation for affordability and favorable weather would kick in to bring back buyers.

Do you live in an area that has experienced a housing revival from bust to boom? Even better, have before and after photos? Share your story with Business Insider's Rob Wile at rwile@businessinsider.com.

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