08/26/07
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 12:47 pm
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…
Filed under:
General,
Business
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 12:42 pm
In about two months, Arizona will welcome one of China’s top diplomats, highlighting the business, social and economic ties between the East Asian country and the Grand Canyon State. Zhou Wenzhong, the People’s Republic of China’s ambassador to the U.S., will be honored Nov. 3 at the international Ambassador’s Ball presented by the Consular Corps of Arizona, an association of diplomats representing 30 countries in the state. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 12:40 pm
A Valley developer who played a pivotal role in the creation of The Boulders in Carefree and Grayhawk in North Scottsdale has broken ground on a 1,545-acre master-planned community in Show Low that could transform the sleepy town. The Show Low Bluff project, headed by Barry Ebert, will comprise more than 3,700 residential units in nine communities, a 95-acre commercial center dubbed “The Hub.” It will feature an upscale boutique hotel and spa, recreational trails, public amenities, open space and possibly a 1,000-seat amphitheater. More…
Fallout from the subprime mortgage market collapse and the sluggish U.S. housing market are sending shivers through the financial sector and prompting worries of further economic troubles. Christopher Lamoureux, head of the finance department at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, said subprime mortgage problems and increased foreclosures are shaking financial markets and economic confidence. More…
Filed under:
General,
Mortgages
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 12:35 pm
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…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 12:23 pm
The number of people losing homes in metropolitan Phoenix climbed again in July, and market-watchers are concerned that foreclosures haven’t peaked yet. Last month, 806 homes were foreclosed on Valley-wide. That’s at least a five-year high, according to the Phoenix-based real-estate research firm Information Market. July’s rate is the highest since January 2002, when 566 homes were foreclosed on. More…
Filed under:
General,
Real Estate
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 12:21 pm
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 Chandler estate and Rolls-Royce were auctioned off. He was unable to own property or get a loan in his name. Today, Wolfswinkel, 58, is the patriarch of a family real-estate empire, valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, that is positioned to shape the region’s growth for years to come. More…
Filed under:
General,
Business,
Mortgages
Posted by:
Lillian Wong @ 12:18 pm
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…