How's it going everyone? My cousin and I are looking into doing some real estate investing and I came across some news the other day that new homes were going to be built near our area next year.  I was just curious as to wondering if there would possibly be anything illegal about knowing this information or anything of that matter just as a safety precaution and where i can find out more information about this building process.

Also, I assume that there most likely will be either foreclosed homes, homes for sale by owner, etc. around the new development area.  Would the building of these new homes help raise the price of homes nearby?

Thanks for any feedback and any other additional info that may help.

@Connor B.  you can find out more about what's going on by speaking to the zoning and planning department in your county. The new construction indicates good economic signs but isn't a guarantee because the builder might have misread the market. 

@Connor B.   All of that information is public, and pretty easy to find.  You can probably find it out by doing a simple google search "new housing development, name of city", etc.

Or as Joe Fairless mentioned, you can go to the local Planning Department and ask about it. Before being able to build developers have to go through quite a process, so there's a record of it. 

As to prices, it's hard to say. What is the local economy like? What is the demand for housing? What does the rental market look like, is it tight or an abundance of units? What is the median household income? Unemployment in the area? Are there a lot of foreclosures on the market? Every area is different and has things affecting the local market, and you have to KNOW yours.