Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Hardwood Floors in Phoenix?

I'm a recent transplant to the Phoenix area from the Midwest and I'm in the process of buying a house. If I do go with the home that I'm interested in, I'd like to possibly put in wood floors. The house is about 20 years old, single story, on a concreate slab foundation. Given the fact that I'm in central Arizona, I'd like to avoid regular hardwood floors because of the heat and humidity issue, but I don't want laminate because of how it looks and how it sounds when I walk on it.

Has anyone in this area had any experience with engineered wood? I guess it's supposedly more resistant to low humidity environments because of the cross-ply construction.

Are termites eating up wood floors a serious problem out here? Does engineered wood offer any sort of protection (probably not since it is wood, albeit 85% plywood)? The house appears to be termite free, for now, according to the inspection report.

Thanks

yes, you heard right: engineered wood floors are excellent for concrete slabs because they are much more dimensionally stable than solid hardwood, because of the alternating layered construction.

are you seriously worried that termites might actually come into your home & start eating your wood floors?

Hello-Ironically just moved from PHX to Memphis. We used engineered plank for our flooring there. You'll have very little expansion/contraction becasue of the low humidity and mile temperature. While I'm sure termites do exist, I've NEVER seen any damage of any kind and we're fulltime house "flippers". Honestly, I first learned about wood flooring in PHX by going to one of the Lowe's/HomeDeopt Saturday clinics. They ran throught the pros and cons for the area and helped me make a more educated decision. Good luck in PHX. Summer starts next week!