The nation's largest homebuilder just cleared out the last available home sites in one of Goodyear's newest neighborhoods. D.R. Horton purchased the final 232 home sites at Lucero Village, the newest village within the Estrella master-planned community, paying Harvard Investments $32.712 million for roughly 90 acres of land.
The deal, first reported by KTAR News, closed on September 3 and works out to about $141,000 per home site, according to the Phoenix Business Journal. Harvard Investments, the master developer overseeing Estrella's growth, announced the purchase, with Roger Theis, vice president of Harvard Communities, saying that “years of planning and investment are coming to fruition” as Lucero draws in both homebuilders and homebuyers. D.R. Horton actually secured the lots through its land banker, Hearthstone, which paid the purchase price in cash, a structure that lets high-volume builders lock in future lot supply without carrying the land directly on their books before construction begins, according to ORION Investment Real Estate.
This isn't D.R. Horton's first rodeo in Estrella. The builder previously picked up 99 lots across 2019 and 2020, back when median new home prices in the community sat at $305,607, per the same ORION report. This latest purchase represents a dramatic scale-up from that earlier, more modest footprint.
A Deal Size That Stands Out in Metro Phoenix
Single lot transactions topping 200 sites have become rare across metro Phoenix in recent years, with builders typically acquiring fewer than 100 lots at a time to spread out their market risk, the report notes. Bulk purchases of this size tend to happen only in submarkets where builders have exceptional confidence in long-term buyer demand — and Estrella's recent numbers back that up.
Homebuilders sold 220 homes in Estrella through July 2026, already surpassing the 214 total homes sold across the entire community in all of 2025, according to Real Estate Daily News. Builders pulled 193 residential permits in Estrella between January and July 2026 alone, following 314 permits issued over the prior 12 months — a leading indicator, the outlet notes, of upcoming housing starts and community absorption.
What D.R. Horton Plans to Build
D.R. Horton plans to build one- and two-story homes at Lucero ranging from 1,300 to 2,400 square feet, with home models slated to open in fall 2027, per KTAR's reporting. Taylor Mize, an executive with D.R. Horton, said Lucero offers residents access to Estrella's schools, shopping, and recreation.
Lucero itself serves as an entrance gateway into Estrella, featuring the Estrella Welcome Center, Café Bebida, and Ladera Park, which includes a splash pad and shaded playground, according to AZ Big Media. Lucero is one of four villages within Estrella, which sits west of Estrella Mountain Regional Park and spans a 20,000-acre mixed-use development, per KTAR.
Estrella's Broader Growth Story
Harvard Investments acquired the remaining undeveloped land in Estrella — more than 18,000 entitled acres — back in October 2021 through a joint venture with Toll Brothers and Värde Partners, in what was one of Arizona's largest master-planned community acquisitions. The community is now home to more than 23,000 residents and 8,700 families, with over 1,300 families having moved in since late 2021, according to Harvard Investments.
Local government has also been adjusting to accommodate the growth. The Goodyear City Council voted unanimously last October to revise master planning for Estrella's Community 14, shifting away from high-density apartments and cutting planned homes from more than 8,400 down to roughly 6,000, while dedicating 271 acres to parks, trails, and open space, according to KTAR News 92.3 FM.
That local demand fits into a larger regional pattern. Goodyear's population grew 6.5% in a single year to top 125,000 residents, ranking 15th nationally for total population gains, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates cited by the Santa Monica Mirror. Commercial development has followed the rooftops, too — Hoodline previously reported on plans for a Sprouts-anchored retail center near Lucero, part of the commercial infrastructure rising alongside Estrella's residential expansion.
