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Arizona home prices – August 2007 – 14 cities

 EXCLUSIVE – Table of ASU data created by your favorite Realtor, John L. Wake, Associate Broker, HomeSmart Real Estate. All 14 cities we follow showed median home price decreases between August 2006 to August 2007. However, condos/townhouses in two cities, Phoenix and Tempe, showed median price increases. The median home price for all of Great Phoenix declined from $262,500 in August 2006 to $255,000 in August 2007, a 3% decline. The median price in July 2007 was $265,000, so August 2007 shows a 4% decline from July. Previous price charts

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Asbestos Isn’t Always A Deal-Killer

 by Phoenix attorney Christopher A. Combs, partner with Combs Law Group, P.C. Question: After we purchased our home in an historic Phoenix neighborhood, we learned that the siding of our home contained asbestos. My wife’s father died of a lung disease caused by asbestos, and my wife no longer wants to live in the home. My neighbor has the same type of siding, and he says that there is no danger. Is there a danger from asbestos and, if so, can I rescind the purchase transaction? Answer: Asbestos was widely used before 1978 as a major component for fireproofing, pipe insulation, flooring, and roofing, and also as a fiber reinforcement…

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Is Scottsdale house poor?

 [Howie Fischer seems to be dabbling in Arizona real estate… journalism. I thought politics was his beat.] Phoenicians love to tease us Scottsdale folks with “Snottsdale” quips. This article shows that we are but a simple, (house) poor people. Around the East Valley, it appears that Scottsdale home buyers are the ones most likely to stretch their dollars. There, nearly 22 percent of those with mortgages were paying at least 40 percent [of household income]. Mesa followed at 19.7 percent, with 17.9 percent of Tempe homeowners paying that much each month. In Gilbert, the figure was 16.5 percent. Don’t cry for me Tempe.

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Washington Mutual sees more 2007 loan losses

 Washington Mutual Inc said on Monday that most U.S. housing markets are weakening, creating a “near perfect storm” that may force the largest U.S. savings and loan to set aside more money for bad loans. Chief Executive Kerry Killinger said the thrift may set aside $500 million more for loan losses than the $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion it had forecast in July. Any increase would be Washington Mutual’s fourth this year. A $500 million change since July? Wow! It also plans to move some “nonconforming” loans, which don’t meet Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchase requirements, to loans held for investment from loans held for sale. Killinger expects this…

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After run-up, rent in Phoenix area cooling off

 Misty has a very nice piece in the Tribune about Phoenix rent trends. It’s short and packed with information. The Valley’s average apartment rent hit a record high of $768 in the second quarter 2007, up from $693 two years ago That’s a huge increase in two years. When home prices skyrocketed, many had to rent versus buy. From the second quarter 2002 to the same period in 2004, rents inched up 0.15 percent, TeKampe said. During that same time from 2005 to 2007, rents jumped 10.8 percent. This year, growth is expected to slow to 2.5 or 3 percent, he said. Then the supply increased. Many frustrated home sellers…

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California housing forecast from Anderson Forecast at UCLA

 The UCLA’s Anderson Forecast of the California real estate economy skews very negative so keep that in mind. The rate of population growth and job growth in California given in the article are much lower than in Arizona. Those two factors, among others, put California real estate at a real disadvantage compared to Arizona real estate. I expect Arizona homes to return to “normal” appreciation (4-6%/yr) at least a year before California.

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Economists look at Arizona economy

 Ain’t it intriguing how they write up the guy with the gloomiest Arizona economic forecast! Crocker Liu, an Arizona State University real estate expert, said the Federal Reserve board could offer some relief Tuesday by cutting the prime-lending rate.”And there is a ray of hope that our economy will be growing,” he said of Arizona. He suggested that by September 2008 the real estate industry could begin to recover from bad loans. By the way, that wasn’t the gloomy forecast.

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Bankruptcy of Las Vegas 1031 exchange qualified intermediary

 What a nightmare! Her mistake was choosing the wrong 1031 exchange qualified intermediary. I read about the crazy owner a few months ago but this article puts a face on the victims. Marsha Slotten’s bad news came in April by e-mail, from a tipster warning that the company holding her retirement nest egg had collapsed. After racing in a panic to the office of Southwest Exchange Inc. outside Las Vegas, she found a locked door and a sign saying the staff was “in training.” It never reopened. “I was devastated,” said Slotten, 58, who said she was forced to cancel early retirement after the disappearance of $2.74 million she made…

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