Tempe, up close.

ASU's Tempe campus brings tens of thousands of students to the area, and it's the main reason a large share of Tempe's housing is renter-occupied. That creates steady rental demand, especially for condos, townhomes and smaller homes near campus, which is why investors are active here. If you're buying near campus to live in, look closely at the HOA's rental rules and the complex's mix of owner-occupied and rental units, since both can affect financing, fees and resale. I'm happy to pull recent sales for any complex you're considering so you can see how condos near campus have actually traded.

North Tempe sits near the Loop 202 and Phoenix Sky Harbor, putting ASU, Mill Avenue and the Marina Heights office campus minutes from the airport and downtown Phoenix, with denser housing and more condos and apartments. South Tempe, including The Lakes area, sits closer to the US 60, Loop 101 and I-10, within easy reach of Chandler's tech corridor and Ahwatukee, and is mostly single-family neighborhoods. Your daily route should factor into which half of Tempe makes sense, since the two connect to different job centers. If you're not sure which fits, tell me where you work and I'll give you an honest average drive time from a few neighborhoods in each half.

Marina Heights, the roughly 2-million-square-foot corporate campus on Rio Salado Parkway next to Mill Avenue, was part of a reported $928 million sale-leaseback with State Farm, which houses its operations there. That's a meaningful shift for Tempe's urban core: Mill Avenue and the lake area are now a major employment hub as well as a university and entertainment district, which supports demand for higher-end condos and apartments downtown. If you're evaluating an investment property near Mill Avenue, it's worth knowing whether rental demand nearby comes mainly from the university or from the office campus, since that affects both achievable rents and how steady the demand is.

The three cities offer quite different housing. Tempe is older and more compact, with ASU at its center, a large share of rental housing, and more condos and townhomes than its neighbors, which is why it draws steady investor interest. Chandler's housing grew up around the Intel and Price Road employment corridor, with mostly single-family subdivisions plus lake and golf communities like Ocotillo. Scottsdale sits in a higher price bracket, ranging from condos and townhomes in the south to custom homes on larger lots in the north. Median sale prices differ significantly between the three; each city's page shows its current Redfin figures near the top.