What Are the Pros and Cons of Living in Scottsdale, AZ?

What are the pros and cons of living in Scottsdale, AZ? The pros are mild winters and more than 30,500 acres of protected desert with over 230 miles of trails, and the cons are a long, hot summer, a monsoon season, heavy traffic during the big winter events, rules about water and landscaping, HOA rules and what it costs to own a home here. The official weather figures for the area are recorded at Phoenix Sky Harbor, where the normal January high is 67.6°F and the normal July high is 106.5°F for 1991 to 2020, according to the National Weather Service and the Arizona State Climate Office.

I'm Jen Keene, a REALTOR® with eXp Luxury in Scottsdale, AZ, and I'm the agent people call at every stage of their life. If you're thinking about a home here from another state, you probably want to know what living here is like before you spend a weekend touring houses. Let me walk you through exactly how each pro and each con works, with the source behind it, so you can weigh them on your own terms.

The winter is the first one. In Phoenix, the normal January high is 67.6°F and the normal January low is 46.0°F, which both the Weather Service's January 2026 climate summary and the Arizona State Climate Office show.

The desert is the second. The City of Scottsdale says the McDowell Sonoran Preserve covers more than 30,500 acres with over 230 miles of trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding, and Experience Scottsdale's fact sheet gives the same size and more than 230 miles of trails. The city also says the Preserve is open every day from sunrise to sunset at no charge. And because the city has very different parts, from Old Town condominiums to master-planned communities to desert lots in the north, where you live inside it changes a lot. Here's how I'd sort out which part of Scottsdale to buy in.

It's long. Over the full record, Phoenix has averaged 94 days a year at 100°F or above in the records of both the Weather Service and the Arizona State Climate Office, and the Weather Service puts the 1991 to 2020 average at 111 days a year, with 21 days at 110°F or above. It gives May 2 as the average first 100°F day and October 5 as the average last one. Nights stay warm too: the normal July low in Phoenix is 84.5°F, in both the Weather Service's July 2026 climate summary and the Arizona State Climate Office's table.

For a house, that means the air conditioning needs a close look during the inspection. Look at how old the units are, which way the house faces, how much shade the yard gets and what a pool costs to run, and ask the seller for twelve months of electric bills so you can see a full summer. If the home has a pool, here's what to check when you buy a home with a pool in Scottsdale.

Monsoon season is June 15 to September 30, according to the National Weather Service Phoenix office, and the Flood Control District of Maricopa County uses the same dates for its storm reports. The Weather Service's Monsoon Awareness page says monsoon thunderstorms can cause damaging winds, torrential rainfall, frequent lightning and dust storms, that flash flooding can occur many miles away from the thunderstorm, and that you should stay out of washes and stream beds during monsoon season. Its Monsoon Safety page also warns against parking or camping near washes during the monsoon.

When you look at a house, walk the outside and see where the water would go in a hard rain: the grading around the foundation, the gutters or scuppers on a flat roof, and any wash near the lot. Ask your inspector to look at the roof and the drainage, and read the seller's disclosure for anything about past water. If you'll be away for part of the summer, plan who checks on the house after a storm.

The biggest events of the year fall in the winter. Barrett-Jackson's 2027 Scottsdale auction is scheduled for January 23 to 31 at WestWorld of Scottsdale, according to the trade magazine The Shop, and the City of Scottsdale's event calendar lists WestWorld as the auction's home. The WM Phoenix Open plays its tournament rounds February 11 to 14, 2027, at TPC Scottsdale, per the PGA TOUR's schedule, and AZFamily reports the full tournament week as February 8 to 14. And Scottsdale Stadium in Old Town is the spring training home of the San Francisco Giants, which both the stadium's own site and MLB.com describe.

During the WM Phoenix Open, the City of Scottsdale closes streets around TPC Scottsdale, including parts of Bell Road and the Greenway Hayden Loop, which the city's 2026 announcement and AZFamily's 2025 coverage both list. In past years ADOT has issued advisories telling drivers to plan for heavier traffic on the Loop 101 during the tournament, including one for the 2022 tournament week. If you're looking at a home near TPC Scottsdale, WestWorld or Old Town, drive to it during event week, at the hour you'd be coming home, before you decide.

About 70% of Scottsdale's water comes from the Colorado River, delivered through the Central Arizona Project, according to KJZZ (June 2, 2026) and KTAR (June 24, 2026). The City of Scottsdale's water supply page puts it at about two-thirds of the city's supply. That's why the city's water planning, and the price of water, follows what happens on the Colorado River.

Grass is limited on new homes. In July 2023, the Scottsdale City Council banned natural grass in the front yards of new single-family homes built or permitted after August 15, 2023, according to KTAR, AZFamily and the Copper Courier. When you look at a house, check whether the yard is desert landscaping or lawn, how the irrigation system works and what the water bills look like over twelve months, and if there's an HOA, read what it says about yards before you plan any changes.

If the home is in a planned community with an association, the association's documents decide a lot about what you can do with the house. Under Arizona Revised Statutes 33-1806, in a planned community of 50 or more homes, the association has to give the buyer the bylaws, the rules, the declaration, the current budget, a statement of assessments and the most recent reserve study if there is one, within ten days after it receives written notice of the sale. FirstService Residential, a community management company, describes the same ten-day delivery and the same documents.

Read them before your inspection period ends, and look for what they say about rentals, exterior colors, landscaping, parking and guests, along with the dues and any special assessment. Here's how HOA rules and Arizona's HOA laws work. If you want a home you can close up and leave for months, here's what to check on a lock-and-leave home in Scottsdale.

In October 2026, the median sale price for single-family homes in the City of Scottsdale over the past 12 months was $1,235,000, and the average sale price over the past 12 months was $1,666,770, according to the Cromford Report's figures measured November 1, 2026. In October 2026, the Cromford Report showed 4.1 months of supply for single-family homes in Scottsdale, which means it would take about four months to sell everything listed at the current pace. These are citywide figures for single-family homes, so condos and townhomes aren't in them. Here's my Scottsdale housing market report.

The price is only part of it. Before you decide, price the property tax bill for the address, a homeowners insurance quote, twelve months of electric and water bills, the pool if there is one, landscaping and the HOA dues. Here's how to look up a Scottsdale property tax bill. If you have questions about how your own income would be taxed after a move, talk to a CPA.

1. Visit once in July or August and once in January or February, so you've seen the summer and the event season.
2. Pick the part of Scottsdale you'd live in, and drive from there to the airport, the grocery store and anywhere you'd go every week.
3. If you're looking near TPC Scottsdale, WestWorld or Old Town, make that drive during an event week too.
4. Ask the seller for twelve months of electric and water bills for each home you're serious about.
5. Read the HOA documents during your inspection period, including the rules on yards, rentals and exterior changes.
6. Have the roof, the drainage and the air conditioning looked at during the inspection.
7. Get an insurance quote for the address, and ask what happens to coverage if the house sits empty while you're away.

The first is deciding on a winter visit alone. A normal January high of 67.6°F and a normal July high of 106.5°F in Phoenix are two very different months to live in. The second is touring during the WM Phoenix Open or Barrett-Jackson without planning around the street closures and traffic, and then judging a drive by that one week, or by a week with no events at all.

The third is buying a yard full of lawn without looking at the water bills or the HOA's landscaping rules. The fourth is skipping the HOA documents because the house looks easy to own. And the fifth is comparing one house with the citywide median, when the Cromford Report's figures cover single-family homes across the whole city.

Here's my guide to moving to Scottsdale, which goes into the different parts of the city, school district lines and what's different about buying in Arizona. And here's my guide to retiring in Scottsdale, which covers hospitals, Medicare and how Arizona taxes retirement income.

If you're weighing Scottsdale and you'd like to talk through which part of the city and which kind of home fit how you want to live, call me at (480) 203-6605 or send me a message, and tell me when you're thinking of coming out. I'll help you plan the visit around the summer, the event weeks and the HOA rules, and when you're ready, let's get you home.