An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but rock bottom price deals on Arizona raw desert land sure is not.

Landowners in the Phoenix Valley are seeing a trend where physicians are purchasing raw desert land as an investment. Also attractive for physicians is the fact that raw land is user-friendly, meaning there is no upkeep to worry about. The value of the land appreciates on its own. Along with getting a capital gain tax treatment, 2013 is shaping up to be a good year for land buyers in finding bargain basement prices while diversifying investment portfolios.

“I’ve done more than $10 million in sales just to physicians alone so far this year,” said Joe Dodani, a certified land sales expert and Associate Broker with eXp Realty.  “We currently have more than $1 million in escrow alone from the same group of doctors. So far I have sold more than 40 properties to physicians.”

Dodani added that residential homes are at 78 percent of their peak value before the recession, while residential lots are at 65 percent of peak value. Compare that to raw land, which is just 10 to 15 percent of peak value.

Adding to the trend is the fact that only 17 percent of land in Arizona is private and available for sale.

“It just makes good business sense to buy raw desert property now because the price of raw land is bringing the best rate of return,” Dodani said. “We are now experiencing a return to the housing market in the Phoenix metropolitan area. I believe within two years housing prices will be back to 2006 levels. Prices for raw land are following the same trend, with couple of years of lag time.”