Real Estate and Growth - CatherineReagor's Blog - azcentral.com

Phoenix housing market update (Thu, 17 May 2012)
Here’s a quick look at the latest statistics. April showed another month of positive gains for metro Phoenix’s housing market. The region’s median monthly resale home price climbed to $138,325,from $131,000 in March, according to Tom Ruff’s analysis with AZbidder and Information Market.In October, the median was $115,000. Last month, there were 8,552 home sales across the Phoenix area, down from 9,581 in March but up from 7,293 in February. The number of metro Phoenix homes taken back by lenders fell to 1,642, down from almost 2,000 in March. In spring 2011, there were more than ... read the rest of this post
>> Read more

Capitol Mall Assoc. raffling off Phoenix houses - only $20 a ticket (Tue, 15 May 2012)
Here’s a chance for homebuyers to not be outbid by investors and get a house for $20. The Capitol Mall Association is raffling off two homes, one in south Phoenix and the other in west Phoenix. Tickets are going for $20 apiece or six for $100, and the houses are renovated and ready to move into.   “These are great houses. Anybody who can get one for $20 will be very happy,” Capitol Mall Executive Director Shannon Dubasik said “But we are running out of time.”   The non-profit must sell 27,000 tickets by May 31, the day of the drawing, ... read the rest of this post
>> Read more

Home building in metro Phoenix show signs of a recovery (Tue, 08 May 2012)
The rebound of metro Phoenix’s new home market continues to build. New home permits were up 61 percent in the region during March, accord to the latest Phoenix Housing Market Letter. The increase is more staggering than the actual numbers, but still it signals “evidence of a new housing rebound,” according the report’s publishers RL Brown and Greg Burger. In March, there were 1,036 single-family permits issued. It was the first month in awhile where home- building permits topped 1,000. Last year in March, there were 645 single-family permits issued across the Phoenix-area. Overall, ... read the rest of this post
>> Read more

Arizona housing leaders fight to keep money from lender settlement (Mon, 30 Apr 2012)
 The Arizona Housing Alliance, made up of  leaders in the housing industry, is considering legal action to stop a proposed $50 million sweep from the mortgage settlement fund to balance the state's budget.    Arizona received a payment of $97.7 million to a mortgage settlement fund as part of a settlement reached by 49 states and the country’s five largest mortgage loan servicers who engaged in fraudulent foreclosure practices. The consent judgment stipulates the money should be used to avoid preventable foreclosures, to ameliorate the effects of the foreclosure crisis, and to prevent mortgage fraud. Governor Brewer’s and top Republican legislative leaders’ ... read the rest of this post
>> Read more

Watch out for scams on $25 billion lender settlement (Fri, 27 Apr 2012)
Scams to try to cash in on the $25 billion settlement with the nation’s largest lenders have already begun, and the deal was finalized just last month. The Arizona Attorney General is warning consumers to watch out for companies contacting them about the settlement. People who are eligible for part of the settlement will be contacted directly by one of the five major lenders involved — BofA, Citigroup, the former GMAC (now known as Ally Financial), JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. Arizona's portion of the settlement is $1.6 billion. About $1.3 billion of that amount will ... read the rest of this post
>> Read more