Desert Ridge reflects city's emphasis on Density, Height

Arizona Home Values Stumble from the Phoenix Business Journal,
reports that the housing party is officially over, according to the Arizona Blue Chip Economic Forecast. Although home sales plummeted, appreciation has held the line. But second-quarter 2007 saw an 0.3 percent drop in value compared with the first three months of the year and a national increase of 0.1 percent. The only other Western states showing a decrease were California and Nevada, according to the Blue Chip. In Arizona, Flagstaff saw the biggest drop at 0.6 percent from the first quarter. Values in the Phoenix area dropped by 0.5 percent. Those declines, however, are minor compared with long-term appreciation. Arizona housing values have double since 2001, according to the report, and even homeowners who bought a year ago saw a 2.2 percent rise in value. "Arizona analysts are now pondering whether they are observing the beginning of a prolonged period of sluggish home prices, or merely a one or two quarter dip in appreciation followed by more gains," the report said. As for the future, prices likely will be sluggish, and may continue to decline modestly next year, the report said. Going forward, however, the rate of appreciation could return to 4 to 5 percent per year. The Blue Chip Economic Forecast is published monthly by the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center, L. William Seidman Research Institute at Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business.

Valley ranks fourth in ability to grow jobs from the East Valley Tribune,
reports that the Valley jumped from 10th to fourth in a new index measuring the 200 largest metropolitan areas' ability to grow and sustain jobs. The Milken Institute's Best Performing Cities Index measures both long-term and short-term employment and salary growth, as well as technology output growth. The California-based institute is an independent economic think tank. Overall, Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale ranked fourth only behind Ocala, Fla, Wilmington N.C., and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif. "If you look at the five-year job growth and the one-year job growth, they're above average," said Jennifer Manfre, the institute's associate director of communications. "Anything above 100 is above the national average." The five-year growth rate for Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale was 114.81, while the one-year growth rate was 104.06.

Desert Ridge reflects city's emphasis on density, height from the Arizona Republic,
reports on the citywide focus of high density and growth. The northeast Phoenix master-planned community is a perfect example. When complete, nearly half of all the residential units in the 5,700-acre area will be what Phoenix considers "multifamily units." Nowhere in Phoenix has a concentration of multifamily housing like Desert Ridge, although the comparisons can sometimes be hard to make. The units in the northeast Phoenix community are plentiful and upscale, and so far, they appear to be selling well. Ranging in price from about $250,000 to $500,000, the units are purchased by a variety of people who in many ways reflect the changing demographics of the city and the nation. For a list of developments within Desert Ridge, read the complete article.

For those of you who didn't have the opportunity to go to the Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook last week, attached HERE is the link to Elliott Pollack's slide show presentation about the economy and the real estate market. Good information!