Mortgage and Real Estate News: June 2015

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Gilbert Town Square still waiting for apartments

Two years after a 300-unit apartment complex was approved for Gilbert Town Square, construction has not started.

Financial issues, an ownership change and zoning complications have forced business owners such as Mike Canzona of Mike's Burgers and Cheesesteaks to wait patiently for the inevitable bump in business that apartments would bring.

Lodging Taxes and Airbnb Hosts: Who Pays, and How

Renting out a spare bedroom, or your entire house, to make some extra money is easier to do these days, thanks to online listing services and the mushrooming "sharing" economy. But inexperienced owners may be unaware that they usually must collect and pay hotel taxes due on short-term rentals.

Hotel taxes, also known as lodging or transient occupancy taxes, typically apply to rentals of 30 or fewer days in most areas. If you're leasing out a property for several months or a year, you're generally off the hook; still, some areas impose the taxes for rentals of up to 90 days or even longer. In Florida, a popular tourist destination, the tax applies to rentals of six months or less.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

UA, Banner to expand downtown biomedical campus

The University of Arizona received approval Wednesday to expand on the downtown Phoenix Biomedical Campus, using up to 5 acres of city land for research buildings, education centers and an outpatient clinical facility.

The approval by the Phoenix City Council commits the last of the land the city owns on the campus. The vote also comes less than a month after the city approved a plan by Arizona State University and billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong to build a health-solutions project on 7 acres of city land on the biomedical campus.

$200M infill developments coming to Old Town Scottsdale, Central Avenue

Scottsdale-based Deco Communities has $200 million worth of new infill condominium developments underway or in the works in Old Town and central Phoenix. That includes a new Phoenix project on Central Avenue near Thomas Road.

Deco has broken ground on a $47 million luxury condo development called the Envy Residences. Deco is building 89 condo units. They will price between $350,000 to more than $1 million.

Metrowest building second phase of downtown Phoenix infill project

Metrowest Development — the infill developer of a number of projects on Roosevelt Row — will start construction later this year on a second phase of townhouses at Fourth Avenue and McKinley Street.

Metrowest also recently rehabilitated and sold two long empty, city-owned homes on Second Avenue. Metrowest partner Matt Seaman said the residences were built in 1904 and 1909, respectively.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Don't expect 'rate riot': Nouriel Roubini

Bond investors shouldn't expect a "rate riot or rate rage" when the Federal Reserve begins to raise interest rates because the central bank has already telegraphed what it is going to do, economist Nouriel Roubini said Tuesday.

"It's not going to be a significant surprise. As the economy recovers, as inflation goes higher, gradually long-term interest rates are going to go higher," said the co-founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics, also known as "Dr. Doom."

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Opendoor launches home shopping experience to buy, sell and tour a home 24/7

When a buyer wants to tour a home, waiting on an agent's or homeowner's schedule can become yet another hassle in the home buying experience. Opendoor, a residential marketplace that allows homeowners to instantly sell their home online, aims to change that.

Today the company launched four new self-serve home buying features in Phoenix designed to reduce the hassle and headaches of the home shopping experience and put the power of convenience into the palms of their customer.

Opendoor launches home shopping experience to buy, sell and tour a home 24/7

At last, Millennials diving into home-buying pool

Something, or actually a lot of someones, was missing from metro Phoenix's housing market last year.

A dearth of first-time buyers, mainly Millennials, was the main reason the Valley's housing recovery stalled.

Greece will hurt Europe no matter what

The economic crisis in Greece is far from over, and as it plays out it will have political and economic ramifications across Europe. The most Athens and its lenders can hope for at present is a temporary agreement to prevent a Greek default and buy time to continue negotiations, but the possibility of Greece exiting from the eurozone remains.

And while a default and a "Grexit" would impact global markets and European politics most drastically, drawn out negotiations will themselves also erode confidence in the viability of the European Union.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Millennials: Here's the salary you need to buy a house in Phoenix

We've all had that thought where it's like, "I don't even want to buy a home; it's way too much commitment." Then a little voice in your head goes, "But, I mean, could I do it?"

Well, get ready to be hit with the digits, courtesy of a new report from Bloomberg.

If you are 18 to 34 years old, living in Phoenix and thinking about buying a house, you need to earn a minimum salary of $28,547.

Building Giant: Standard Pacific, Ryland Merge

Two home-building giants will merge to form one single company in an equity market capitalization deal worth $5.2 billion. Standard Pacific and Ryland Group, both based in Southern California, will own or control 74,000 home sites from the merger. They have yet to pick a new name that they will be operating under.

"Combining two industry leaders with nearly 100 years of homebuilding experience between them puts us in a strong position to benefit from the continued housing recovery," says Scott Stowell, Standard Pacific CEO, who will serve as the merged company's executive chairman. "With this merger, we gain both geographic and product diversification, expanding our reach and enhancing our growth prospects in the entry level, move-up and luxury market segments."

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Home Owners, Appraisers Disagree on Prices

The gap between appraiser and home owner perceptions over the value of homes continued to widen for the fourth consecutive month in May, according to Quicken Loans' national Home Price Perception Index. Appraisal opinions of home values were 1.15 percent lower than home owner estimates in May. The latest reading on the index marked the first time in nearly two years where appraisal opinions were lower than home owner estimates by at least 1 percent.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Alan Greenspan: US real estate is stagnating

Construction usually pulls America out of a recession, but not this time.

It's Alan Greenspan's top concern right now. The former chairman of the Federal Reserve says real estate in the U.S. is stagnating.

Sure, some cities are seeing buildings (and prices) rising, but construction of both homes and commercial properties overall isn't back to where it was before the Great Recession.

Friday, June 12, 2015

New restaurant, retail spaces being built next to planned OdySea Aquarium near Scottsdale

A new 75,000-square-foot restaurant and retail center is under construction on the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community next to the new OdySea Aquarium and Butterfly Wonderland attractions off the Loop 101 freeway.

The Shops at OdySea in the Desert sit near the Loop 101 and Via de Ventura Drive on Salt River land that borders Scottsdale. Ari Spiro's Orion Investment Real Estate is marketing the retail and restaurant center adjacent to the Loop 101 aquarium.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Phoenician resort sold for $400 million

The Phoenician, a luxury resort at the base of Camelback Mountain that draws affluent vacationers and conventioneers from around the world, is going to get a major face-lift under new ownership.

The 643-room resort, one of the largest in Arizona, was sold to Host Hotels & Resorts on Monday for $400 million.

Bond-Market Game of Chicken With Fed Is Riskier Than Ever

If the Federal Reserve is really so intent on raising interest rates this year, why is Wall Street chopping its forecasts for bond yields?

For all the hand-wringing over the recent selloff that wiped out about $1.2 trillion in value from the global bond market, the fixed-income market's best and brightest have actually taken down their year-end estimates for Treasuries in four of the past five months.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Arizona's Flintstones' theme park up for sale

"Flintstones" fans with a few million dollars now have a chance to rule over the town of Bedrock and own a page right out of history.

The owner of Flintstones Bedrock City, a northern Arizona theme park designed around the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, said Friday she is selling the property for $2 million. Linda Speckels said she is ready to retire from operating the park and campground in Williams, about 30 miles south of the Grand Canyon.

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