Tucson Real Estate News - from Mikey Girard

10/28/08

03:03:36 pm Mortgage crisis worse than expected 

Every day from July to September 2700 americans lost their homes to foreclosure, up from 1200 a year ago, indicating that any programs that have been put into place aren't working. More than 4 million home owners were at least one month behind in house payments. Why is problem difficult to fix?
*Crashing home prices due to investment bubble that burst. Homeowners wanted investment and not just a home to live in. Prices are down 9% from same time last year and down 17% since all time high.
Some will chose to live in their home, others are mailing keys to lenders and lenders foreclose.
*Investor speculation. These buyers have no emotional attachment and simply walk away. Investors purchased 20% of the homes in 2005... that equates to a lot of foreclosures. No more flipping and investors took advantage of risky loan products and often put very little down.
*Complex Investments. At the beginning of the decade, the Federal Reserve started cutting interest rates and investors took advantage of the situation and pour an obscene amount of money into the housing market. Subprime went from $200 billion to $600 billion. Lenders stopped worrying about credit worthiness and found products for everyone.
*Job losses. Still number one reason for not paying your mortgage is job loss.
*Falling behind.
Arizona Daily Star
10/27/2008
Mikey Girard
Long Realty
Mikey@mikeygirard.com

02:48:13 pm Pima County (Tucson Arizona) to buy part of Sopori Ranch 

Pima County is buying this 10th ranch and this one is 4135 acrea for $18.5M. Ranch is located near Amado. Voters approved $201M in county open space bonds and the county has already bought 9 ranches of which they have used $56M. Sopori Ranch dates back to the 1700's and was owned by Warner Brothers until the early 1990's. Sopori is probably taken from Sobaipuri Indians a tribe that no longer exists.
Arizona Daily Star
10/27/2008
Mikey Girard
Long Realty
mikey@mikeygirard.com

02:33:38 pm Tucson Arizona's Paulus and Dorman build in areas ofther developers have never thought about 

Tucson architects Paulus and Dorman think outside the box and find unique and creative locations to build. One example is the Ice House Lofts that they have turned into 2 story homes that are located in the middle of an industrial district close to downtown. In early 2002 the ice house closed down and by May 2002 Paulus and Dorman had partnered with Michaels and Lipman(both realtors) and bought the property. In April 2005 the first residents moved in. They tried to use as much of the existing material as possible; wood, metal fencing, valves for door knobs... etc. They have also built in Millville, Indigo Modern(close to campus)... and have received several awards for their work which has gotten them more attention. They are really into "infill" projects and stay away from projects that result in digging up more desert.
Inside Tucson Business
10/27/2008
Mikey Girard
Long Realty
mikey@mikeygirard.com

02:22:40 pm Tucson Arizona Area Real Estate News 10/27 

Pepper Viner
Tucson Arizona builder Pepper Viner receives Energy Department honors for Civano development. Pepper Viner met the Builders Challenge and was therefore recognized. The Builders Challenge was established earlier in the year and is voluntary. The challenge hopes to have $220,000 high performance homes in teh market place by 2012. Homes need to achieve 70 or lower on the Energy Smart Home Scale. Scale goes from 0 to 150 with the average new construction home being 100. The home certified by DOE came in at 36. Pepper Viner has concentrated on building better, tighter, quieter, better air quality. All 78 of Pepper Viner's homes in Tucson area Civano fall below 70... so the homes are using 30% less energy than the average.
Julian Drew Block
New Tucson development just opened and is located close to downtown on Boradway. Condos are rebuilts from 1960 apartment complex. 53 one bedroom and studio units are priced in the mid $150's and are thought to be energy efficient, hip, full of light.
Tucson Arizona builder Sombra to build at Sycamore Canyon
This will be a gated community in the Santa Rita Mountains with 47 homes on .75 acre lots starting at $365k. Sombra restricts building envelopes to retain surrounding natural environment. About 70% of Sombras land will be dedicated as a nature preserve.
Inside Tucson Business
10/27
Mikey Girard
Long Realty
mikey@mikeygirard.com

10/23/08

11:02:16 am Lender event aims to help people stay in their homes 

Tucson homeowners facing foreclosure have opportunity to meet with lending representatives to discuss options. Hope Now Alliance is scheduling the event, and their is no charge for service. Eleven representatives will be at session, including; American Home Mortgage, Bank of America, Chase, Coutrywide Financial, EMC Mortgage, GMAC, IndyMac, National City, Select Portfolio Servicing, Wilshire, Wells Fargo.
Information can be obtained at www.hopenow.com.
Arizona Daily Star
10/21/2008

10/22/08

05:02:08 pm Homeowners Bill of Rights isn't what it says; would force lawsuits 

10/21/08

02:44:41 pm Tucson green community receives funding for development 

Pomegranate Farms, a master planned community in Tucson Arizona receives funding for "green building". Tucson development will be located on Valencia near Ajo Rd. The site includes 645 acres and will include up to 3,000 residential homes. One to twenty homes will be one one acre. Schools, retail, recreation and 200 acres of open space are in the plans. Pomegranate Farms will implement green technology, smart technology and sustainability. Some "green" features include; conserve collect and recycle water, install solar street lighting and roof top equipment to aid in alternative energy, paving materials will be light to reflect light, plant more native plants, direct water towards wash area. Contruction to be complete by 2010.
www.pomegranatedevelopment.com
Inside Tucson Business
10/20/2008'
Mikey Girard
Long Realty
520-918-2432

10:18:19 am Tucson home sales increase in Sep 08 over Aug 08 which hasn't happened in 12 years 

In Tucson the number of homes sold in Sep was up, but average sales price down. Predictions by National Association of Realtors are that price will start to increase in 2009. However in Sep the number of listings increased for the first time this year.

Foreclosures are bad and could get worse. Tucson is seeing 1% of mortgage loans in foreclosure, yet the national rate is 4%. An indicator that things could get worse also include the number of deliquent mortgages which increase to 3% in Sep which is up from 1% in Aug.

10/20/08

11:28:25 am Loans still available for home buyers 

Since for now American mortgage market has been federalized there isn't a problem for qualified buyers to get a loan for a new home. Approximately 90% of new loans are being made through fereral agencies; Federal Housing Administration(FHA), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And buyers can still put 3% down for FHA and 5% on certain Fannie and Freddie programs. Considering the current economic situation, it's amazing that we are still seeing low interest rates. Pending sales accross the country are up so it appears that buyers who have been sitting on the fence, are starting to take action.
Arizona Daily Star
10/18/2008
Mikey Girard
Long Realty
520-918-2432

09:59:40 am New home builders suffer 

The nation's builders plan to build new homes at lowest rate since World War II. Monthly survey by National Association of Home Builders showed record low in early October. Builders are being hit; it's harder for Builders to get loans for new homes and it's more difficult to sell the homes they have built. University of Michigan surveyf shows consumer condidence to be lowest in 28 years. In Tucson and Pima County new home permits remain low. In Sep 2008 231 new home permits were issued and in Sep 2006 965 new home permits were issued. Volumes are expected to remain low through the first half of 2009.
Arizona Daily Star
10/18/2008