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Out-of-state investors down 11 percentage points

 Catherine Reagor of the Arizona Republic had a blurb yesterday on out-of-state investors in Arizona real estate. It was a bit confusing to me because she started out talking about California investors only and I missed the transition when she switched to talking about all out-of-state investors from any state or foreign country. She got the data from Information Market which is the same place where I buy the raw data I use in the Arizona Home Sale News weekly emails of home sales. MID-2005 Out-of-state investors account for almost 25% of Valley homes sales. California investors account for 14 of the 25 percentage points. DECEMBER 2006Out-of-state investors account for…

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Paying mortgage points a smart investment

 The mortgage curmudgeon bucks conventional wisdom on paying points on your mortgage. For example, while the return over seven years was only 8 percent on a 30-year FRM, on a 7-year ARM it was 22 percent. On a 3-year ARM, the return over three years was 17.5 percent. I found this so astonishing that 10 days later I looked again to be sure I hadn’t made a mistake. Sure enough, I hadn’t.

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Good news for military home sellers

 Bob Bruss on the primary residence capital gains exclusion for military personnel. DEAR BOB: I am on active duty with the Navy. In 1999, I bought and lived in a home in Arizona while stationed there. In 2002, I was transferred under military orders to San Diego so I converted my home to a rental. Is there any way Armed Forces members can extend that two-out-of-five-years-occupancy tax rule to be eligible for the $500,000 capital gain exclusion for married couples? Hit link above for Bob’s answer.

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Arizona homebuilders still in denial

 I expected when the number of builder specs homes in metro Phoenix finally started to decline last August, that the declines would gain momentum. They haven’t. The number of spec homes has only drifted lower, from about 4,900 in August to about 4,400 now. Despite their trashed stock prices and huge losses, homebuilders in Arizona at least are not aggresively cutting production. The strongest downward pressure on Valley home prices is the continued overproduction of new homes by Arizona homebuilders. At the rate they are going, it will take Arizona homebuilders over 2 years to get their inventory into the high end of the normal range. I had expected that…

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FBR Open has cool weather and low scores

 The FBR Open in Scottsdale was cold and wet until Thursday. The golfers showed they liked the Valley’s cold streak of weather, which kept the rough short. The rain softened the greens. Birdies were more abundant than Gambel’s quail in the spring. That’s fine, because this tournament never pretended to be the U.S. Open, where par can be a winning score. Lots of birdies mean lots of happy fans.

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Toll Brothers’ Windgate Ranch in Scottsdale opens models

 I guess Toll Brothers wasn’t in a hurry to build models at Windgate Ranch in Scottdale but a dozen will open next week. Nevertheless, they’ve already sold 110 of the 633 homes. Windgate Ranch is in between McDowell Mountain Ranch and DC Ranch. If you’re considering buying a home in North Scottsdale and would like to see Windgate Ranch, I would be happy to show it to you.

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Iranian cowboy buys up Dallas commercial real estate

 Here’s an amazing story of commercial real estate investment in Dallas and the West. The growth is even more amazing when you consider that Younan Properties has been in business only five years. Since 2002, the company has purchased $2.5 billion in real estate in Texas, Arizona, Florida and Illinois. “Our growth and expansion was so phenomenal that a lot of people did not believe it,” he said. The company has already reaped rewards from its investment program. During the last two years, Younan Properties has sold off millions of dollars in California buildings acquired a few years ago. The average return was over 80 percent on many of the…

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