Housing market heading toward rebound or bust? | azfamily.com Phoenix

PHOENIX -- Good news for Valley homeowners. Prices are climbing big time. But could that mean we’re heading toward another housing bubble bust?

“Prices are still moving up,” said Michael Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. “They aren’t climbing as fast as last year but still at a ridiculously fast pace.”

According to Orr, the median home price is up 29 percent in the last year and up 40 percent from when we hit rock bottom.

Read more: Housing market heading toward rebound or bust? | azfamily.com Phoenix

New Lennar subdivision under construction in Foothills: Homes available for purchase before models are built - Ahwatukee Foothills News: Real Estate

Construction is under way at the new Lennar Homes subdivision near Desert Vista High School in Ahwatukee Foothills and because of a significant amount of interest, the company is allowing people to purchase homes before the models are even built.

There are five plans that will be available in Discovery at Desert Vistas near the northeast corner of 29th Place and Glenhaven Drive. The homes will vary from three bedrooms to five bedrooms, and the square footage ranges from 1,640 to 2,900. Lennar plans to build 49 homes in the subdivision.

Read more: New Lennar subdivision under construction in Foothills: Homes available for purchase before models are built - Ahwatukee Foothills News: Real Estate

Lennar’s New Multifamily Unit to Build First Complex on the Lake | Arizona Builders Exchange

The red hot rental housing market in the Valley has caused many investors and developers to want to get in on the action. The newly-formed Lennar Multifamily Investors LLC plans to build 328 units in Tempe in what will be the company’s initial foray into the apartment development and rental business.

Lennar Multifamily paid $13.5M ($2.5M/acre) to purchase a 5.3-acre parcel along the south side of the Tempe Town Lake at 601 W. Rio Salado Parkway. The seller was Evergreen Devco Inc., Phoenix. The prime land is west of Mill Avenue, immediately south of the Tempe Center for the Arts, adjacent to the Tempe Beach Park. The total land and development cost is estimated at $60M ($183K/unit). Read more: Lennar’s New Multifamily Unit to Build First Complex on the Lake | Arizona Builders Exchange

Glendale's Westgate sees influx of bars, eateries

The Westgate Entertainment District area hasn’t seen such an influx of new businesses since shortly after opening seven years ago.

Westgate officials this week announced that Whiskey Rose Saloon, a bar, restaurant and music venue dressed in Southern flair, will open by July. That follows last month’s news that Buffalo Wild Wings will open by football season.

Across 95th Avenue, just outside Westgate proper, the area recently got its first coffee shop, Flora House Cafe, since Tulley’s Coffee closed a year ago. And next door sits the newly opened Majestic Sports and Grill, which is geared toward a Latino crowd with Mexican food and international soccer games on the TVs.

Read more: Glendale's Westgate sees influx of bars, eateries

2 Valley REITs refocus from buying to selling

Two of metro Phoenix’s biggest housing investors are more concerned with selling than buying right now.

Scottsdale-based American Residential Properties raised $287.7 million in an initial public offering last month. The real-estate investment trust sold 13.7 million shares of stock at $21 each.

Scottsdale-based Colony American Homes had planned to raise $260 million through an IPO on Wednesday but postponed it because of falling REIT prices. REIT share prices have fallen more than 10 percent since mid-May.

There is no word yet on when the division of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Colony Capital plans to reschedule its public offering. Colony had expected to sell 20 million shares Wednesday.

Read more: 2 Valley REITs refocus from buying to selling

Beach-club developer Yari acquiring downtown Galleria

The developer of downtown Scottsdale’s new beach-club-anchored entertainment complex is purchasing the Galleria Corporate Centre.

Shawn Yari, owner of Triyar Cos., is acquiring the property, his spokesman, David Leibowitz, said. The property has been owned by JEMB Realty since 2000.

The sprawling, three-story commercial complex, on the northeastern corner of Scottsdale Road and Fifth Avenue, is home to Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts and Yelp, SAP, McKesson and CareerBuilder.

Leibowitz would not provide any additional information. JEMB could not be reached for comment.

The Galleria houses a workforce of nearly 2,000 people, said Ben Moriarity, Scottsdale’s downtown business specialist.

Read more: Beach-club developer Yari acquiring downtown Galleria

Lowdown on Elevation Chandler: Sale in works

Elevation Chandler is under contract to a potential buyer who wants to build about 330 rental units on the site, but the plans for multifamily housing aren’t a sure thing. City Council members have the final say on the site’s development, and they want something special on the prime spot near Loops 101 and 202.

The abandoned project, an eyesore that has stood on 10.5 acres for seven years as a testament to ego, financial mismanagement and a destructive economy, is under contract to Houston-based Hines, a worldwide developer for a sale price of $8,250,000.

Read more: Lowdown on Elevation Chandler: Sale in works