The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors revised its Housing Authority's ethics code and will require adherence to the new code by any housing project seeking federal funding through the county program.
The intent is to bring the program in line with federal standards and avoid repeating problems found by a critical audit two years ago.
The code revision, approved last week, is part of an ongoing effort to clean up the county housing agency, which two years ago came under scrutiny after a federal audit found evidence of financial and operational mismanagement. The authority helps provide affordable housing to low-income county residents by issuing housing vouchers and subsidizing public-housing units.
Supervisors in December 2010 took closer control of the Housing Authority amid the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's findings of mismanagement. They appointed a veteran housing administrator, Gloria Muñoz, to direct the organization after having for years handed day-to-day control to handpicked commissioners.
The authority's ethics code now includes a section that spells out standards it must meet as a part of its HUD contract. The authority operates primarily on HUD funds. Its most recent budget was $15 million.
Among the new ethics provisions are guidelines on how to avoid real or apparent conflicts of interest with contractors or with members of the organization's governing board. The code now prohibits certain hiring practices that may indicate favoritism or nepotism.
Muñoz said adding HUD contract provisions to the Authority's ethics code was one of the main changes she has sought since taking office, because it is a HUD requirement.
"It's something ... that we needed to take care of since I started, just to make sure that we're in compliance with every requirement that we say we're going to be in compliance with with HUD," Muñoz said. "Anytime you have it in policy, it's much better."
The annual HUD contract outlines operations and management requirements that must be met to receive HUD funding.
The housing agency's former executive director, Doug Lingner, resigned two years ago amid an investigation stemming from allegations of nepotism and mismanagement.
Then, the 2010 HUD audit found "a history of unsatisfactory performance in financial, procurement, governance and personnel areas," including Lingner's violation of procurement regulations by awarding a contract to his brother -- a violation of county and federal contracting requirements.
by Michelle Ye Hee Lee - Apr. 3, 2012 10:01 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Maricopa County board revises Housing Authority's ethics code
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
High rise building planned for Tempe Town Lake
Ryan Companies U.S. Inc. and Sunbelt Holdings announced today that they will build a new 10-story high rise office tower on the southern shore of Tempe Town Lake next to an existing office tower that houses major financial and tech businesses.
The new high rise, Hayden Ferry Lakeside III, will sit at the northeastern corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway. The building's curving cobalt-blue design will mirror the existing commercial and residential developments on the south side of Town Lake.
With office space virtually full at Hayden Ferry Lakeside I and II, the adjacent lake properties Parkway Properties Inc. recently purchased, Tempe officials said Town Lake is a sought after site for high-profile business wanting a prominent setting to showcase their company.
City leaders and developers hailed the high-rise project as a signal that the recession is over and said more than 900 jobs are expected to be generated by the development.
"We did say in 2008 that we were poised to be the first to recover and we're seeing that now with this," Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said.
Hayden Ferry Lakeside's recent additions include Silicon Valley Bank, which will soon move into the high rise, and Xhibit, a digital media company relocating from Michigan. Microsoft, KPMG and Smith and Barney also have offices in the tow.
Given the demand for luxury office space in the Valley, Molly Ryan Carson, vice president of Ryan Companies, expects Hayden Ferry Lakeside III's 245,000-square-feet of leasable space to fill quickly.
Ryan Companies is completing the purchase of Hayden Ferry Lakeside III from Sunbelt. Construction is expected to start by the end of 2012.
Development could kick off sooner if CBRE leases the building to about 40-50 percent of capacity, Ryan Carson said, adding that businesses have already contacted CBRE about leasing opportunities.
Ryan Carson said the new Tempe development will allow Arizona to court prominent national and international businesses that are rebounding and looking to establish a presence in luxury office space in the west and southwest.
"Throughout the Valley we are running out of exceptional Class A office space," she said. "With this (development) we're meeting that market. It will help us compete nationally against California, Nevada and other places."
Tempe councilman Mark Mitchell noted that Hayden Ferry Lakeside III will extend to the Mill Avenue Bridge and the Rio Salado Parkway sidewalk, transforming the northern gateway into downtown Tempe.
"Getting 245,000 square feet filled in downtown is going to help people see why there's a buzz about Mill Avenue," he said.
The recession has hit downtown Tempe retail business hard. But Nancy Hormann, president of Downtown Tempe Community, which manages the Mill Avenue District for landowners, considers the new high rise and revitalization of the neighboring historic Hayden Flour Mill the shot in the arm Mill needs.
After years of neglect, Hayden Flour Mill, across the street from Hayden Ferry Lakeside, will soon be open for music programming and other community events.
"Tempe Town Lake is one of the most desirable places to be in the Valley," she said. "This will finally give us the synergy we needed to connect the lake and the downtown."
Tempe development director Chris Anaradian said development of business space in downtown Tempe will be an economic driver for the Valley.
Papago Gateway Center, 260,000 square feet of luxury commercial space at the northwestern corner of Mill and Washington Street, is 80 percent leased. Tempe Gateway, at Mill and Third Street, which houses Limelight Networks, Waste Management, Parsons and TriSports.com, is about 40 percent leased.
The recession has helped the Valley broaden its perspective on development and growth, Anaradian said.
"It's not just about building anymore," he said. "It's about the 1,000 jobs that will be in that building. That's a much, much more evolved conversation for Arizona."
by Dianna M. Náñez - Mar. 20, 2012 10:58 AM The Republic | azcentral.com
High rise building planned for Tempe Town Lake
The new high rise, Hayden Ferry Lakeside III, will sit at the northeastern corner of Mill Avenue and Rio Salado Parkway. The building's curving cobalt-blue design will mirror the existing commercial and residential developments on the south side of Town Lake.
With office space virtually full at Hayden Ferry Lakeside I and II, the adjacent lake properties Parkway Properties Inc. recently purchased, Tempe officials said Town Lake is a sought after site for high-profile business wanting a prominent setting to showcase their company.
City leaders and developers hailed the high-rise project as a signal that the recession is over and said more than 900 jobs are expected to be generated by the development.
"We did say in 2008 that we were poised to be the first to recover and we're seeing that now with this," Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said.
Hayden Ferry Lakeside's recent additions include Silicon Valley Bank, which will soon move into the high rise, and Xhibit, a digital media company relocating from Michigan. Microsoft, KPMG and Smith and Barney also have offices in the tow.
Given the demand for luxury office space in the Valley, Molly Ryan Carson, vice president of Ryan Companies, expects Hayden Ferry Lakeside III's 245,000-square-feet of leasable space to fill quickly.
Ryan Companies is completing the purchase of Hayden Ferry Lakeside III from Sunbelt. Construction is expected to start by the end of 2012.
Development could kick off sooner if CBRE leases the building to about 40-50 percent of capacity, Ryan Carson said, adding that businesses have already contacted CBRE about leasing opportunities.
Ryan Carson said the new Tempe development will allow Arizona to court prominent national and international businesses that are rebounding and looking to establish a presence in luxury office space in the west and southwest.
"Throughout the Valley we are running out of exceptional Class A office space," she said. "With this (development) we're meeting that market. It will help us compete nationally against California, Nevada and other places."
Tempe councilman Mark Mitchell noted that Hayden Ferry Lakeside III will extend to the Mill Avenue Bridge and the Rio Salado Parkway sidewalk, transforming the northern gateway into downtown Tempe.
"Getting 245,000 square feet filled in downtown is going to help people see why there's a buzz about Mill Avenue," he said.
The recession has hit downtown Tempe retail business hard. But Nancy Hormann, president of Downtown Tempe Community, which manages the Mill Avenue District for landowners, considers the new high rise and revitalization of the neighboring historic Hayden Flour Mill the shot in the arm Mill needs.
After years of neglect, Hayden Flour Mill, across the street from Hayden Ferry Lakeside, will soon be open for music programming and other community events.
"Tempe Town Lake is one of the most desirable places to be in the Valley," she said. "This will finally give us the synergy we needed to connect the lake and the downtown."
Tempe development director Chris Anaradian said development of business space in downtown Tempe will be an economic driver for the Valley.
Papago Gateway Center, 260,000 square feet of luxury commercial space at the northwestern corner of Mill and Washington Street, is 80 percent leased. Tempe Gateway, at Mill and Third Street, which houses Limelight Networks, Waste Management, Parsons and TriSports.com, is about 40 percent leased.
The recession has helped the Valley broaden its perspective on development and growth, Anaradian said.
"It's not just about building anymore," he said. "It's about the 1,000 jobs that will be in that building. That's a much, much more evolved conversation for Arizona."
by Dianna M. Náñez - Mar. 20, 2012 10:58 AM The Republic | azcentral.com
High rise building planned for Tempe Town Lake
Monday, April 2, 2012
Phoenix-area home prices headed upward
Home prices are climbing in metro Phoenix faster than they have since the housing boom.
Some parts of the region experienced home-value increases of 5 to 10 percent a month this year because of a shortage of homes for sale that is sparking bidding wars between investors and regular buyers armed with pre-approvals for mortgages.
Valley home values database
This emerging recovery of home prices in the Phoenix area started late last year and has been building each month.
Home values still have a long way to go to recover to pre-boom levels. Metro Phoenix's median existing-home price is currently $124,500, about $20,000 below the area's median in 2002 and well below the $267,000 from the height of the boom in summer 2006.
But many housing-market analysts see this as the beginning of a long-awaited recovery for the area's battered housing market. The uptick in prices is enticing more buyers who have been waiting for the market's bottom to purchase a home and now have likely missed it.
"Phoenix-area home prices are climbing so quickly in some areas now, due to such low inventory, it's hard to keep up," said Tom Ruff, real-estate analyst with online foreclosure service AZ Bidder and a founder of the Information Market, which supplies data for The Republic's Valley Home Values report.
He said the prices on sales closing now, which were started 90 days ago, are outdated. So to find comparable sales, buyers and real-estate agents need to look at sales negotiated last week.
Investors have driven the market, usually paying cash for low-priced homes and beating out other bidders. About 60 percent of homes sold in metro Phoenix this year have gone to cash buyers.
Now, both investors and regular buyers trying to purchase before prices climb higher are giving Phoenix's housing recovery momentum.
However, not all parts of the region are showing the same positive signs. Areas with lower-priced homes are drawing the most buyers, while the Valley's high-end housing market is still in a slump.
Communities in metro Phoenix with better schools, shopping and freeway access are also beating out other neighborhoods -- not far away -- for home-price increases.
"Metro Phoenix has always been a pocket market for home sales," said Jim Sexton of Realty One Group. "Chandler home prices may be steadily rising now, while a neighborhood in Mesa right next to its border are seeing declines."
Micro-markets
Many of the metro Phoenix neighborhoods and communities seeing the most rapid increases in prices now experienced the biggest drop in values.
Some communities on the edge of the region, including Goodyear in the west and Queen Creek in the southeast, drew more speculators and homebuilding during the boom. Many of the buyers had subprime loans that resulted in the Valley's first wave of foreclosures.
Home prices in these new communities plummeted much lower than the region's median but are now rising the fastest.
For example, in Goodyear, the median home price has climbed 14 percent in the past year.
But while the increases are large, the prices are low: The growth translates to a median home price of $92,000 in the area, compared with $81,000 in 2010.
Some neighborhoods with bigger homes in the southeast Valley cities of Chandler and Gilbert are posting significant price increases, even though the areas didn't see huge previous declines. Chandler's median home price has climbed to $186,000 from $170,000 last year.
Bidding wars
Martin Dace has been shopping for a house in the southeast Valley for nine months. He has been outbid by both investors and regular buyers on foreclosures and short sales.
Now he's considering buying a new home in Gilbert, near his job. Though the new home will cost $25,000 more than a short-sale house of the same size, he won't have to worry about being outbid.
"I am ready to buy and move in," he said. "I am tired of losing out on bidding wars. And new homes' prices are bound to go up, too, at some point."
Housing analysts say higher-paying jobs and better schools in the East Valley draw buyers willing to pay more to live there.
Homes priced below $400,000 in established neighborhoods are selling the fastest, real-estate agents say.
Real-estate agent Bobby Lieb of HomeSmart said a home listed for $165,000 in the upscale Encanto neighborhood in central Phoenix drew 26 offers and sold for almost $225,000.
There are similar bidding-war stories across the Valley in neighborhoods where homes are priced below $400,000, even in high-end communities.
Diane Watson of Russ Lyon Realty said a Carefree home priced at $300,000 through a short sale received three offers on the first day.
"The lender actually accepted the offer right away, but I had agents calling me for weeks with clients who wanted to put in backup offers," she said. "So many buyers are losing out on bidding wars, they are getting desperate."
Struggles remain
The high-end housing market was the last to crash and is now the slowest to recover. Homes priced above $1 million in Paradise Valley and parts of north Scottsdale are generally slow to sell.
Mike Orr, a real-estate analyst with Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business, said supply is a problem for the million-dollar-plus market.
He said so many homes are for sale with price tags and mortgages above $1 million, that this portion of the market could take a few years to post increases.
The median price of a home in exclusive Paradise Valley has fallen to $870,000 from $1 million a year ago.
Though, last week, a Paradise Valley home did sell for $10.5 million in cash, the highest price paid for a metro Phoenix home since the boom.
Joan Levinson of Realty One Group said that there are buyers looking for great deals in the Valley's high-end housing market but that some sellers are still reluctant to accept offers in the hope prices will climb.
Looking ahead
If the current trends continue, with fewer foreclosure homes for sale, home prices will also continue to rise, real-estate analysts say.
Foreclosures did climb slightly in February, but not enough to alarm housing-market watchers.
The number of metro Phoenix homes taken back by lenders during February is still less than half the number of foreclosures recorded during almost every month in 2009.
Also, the number of homeowners behind on their mortgages in Arizona continues to fall. So, many market watchers don't expect another big jump in foreclosures.
Post-foreclosure sales are another matter -- banks decide when to put those homes back on the market. If they were to flood the market with a large supply of vacant homes, they could drive prices down again, as a similar move did in 2008-09.
Longer term, experts are gauging a housing recovery not by bank-owned homes but by homes for sale by owner-occupants.
Orr said the recovery will feel much more real when homeowners who bought before the boom feel optimistic enough to put their homes on the market.
"Many homeowners and buyers are still several months behind the reality of what's going on in metro Phoenix's housing market," said Orr, who also publishes the Cromford Report, an online daily real-estate analysis. "The housing market started recovering last year and hasn't stopped."
by Catherine Reagor - Mar. 31, 2012 11:32 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix-area home prices headed upward
Some parts of the region experienced home-value increases of 5 to 10 percent a month this year because of a shortage of homes for sale that is sparking bidding wars between investors and regular buyers armed with pre-approvals for mortgages.
Valley home values database
This emerging recovery of home prices in the Phoenix area started late last year and has been building each month.
Home values still have a long way to go to recover to pre-boom levels. Metro Phoenix's median existing-home price is currently $124,500, about $20,000 below the area's median in 2002 and well below the $267,000 from the height of the boom in summer 2006.
But many housing-market analysts see this as the beginning of a long-awaited recovery for the area's battered housing market. The uptick in prices is enticing more buyers who have been waiting for the market's bottom to purchase a home and now have likely missed it.
"Phoenix-area home prices are climbing so quickly in some areas now, due to such low inventory, it's hard to keep up," said Tom Ruff, real-estate analyst with online foreclosure service AZ Bidder and a founder of the Information Market, which supplies data for The Republic's Valley Home Values report.
He said the prices on sales closing now, which were started 90 days ago, are outdated. So to find comparable sales, buyers and real-estate agents need to look at sales negotiated last week.
Investors have driven the market, usually paying cash for low-priced homes and beating out other bidders. About 60 percent of homes sold in metro Phoenix this year have gone to cash buyers.
Now, both investors and regular buyers trying to purchase before prices climb higher are giving Phoenix's housing recovery momentum.
However, not all parts of the region are showing the same positive signs. Areas with lower-priced homes are drawing the most buyers, while the Valley's high-end housing market is still in a slump.
Communities in metro Phoenix with better schools, shopping and freeway access are also beating out other neighborhoods -- not far away -- for home-price increases.
"Metro Phoenix has always been a pocket market for home sales," said Jim Sexton of Realty One Group. "Chandler home prices may be steadily rising now, while a neighborhood in Mesa right next to its border are seeing declines."
Micro-markets
Many of the metro Phoenix neighborhoods and communities seeing the most rapid increases in prices now experienced the biggest drop in values.
Some communities on the edge of the region, including Goodyear in the west and Queen Creek in the southeast, drew more speculators and homebuilding during the boom. Many of the buyers had subprime loans that resulted in the Valley's first wave of foreclosures.
Home prices in these new communities plummeted much lower than the region's median but are now rising the fastest.
For example, in Goodyear, the median home price has climbed 14 percent in the past year.
But while the increases are large, the prices are low: The growth translates to a median home price of $92,000 in the area, compared with $81,000 in 2010.
Some neighborhoods with bigger homes in the southeast Valley cities of Chandler and Gilbert are posting significant price increases, even though the areas didn't see huge previous declines. Chandler's median home price has climbed to $186,000 from $170,000 last year.
Bidding wars
Martin Dace has been shopping for a house in the southeast Valley for nine months. He has been outbid by both investors and regular buyers on foreclosures and short sales.
Now he's considering buying a new home in Gilbert, near his job. Though the new home will cost $25,000 more than a short-sale house of the same size, he won't have to worry about being outbid.
"I am ready to buy and move in," he said. "I am tired of losing out on bidding wars. And new homes' prices are bound to go up, too, at some point."
Housing analysts say higher-paying jobs and better schools in the East Valley draw buyers willing to pay more to live there.
Homes priced below $400,000 in established neighborhoods are selling the fastest, real-estate agents say.
Real-estate agent Bobby Lieb of HomeSmart said a home listed for $165,000 in the upscale Encanto neighborhood in central Phoenix drew 26 offers and sold for almost $225,000.
There are similar bidding-war stories across the Valley in neighborhoods where homes are priced below $400,000, even in high-end communities.
Diane Watson of Russ Lyon Realty said a Carefree home priced at $300,000 through a short sale received three offers on the first day.
"The lender actually accepted the offer right away, but I had agents calling me for weeks with clients who wanted to put in backup offers," she said. "So many buyers are losing out on bidding wars, they are getting desperate."
Struggles remain
The high-end housing market was the last to crash and is now the slowest to recover. Homes priced above $1 million in Paradise Valley and parts of north Scottsdale are generally slow to sell.
Mike Orr, a real-estate analyst with Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business, said supply is a problem for the million-dollar-plus market.
He said so many homes are for sale with price tags and mortgages above $1 million, that this portion of the market could take a few years to post increases.
The median price of a home in exclusive Paradise Valley has fallen to $870,000 from $1 million a year ago.
Though, last week, a Paradise Valley home did sell for $10.5 million in cash, the highest price paid for a metro Phoenix home since the boom.
Joan Levinson of Realty One Group said that there are buyers looking for great deals in the Valley's high-end housing market but that some sellers are still reluctant to accept offers in the hope prices will climb.
Looking ahead
If the current trends continue, with fewer foreclosure homes for sale, home prices will also continue to rise, real-estate analysts say.
Foreclosures did climb slightly in February, but not enough to alarm housing-market watchers.
The number of metro Phoenix homes taken back by lenders during February is still less than half the number of foreclosures recorded during almost every month in 2009.
Also, the number of homeowners behind on their mortgages in Arizona continues to fall. So, many market watchers don't expect another big jump in foreclosures.
Post-foreclosure sales are another matter -- banks decide when to put those homes back on the market. If they were to flood the market with a large supply of vacant homes, they could drive prices down again, as a similar move did in 2008-09.
Longer term, experts are gauging a housing recovery not by bank-owned homes but by homes for sale by owner-occupants.
Orr said the recovery will feel much more real when homeowners who bought before the boom feel optimistic enough to put their homes on the market.
"Many homeowners and buyers are still several months behind the reality of what's going on in metro Phoenix's housing market," said Orr, who also publishes the Cromford Report, an online daily real-estate analysis. "The housing market started recovering last year and hasn't stopped."
by Catherine Reagor - Mar. 31, 2012 11:32 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Phoenix-area home prices headed upward
Building's shell to be resurrected as church
A Northeast Valley Episcopal church plans to resurrect the shell of an unfinished office building in north Scottsdale and transform it into a house of worship.
If all goes well, the Episcopal Church of the Nativity will hold services by Christmas in its new church at 22405 N. Miller Road, which is southeast of the former Rawhide theme park.
A monument to the recession, the foundation and walls of the 24,500-square-foot two-story building have been an eyesore in the Sonoran Hills neighborhood.
"It will be a wonderful home for the Christmas celebration," the Rev. Susan Snook said. "We're excited about being part of that neighborhood."
The Episcopal Church of the Nativity, like other commercial and residential buyers, has found a silver lining in the real-estate collapse of four years ago with far more affordable prices for property in Scottsdale.
The church paid $700,000 for the unfinished building, Snook said.
A developer started construction on the office building in 2007, but it came to a halt after the foundation and walls were erected, and the property went into foreclosure.
"It was bad timing on their part, but it turned out to be good fortune for us," said George Hartz, a DC Ranch resident who is a church board member.
The 7.6-acre property includes three other office-condo buildings of 8,000 square feet and one of 10,000 square feet, said Jason Hersker, a senior associate with Capital Asset Management, the company marketing the property.
The Sorenson Group family trust acquired the property in 2009 as part of a bundle of properties in a bank foreclosure, he said, adding that proceeds from the church sale are allowing the owner to complete the office condos.
The condos will soon be offered for sale or lease, but pricing has not been set, Hersker said.
The church, with about 350 members, was founded in fall 2006 and first had services at Grayhawk Elementary School. Its five-year lease for 5,000 square feet of space in an office building at 7010 E. Chauncey Lane is expiring at the end of this year.
Snook said the church looked for a suitable permanent location in an existing building or land for a new building, but it never found anything that would work until the building shell turned up.
"As we looked at it, we could see some real possibilities architecturally," she said.
The church had a structural analysis done, and it revealed the building is in good shape, Snook said.
"We can make good use of the walls and foundation that are there already, while redesigning the exterior and interior to look like a church," she added.
Arched windows and doorways and an entry facade will make it look like a modern church rather than a boxy building for medical or professional offices.
The Church of the Nativity's first level will include a two-story sanctuary and other facilities. The remaining space on the second level will be reserved for expansion, Snook said.
The church will also have weekend access to 200 parking spaces adjacent to the office condos.
Hartz said the church's location near the Vi at Silverstone retirement community and other planned apartments and homes at the development that is replacing Rawhide is ideal. The Appaloosa Library, Pinnacle Peak Elementary School and a post office are nearby.
"It's better when you're building a community place of worship for it to be in a community," he said.
by Peter Corbett - Mar. 30, 2012 02:26 PM The Republic |azcentral.com
Building's shell to be resurrected as church
If all goes well, the Episcopal Church of the Nativity will hold services by Christmas in its new church at 22405 N. Miller Road, which is southeast of the former Rawhide theme park.
A monument to the recession, the foundation and walls of the 24,500-square-foot two-story building have been an eyesore in the Sonoran Hills neighborhood.
"It will be a wonderful home for the Christmas celebration," the Rev. Susan Snook said. "We're excited about being part of that neighborhood."
The Episcopal Church of the Nativity, like other commercial and residential buyers, has found a silver lining in the real-estate collapse of four years ago with far more affordable prices for property in Scottsdale.
The church paid $700,000 for the unfinished building, Snook said.
A developer started construction on the office building in 2007, but it came to a halt after the foundation and walls were erected, and the property went into foreclosure.
"It was bad timing on their part, but it turned out to be good fortune for us," said George Hartz, a DC Ranch resident who is a church board member.
The 7.6-acre property includes three other office-condo buildings of 8,000 square feet and one of 10,000 square feet, said Jason Hersker, a senior associate with Capital Asset Management, the company marketing the property.
The Sorenson Group family trust acquired the property in 2009 as part of a bundle of properties in a bank foreclosure, he said, adding that proceeds from the church sale are allowing the owner to complete the office condos.
The condos will soon be offered for sale or lease, but pricing has not been set, Hersker said.
The church, with about 350 members, was founded in fall 2006 and first had services at Grayhawk Elementary School. Its five-year lease for 5,000 square feet of space in an office building at 7010 E. Chauncey Lane is expiring at the end of this year.
Snook said the church looked for a suitable permanent location in an existing building or land for a new building, but it never found anything that would work until the building shell turned up.
"As we looked at it, we could see some real possibilities architecturally," she said.
The church had a structural analysis done, and it revealed the building is in good shape, Snook said.
"We can make good use of the walls and foundation that are there already, while redesigning the exterior and interior to look like a church," she added.
Arched windows and doorways and an entry facade will make it look like a modern church rather than a boxy building for medical or professional offices.
The Church of the Nativity's first level will include a two-story sanctuary and other facilities. The remaining space on the second level will be reserved for expansion, Snook said.
The church will also have weekend access to 200 parking spaces adjacent to the office condos.
Hartz said the church's location near the Vi at Silverstone retirement community and other planned apartments and homes at the development that is replacing Rawhide is ideal. The Appaloosa Library, Pinnacle Peak Elementary School and a post office are nearby.
"It's better when you're building a community place of worship for it to be in a community," he said.
by Peter Corbett - Mar. 30, 2012 02:26 PM The Republic |azcentral.com
Building's shell to be resurrected as church
Mansion in PV sells for $10.5 mil
Metro Phoenix's high-end housing market received a boost earlier this week when a 35,000-square-foot mansion in Paradise Valley sold for $10.5 million in cash. It's the region's highest price home resale since the boom, though there have been some pricier homes built.
The house, situated on 5 acres, was once owned by Phillips Smith, former chairman of Taser International. He gave the home back to lender M&I Bank in 2011.
The buyer, M56 Place LLC, has carefully covered the names of its principals, the people who will own the home.
"The house is in great shape and was a great deal for the buyer," said Joan Levinson of Realty One Group. She negotiated the sale for the lender and buyer and declined to disclose names of the people behind M56 Place.
The house was originally listed for $20 million, and then lowered to $15.9 million. The mansion comes with a 21-car garage, two swimming pools, a guesthouse, seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, $1.2 million in security and sound equipment, a 13-seat movie theater and two large libraries
Smith lived in the home and maintained it until the sale.
Price per square foot
For anyone still in doubt about home prices increasing in the metro Phoenix area: on March 28, the price-per-square-foot of a home sale in the region had climbed 8.68 percent from the end of February, according to the Cromford Report.
Mike Orr, publisher of the online real-estate report, said that beats the highest monthly price jump during the region's housing boom: 7.47 percent during January 2005.
The biggest 30-day price change during the past decade happened during September 2007, but that was a drop of 9 percent.
Valley Home Values
The Republic's annual analysis of metro Phoenix home prices and sales will be in Sunday's paper and online at homevalues.azcentral.com.
Some homeowners may look at the data and think prices look low for their neighborhood.
The report is based on annual data from 2011, and many areas didn't start to see increases in home values until late last year.
by Catherine Reagor - Mar. 30, 2012 04:50 PM The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Fewer Phoenix-area homes for sale; prices up
A surge in buyers and a drop in foreclosures have left a shortage of houses for sale in metro Phoenix, according to a newly released report on the state of the housing market.
The shrinking inventory has prompted bidding wars and pushed up home prices in many communities.
At the end of February, the supply of homes for sale was just under 24,000, down 42 percent from a year earlier, mostly because of a 52 percent drop in foreclosures during the past year, according to the latest monthly real-estate report from Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business.
As banks take back fewer homes through foreclosure, fewer homes go to auction or back on the market.
Tuesday's report, which said that home prices could keep climbing if the inventory of homes for sale remains low, was the most optimistic from ASU since the beginning of the region's housing crash in 2007.
"Supply is tight, in a pretty extreme way, and it looks like it will stay that way for months," said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at ASU.
Orr said that as long as supply is tight and there are more buyers than sellers, Phoenix-area home prices will continue to climb.
Metro Phoenix's median home price has steadily been increasing since last August, when it fell to a 12-year low of $113,000. The region's median for February was $124,500, up 8 percent from a year earlier.
Climbing home prices could entice more homeowners who bought before the boom to try to sell their homes.
More sellers would increase supply, balancing the market and aiding many frustrated buyers who are currently being outbid on foreclosures and short-sale homes.
"Now, I have a ton of buyers and no properties to sell them," said Diane Brennan of Scottsdale-based Keller Williams Integrity First Realty.
"I warned buyers for months they should act quickly. Many didn't pull the trigger before because they were waiting for the bottom," she said.
There is a potential problem lurking in the recent trend: Some appraisals aren't keeping pace with the increases in home prices.
Orr said appraisers are still looking at prices from three months ago.
In some parts of metro Phoenix, though, home prices have climbed 5 percent or more since the beginning of the year.
by Catherine Reagor - Mar. 27, 2012 10:48 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Fewer Phoenix-area homes for sale; prices up
The shrinking inventory has prompted bidding wars and pushed up home prices in many communities.
At the end of February, the supply of homes for sale was just under 24,000, down 42 percent from a year earlier, mostly because of a 52 percent drop in foreclosures during the past year, according to the latest monthly real-estate report from Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business.
As banks take back fewer homes through foreclosure, fewer homes go to auction or back on the market.
Tuesday's report, which said that home prices could keep climbing if the inventory of homes for sale remains low, was the most optimistic from ASU since the beginning of the region's housing crash in 2007.
"Supply is tight, in a pretty extreme way, and it looks like it will stay that way for months," said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at ASU.
Orr said that as long as supply is tight and there are more buyers than sellers, Phoenix-area home prices will continue to climb.
Metro Phoenix's median home price has steadily been increasing since last August, when it fell to a 12-year low of $113,000. The region's median for February was $124,500, up 8 percent from a year earlier.
Climbing home prices could entice more homeowners who bought before the boom to try to sell their homes.
More sellers would increase supply, balancing the market and aiding many frustrated buyers who are currently being outbid on foreclosures and short-sale homes.
"Now, I have a ton of buyers and no properties to sell them," said Diane Brennan of Scottsdale-based Keller Williams Integrity First Realty.
"I warned buyers for months they should act quickly. Many didn't pull the trigger before because they were waiting for the bottom," she said.
There is a potential problem lurking in the recent trend: Some appraisals aren't keeping pace with the increases in home prices.
Orr said appraisers are still looking at prices from three months ago.
In some parts of metro Phoenix, though, home prices have climbed 5 percent or more since the beginning of the year.
by Catherine Reagor - Mar. 27, 2012 10:48 PM The Republic | azcentral.com
Fewer Phoenix-area homes for sale; prices up
Demand For Homes Continues To Show Recovery - WSJ.com
The number of contracts signed to buy homes in February eased slightly from January but posted another strong gain from a year ago—the latest sign that demand for homes is up from the depressed levels of the previous 18 months.
A report Monday by the National Association of Realtors showed the index of pending home sales, reflecting deals that have gone into contract but haven't yet closed, rose 9.2% last month from a year earlier, continuing a rise largely fueled by investors' purchases of foreclosed properties. The index fell by 0.5% from January.
While buyers are starting to step forward, however, home builders and real-estate agents report an elevated level of contracts falling apart, as buyers run into trouble qualifying for mortgages amid tough lending standards.
Another common complaint: low appraisals that come in below a negotiated value, requiring sellers to cut their price or buyers to put more money down in order to keep a deal from collapsing. As a result, the pending sales figures could be overstating actual sales as buyers sign multiple contracts over the course of several months.
The number of contracts signed to purchase homes in February posted another strong gain in the latest sign that housing demand is up from the depressed levels of the previous 18 months. Nick Timiraos has details on The News Hub. Photo: Bloomberg News
Still, analysts say that housing demand appears to be stronger than at any point in the past year. Low prices are luring investors who can convert properties into rental units and make double-digit returns. More first-time buyers could face added urgency to move as landlords begin to raise rents and mortgage rates rise from record lows.
"We are seeing very strong activity out there," said Ivy Zelman, chief executive of research firm Zelman & Associates. Buyers are tired of deferring moves, and rising rents "have really pushed people off the fence," she said. "We're not ready yet to wave the victory flag and say home prices are going up, but we're confident they're stabilizing."
Monday's report showed that purchase activity was up 18.4% and 19% from a year ago in the Northeast and Midwest, respectively, after an unseasonably warm winter. Contract activity fell by 1.8% in the West.
Real-estate agents in many parts of the country say inventories of homes for sale are declining, leaving more buyers competing for less supply. Shrinking inventories could be a consequence of the decline in home prices, which has left more sellers unable or unwilling to sell their homes at a loss.
In Orange County, Calif., the number of homes listed for sale is down by 36% from a year ago. Meanwhile, the number of homes under contract is up 25% to its highest level in four years, according to Steven Thomas, a local housing-market analyst.
So far this year, nearly one in six homes listed for sale have gone under contract within their first three days across the 18 markets covered by Redfin Corp., a Seattle-based brokerage, said Glenn Kelman, the firm's chief executive.
by Nick Timiraos The Wall Street Journal Mar 28, 2012
Demand For Homes Continues To Show Recovery - WSJ.com
A report Monday by the National Association of Realtors showed the index of pending home sales, reflecting deals that have gone into contract but haven't yet closed, rose 9.2% last month from a year earlier, continuing a rise largely fueled by investors' purchases of foreclosed properties. The index fell by 0.5% from January.
While buyers are starting to step forward, however, home builders and real-estate agents report an elevated level of contracts falling apart, as buyers run into trouble qualifying for mortgages amid tough lending standards.
Another common complaint: low appraisals that come in below a negotiated value, requiring sellers to cut their price or buyers to put more money down in order to keep a deal from collapsing. As a result, the pending sales figures could be overstating actual sales as buyers sign multiple contracts over the course of several months.
The number of contracts signed to purchase homes in February posted another strong gain in the latest sign that housing demand is up from the depressed levels of the previous 18 months. Nick Timiraos has details on The News Hub. Photo: Bloomberg News
Still, analysts say that housing demand appears to be stronger than at any point in the past year. Low prices are luring investors who can convert properties into rental units and make double-digit returns. More first-time buyers could face added urgency to move as landlords begin to raise rents and mortgage rates rise from record lows.
"We are seeing very strong activity out there," said Ivy Zelman, chief executive of research firm Zelman & Associates. Buyers are tired of deferring moves, and rising rents "have really pushed people off the fence," she said. "We're not ready yet to wave the victory flag and say home prices are going up, but we're confident they're stabilizing."
Monday's report showed that purchase activity was up 18.4% and 19% from a year ago in the Northeast and Midwest, respectively, after an unseasonably warm winter. Contract activity fell by 1.8% in the West.
Real-estate agents in many parts of the country say inventories of homes for sale are declining, leaving more buyers competing for less supply. Shrinking inventories could be a consequence of the decline in home prices, which has left more sellers unable or unwilling to sell their homes at a loss.
In Orange County, Calif., the number of homes listed for sale is down by 36% from a year ago. Meanwhile, the number of homes under contract is up 25% to its highest level in four years, according to Steven Thomas, a local housing-market analyst.
So far this year, nearly one in six homes listed for sale have gone under contract within their first three days across the 18 markets covered by Redfin Corp., a Seattle-based brokerage, said Glenn Kelman, the firm's chief executive.
by Nick Timiraos The Wall Street Journal Mar 28, 2012
Demand For Homes Continues To Show Recovery - WSJ.com
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