07/29/07
Filed under:
General,
Mortgages
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 2:11 pm
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Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 2:07 pm
While single-family housing permits are expected to slip this year, the multifamily market and commercial construction market are expected to finish strong. According to the second-quarter “Blue Chip Economic Forecast,” single-family housing permits will tumble 13 percent this year. The forecast is a publication of the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The multifamily market is expected to increase by more than 25 percent in 2007, marking the first year of growth for this segment since 2004. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 2:03 pm
All the major commercial real estate brokerage firms are releasing their second-quarter statistics. Despite prevalent upbeat reports about Phoenix’s real estate market, one statistic gives cause for concern: Vacancies are up dramatically in the suburban office market. According to the second-quarter “Korpacz Real Estate Investor Survey” released by PricewaterhouseCoopers, “suburban Phoenix recorded a vacancy increase of 210 basis points from year-end 2006 (12.2 percent) to the first quarter of 2007 (14.3 percent), the highest quarterly increase of any U.S. suburban office market during that period.” More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 2:00 pm
A Phoenix-based developer has broken ground a $100 million mixed-use project in Flagstaff. Aspen Place at the Sawmill is a former brownfield site a few blocks from downtown and Northern Arizona University. “This is a very significant project,” said Jim Cronk, planning director for the city of Flagstaff. “It’s an old sawmill, so we’re getting rid of an environmental negative. Hopefully, it will be a catalyst for future infill projects.” More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 1:57 pm
Buckeye and Goodyear are grappling with which municipality should be responsible for planning 2,554 acres south of the Gila River. The now-remote land is in Buckeye’s planning area, but officials acknowledge the town has no way of providing water and sewer services for a high-density housing development. Goodyear, meanwhile, has wanted to bring the property into its planning area since last year, but the decision has been continually postponed. The Goodyear Planning and Zoning Commission last week again continued the issue until September. Talks between the two municipalities’ leaders are expected to continue. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 1:55 pm
A developer hopes to fill the downtown Phoenix skyline with three new apartment towers. Mercury Development, based in central Phoenix, is planning about 900 primarily market-rate apartments for high-rises on three separate downtown blocks. Each tower will set aside space for some affordable units, plus ground-floor retail and underground parking. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 1:49 pm
Valley architect Will Bruder has reached back into a lost chapter of Scottsdale history for a 10-unit townhouse complex southeast of Scottsdale and Camelback roads. The Upton project at 7228 E. Shoeman Lane is within sight of a home built about 1950 for industrialist Louis Upton, who made his fortune manufacturing washing machines. The Upton house was designed by modern architect Paul Schweikher, Bruder’s friend and mentor. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 1:46 pm
One of the Valley’s top housing analysts lowered his projection for the area’s new-home market for this year on Tuesday, saying that such stubborn problems as an oversupply of houses and turmoil in the mortgage business will delay the recovery. RL Brown, publisher of the Phoenix Housing Market Letter, said he expected Phoenix-area builders to pull 34,000 building permits this year, down from his forecast of 41,000 issued in January. There were 42,460 permits issued in the Valley last year as the housing frenzy of 2004 and 2005 diminished and the market began to stagnate. More…
Filed under:
General,
Mortgages
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 1:41 pm
Regulators are trying to shut down a Phoenix mortgage firm they have accused of securing loans from illegal branches at Valley swap meets, malls, carnicerias, a Wal-Mart, a Home Depot and a couple of Food City stores. The Arizona Department of Financial Institutions has filed a complaint against Pacific Gold Mortgage Group and its owner, Alejandro Assam. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 1:38 pm
In Scottsdale, one of the most affluent cities in Arizona, the upper end of the housing market is holding steady and propping up overall home prices, which are effectively flat, says Matt Deuitch, president of the Scottsdale Area Association of Realtors. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 1:36 pm
A growing number of homeowners behind on their mortgage and facing foreclosure are finding a way to sell despite the glut of Valley homes for sale. They are turning to “short sales,” which are similar to regular home sales except a deal is worked out in which the lender accepts what the house is appraised for or what it will currently sell for instead of what is owed on it. So a homeowner would sell the house to a buyer willing to pay the current market value of the home, and the lender takes a loss on the rest. More…
Filed under:
General,
Mortgages
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 1:35 pm
Many Americans still don’t have a good grasp of what credit scoring is all about and fail to recognize ways to improve their grades. And a notable revision to the scoring system starting later this year might not help. Credit scoring is a statistical tool that allows all sorts of merchants and lenders to make a quick analysis of your ability to repay a loan or live up to other financial commitments. Credit scores are used by auto dealers, mortgage lenders, insurance companies, utilities and many other entities. More…
07/21/07
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 7:38 pm
The city of Chandler is teaming with a Chandler-based developer to plan and build a $300 million mixed-use project in the heart of the historic downtown district. Desert Viking Cos. is one of two developers that responded to a city-issued request for proposals in May. The City Council voted unanimously this month to negotiate a development agreement with the firm. Desert Viking already owns large chunks of downtown land and is building San Marcos Commons, a 15-acre mixed-use project that will include luxury townhomes as well as retail and office space. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 7:36 pm
Conventional ways of marketing homes aren’t going to be enough to rev up the sputtering housing industry. At least, that’s the thinking of Jennifer and Jeff Wallen, who have created a Web site to help people use an unconventional method: house swapping. The Wallens, who own Hot Realty, a traditional brokerage in Anthem, came up with the creative concept out of personal necessity. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 7:35 pm
In the slumping residential real estate market, it’s hard being a home builder — even harder being a small, independent home builder. Add to that the fact the builder is a woman developing an unusual product in an unlikely neighborhood. That would create almost insurmountable odds, but Peggy Noonan is determined to make a go of it. More…
Filed under:
General,
Business,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 7:29 pm
Steven J. Hilton, chairman and chief executive of Meritage Home Corp., Arizona’s only publicly traded home builder, saw his total compensation drop by $1.2 million between 2005 and 2006. But his 2006 paycheck of $9.74 million still nets him a coveted spot as one of the best-paid executives in Arizona. The housing market is in the tank — as reflected by Meritage’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which show the builder’s net income plummeted 81 percent from first-quarter 2006 to first-quarter 2007. Yet Hilton is not alone among builder executives pulling down hefty incomes. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 7:21 pm
Even as Mesa ramps up efforts to revive the Fiesta Mall area, a key project there has dropped the brand. Fiesta Lofts condominiums, which was to have been a high-rise project called Fiesta Towers, now are being called Aqua Terra. The complex will have more than 400 luxury condos and will offer more than 45,000 square feet of retail space, but it won’t carry the Fiesta name, despite Mesa’s efforts to set the area apart as a distinct place to live and work. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 7:20 pm
With the debut of Cave Creek’s largest commercial project just weeks away, some people have mixed feelings about its impact. Some are especially concerned about its mezzanines. Stagecoach Village, a 105,000-square-foot spectacle of Western-style retail and office space, should be finished in late August, officials said. The Cave Creek Town Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a development agreement, securing the project’s original stipulations, including a one-story height limit. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 7:18 pm
A three-building office complex near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport that is home to UnitedHealthcare, Mesa Air Group Inc. and other firms has sold for $96 million. Transwestern Investment Co., a Chicago-based real-estate investment firm that specializes in commercial buildings, bought the properties, located at the northwestern corner of 44th and Van Buren streets. The sale closed Thursday. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 7:13 pm
NORTHEAST VALLEY - Gray Development Co. has prevailed in an effort to win zoning changes in Desert Ridge, where it owns 41 acres it purchased in 2004 for $32 million. The company, with property northeast of Tatum Boulevard and Deer Valley Drive, won a lawsuit that will allow it to reduce setbacks from 150 feet to 20 feet, and to add a fifth story to some buildings. It earlier won approval for smaller garages and reduced landscaping on the interior of the project, just north of Desert Ridge Marketplace. More…