What happens to computer chip and lawn tool factories when they’ve gone out of style? The optimistic view is that someone with deep pockets and broad resources will turn lemons into lemonade. More…
In about two months, Arizona will welcome one of
A Valley developer who played a pivotal role in the creation of The Boulders in Carefree and Grayhawk in
Fallout from the subprime mortgage market collapse and the sluggish
As the mortgage industry continues to roil, local mortgage firms are struggling to stay afloat. Over the past month, the national crisis has led to the demise of some of the industry’s giants, including First Magnus, Great Southwest and American Home Mortgage, as well as this week’s announcement that Scottsdale-based 1st National Bank Holding Co. plans to close its wholesale mortgage unit. All the layoffs and closures are leaving small local brokers scrambling for business. More…
The number of people losing homes in metropolitan
No one knows better than Conley Wolfswinkel that Arizona real estate is a cyclical game. Fourteen years ago, the highflying land baron was bankrupt, convicted of a felony and saddled with $2 billion in judgments for his role in the savings-and-loan debacle of the late 1980s. His
Now that the first wave of the storm appears to have blown through, bankers are starting to clean up the mortgage mess. Most say they are finding the damage isn’t as widespread as was feared, although plenty of digging out lies ahead. Look for tighter lending policies, more conservative products and more accounting reserves to offset possible losses. More…
A record number of
The deepening residential-housing bust and widening effects of the subprime-lending crisis have Valley home builders and mortgage lenders running for cover. But those who remember the real-estate crash and savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s insist that today’s problems pale by comparison. That meltdown indelibly changed the political, economic and power infrastructure of metro Phoenix and
SHANGHAI, China - Chinese banks are just beginning to disclose their exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, sending some bank shares plummeting in Hong Kong. Bank of China saw its Hong Kong stock price fall by as much as 8.1 percent Friday in reaction to the bank’s report that it holds $9.65 billion in subprime asset-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. That’s 3.8 percent of its total securities investments. More…
Construction is under way on the final three buildings in the Ryan Cos.’ office and medical park at Desert Ridge. Soon to join the two medical buildings and two office buildings will be two more office structures and a small retail center that primarily will serve the people who work on the campus. Ryan’s development is prominent along
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. economists in a report Thursday said that a “pullback” in mortgage lending will prolong the U.S. housing recession and trigger job losses in the real estate, construction and mortgage industries. Home sales and construction starts will continue to decline through the middle of 2008 and national home prices will fall “modestly,” Michelle Meyer and Ethan Harris said in the report. Their conclusion: “The housing recession looks far from over.” More…
A groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for the Chandler Hilton was the first for a large full-service hotel in the city since Elevation Chandler started construction in 2005. Officials grabbed shovels and turned dirt for a six-story, 197-room Hilton on the southeastern corner of Frye Road and
Phil Marcotte was once one-half of Buckeye’s Community Development Department. Back in 1994, he would handle plans review, zoning, plot approval and building inspections for the entire town. He knew when drywall was installed in one home and the type of bolts used in another. When he arrived on a property, people knew exactly who he was and why he was there. That’s was before the growth. More…
WASHINGTON - Surging mortgage defaults whacked U.S. banks and thrifts in the second quarter. Profits fell 3.4 percent to $36.7 billion, and reserves to cover loan losses soared 75 percent from a year ago, regulators said Wednesday. Results for the nation’s financial institutions from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. showed that higher expenses for non-current loans, along with lower interest from investments, hurt profits in the April-June period. More…
LOS ANGELES - The number of foreclosure filings reported in the
North Peoria is beginning to come into its own as a luxury-home area of the kind associated with the ritzy areas of the northeast Valley, according to developer Phil Denaro Jr., president of Peoria-based Essex Cos. Essex is leading the way, poised to complete 12 high-end homes in the gated community of La Strada del Lago on the southeastern corner of Jomax Road and Lake Pleasant Parkway. More…
JPMorgan Chase plans to cut about 450 jobs at its downtown
PARADISE VALLEY - The Paradise Valley Planning Commission will review a new site plan for the proposed Paradise Valley Ritz-Carlton Resort. The plan will address concerns about size, height and density of some of the project’s residential areas. More…