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Monday, June 30
Slight wobble in Maricopa
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Mon 30 Jun 2008 11:41 PM MST
Out checking spec prices today, and it seems that DRHorton has adjusted their prices upward. Please keep in mind that DRHorton has approx 12 different product lines in Maricopa, which equals about 1/5 of the new home subdivisions.
The prices were raised across all product lines. The smallest homes (1050 sq ft) increased $5,000.
The largest homes (4400 sq ft) increased $20,000
Yes, we are still in a buyer's market, this is probably just a wobble in prices. Once upper management sees that they aren't selling many, they will re-adjust prices!
Walmart, Burger King, Movie theaters, coming to Maricopa?
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Mon 30 Jun 2008 02:00 AM MST
I found the plans for the shopping center being built at Porter & Casa Grande Highway in Maricopa.
As always, plans can change. Please don't shoot the messenger if they do!
Other than that, I am stoked about having a movie theater, car wash and some new stores coming to town.
Here is the link to the builder's brochure! Walmart, carwash & theater
Saturday, June 28
America's sweatiest city?
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Sat 28 Jun 2008 01:26 AM MST
No kiddin! It was 110 here today! Deodorant company names Phoenix sweatiest city
Jun. 25, 2008 09:20 AM
Associated Press
CINCINNATI - It may be a "dry heat" out there, but Phoenix still leads a list of America's sweatiest cities.
The annual ranking comes from Old Spice deodorant, made by
Cincinnati-based Procter and Gamble. The company says its findings are
based on computer
simulations of the amount of sweat an average person would have
produced walking around in cities for an hour during June, July and
August of last year.
Las Vegas is America's second-sweatiest city, followed by Tallahassee, Florida.
P-and-G's hometown of Cincinnati is a relatively unsweaty Number 59.
Other Ohio cities include Cleveland at Number 66, Dayton in 69th and
Columbus in 72nd place on the list.
Wednesday, June 25
Maricopa throws a 4th of July Bash! FREE!!!
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Wed 25 Jun 2008 01:11 AM MST
The Great American BBQ and Fireworks Extravaganza.
Friday July 4, 2008, 6:00 p.m., Pacana Park, Maricopa, Ariz.
This slice of Americana includes a pie eating contest, water zone, and movie in the park. Festivities include a fireworks show set off immediately following the movie, a whiffle ball tournament and a watermelon seed spitting contest. Now in its third year, Maricopa’s July 4 event is a celebration of American spirit. www.maricopa-az.gov.
Download flyer (pdf)
Wednesday, June 18
Gone for a week
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Wed 18 Jun 2008 05:27 PM MST
No Blogging for 1 week! It is my 10 yr anniversary, and taking the wife to Hawaii.
Still have email and phone though!
800.207.6919
Friday, June 13
4 states account for 50% of US foreclosures!
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Fri 13 Jun 2008 11:09 PM MST
Source: BIG BUILDER News
Publication date: June 12, 2008
By Lisa Brown
Dr. Housing Bubble reports that just four states--California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada--account for nearly 50% of foreclosures nationwide, according to recently released numbers from RealtyTrac. In fact, California alone is home to over 26% of national foreclosure activity. For that story and more, check out Big Builder's bi-weekly roundup of the latest in opinion and commentary across the Web.
In light of the recent 17% drop to a 16-year low in Washington Mutual's stock price and subsequent 11% rally, BuisnessWeek's Hot Property questions whether or not a takeover may be in the works.
While government data shows that modern home sizes are huge by historical standards, a recent survey by the American Institute of Architects reveals a trend toward shrinking square footages, according to Inman News.
Reggie Middleton's Boom Bust turns its attention back to Lehman Brothers, which has removed its CFO and COO, and Keybank, which plans to cut its quarterly dividend in half--after 43 straight years of dividend increases.
As gas prices near $4.50 in San Diego, Seeking Alpha questions whether the housing-commute tradeoff will continue to pencil for exurban communities such as Temecula, Calif.
From Illinois to Michigan to Minnesota, The Housing Bubble tells the tale of soaring home prices on multi-year growth spurts that have since come crashing down.
The Wall Street Journal reports that 65.5% of homes sold by Realtors in Sacramento, Calif., for the month of May were bank-owned, foreclosed properties, while the median sales price declined 34.2% year-over-year.
Thursday, June 12
US Foreclosure set record 1st Quarter
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Thu 12 Jun 2008 11:00 PM MST
Foreclosures set record in first quarter
Economists expect defaults to keep rising as housing crisis
deepens
The Associated Press
updated 3:29 p.m. MT, Thurs.,
June. 5, 2008
MSNBC.com
WASHINGTON - Home foreclosures and late payments set records over the
first three months of the year and are expected to keep rising, stark signs of
the housing crisis' mounting damage to homeowners and the economy.
The latest snapshot of the
mortgage market showed that the proportion of mortgages that fell into
foreclosure soared to 0.99 percent in the January-through-March period. That
surpassed the previous high of 0.83 percent over the last three months in 2007.
The report by the Mortgage
Bankers Association also found that more homeowners slipped behind on their
monthly payments.
The delinquency rate jumped to
6.35 percent in the first quarter, compared with 5.82 percent for the three
months earlier. Payments are considered delinquent if they are 30 or more days
past due.
Both the rate of new
foreclosures and late payments were the highest on record going back to 1979.
Jay Brinkmann, the
association's vice president of research and economics, told The Associated
Press that the slump in house prices was the biggest factor for rising
foreclosures and late payments.
With prices expected to keep
dropping, foreclosures and late payments "are going to continue to go
up" in the months ahead, he said.
Homeowners with tarnished
credit who have subprime adjustable-rate loans took the hardest hits.
Foreclosures and late payments for these borrowers also swelled to all-time
highs in the first quarter.
The percentage of subprime
adjustable-rate mortgages that started the foreclosure process climbed to 6.35
percent. The rate was 5.29 percent in fourth quarter, the previous high.
Late payments rose to 22.07
percent from 20.02 percent, the previous high.
The association's survey covers
just over 45 million home loans.
More problems also cropped up
with loans to more creditworthy borrowers.
The percentage of such loans
falling into foreclosure was 0.54 percent, compared with 0.41 percent at the
end of last year. Late payment rose to 3.71 percent, compared with 3.24
percent.
The numbers were higher for
prime borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages. The proportion of those loans
falling into foreclosures jumped to 1.55 percent from 1.06 percent. The
delinquency rate rose to 6.78 percent, compared with 5.51 percent.
"The number one problem is
the drop in home prices," Brinkmann said. Declining prices, especially in
newer built areas, "are hurting people's ability to recover when they run
into trouble — a divorce or loss of job," he said. "In other days,
you could sell the home. But because home prices have fallen so much, in many
of those cases, the homes are going into foreclosure."
California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona
accounted for 89 percent of the total increase in new home foreclosures, he
said. Those are places where prices have fallen sharply and there was a lot of
home building, creating too much supply, Brinkmann said.
The housing crisis is at the
center of the country's economic troubles.
After a five-year boom, the market
fell into a deep slump two years ago. That dragged down sales, and prices with
it. As the value of homes plummeted, many newer homeowners found themselves
owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth.
Homeowners with adjustable-rate
mortgages were clobbered when their initially low rates reset to much higher
ones. That made it difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with monthly
mortgage payments.
As foreclosures and late
payments climbed, financial companies took multibillion losses when their
investments in mortgage-backed securities soured. A credit crisis erupted and
spread, crimping other types of financing. The fallout plunged Wall Street in
turmoil, disrupting the normal functioning of markets.
All those troubles have pushed
the economy to the brink of a recession, if the country isn't already in one.
Consumers and business have tightened their spending. Employers have cut more
than a quarter-million jobs in the first four months of this year.
To bolster the economy, the
Federal Reserve made aggressive interest rate cuts. That has helped homeowners
facing rate resets on their adjustable-rate mortgages. But with inflation on
the rise, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke this week sent his strongest signal yet
that the central bank's rate-cutting campaign started that started in September
is coming to an end.
The Bush administration has
taken steps to help distressed homeowners. It has urged lenders to freeze rates
for some homeowners and encouraged lenders to rework mortgage terms so troubled
borrowers can stay in their homes.
Congress is considering giving
government-backed mortgages to thousands of strapped borrowers. The White House
has expressed some concerns.
Tuesday, June 10
Canadians in Arizona
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Tue 10 Jun 2008 12:42 AM MST
Builders and the stock market- June 8
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Tue 10 Jun 2008 12:41 AM MST
This excerpt from Big Builder Online
By BB Staff
Moody's Investors Service late this morning took down its credit ratings on a half-dozen of the nation's largest home building companies, citing the continuing deterioration of their balance sheets and of the housing market in general.
Moody's dropped D.R. Horton, Centex, Pulte, KB Home and Ryland down one notch to Ba2, its second highest junk category, and it took Lennar down two levels to a Ba3, citing concern over the latter's exposure to joint ventures, its land position, its debt-to-capital ratio and its ability to generate cash going forward.
"The negative ratings outlook reflects Moody's expectation that many of [Lennar's] credit metrics will continue eroding as homebuilding industry conditions remain challenging into next year, with any recovery likely to be sluggish at first, thus prolonging underperformance until early in the next decade," wrote Joseph A. Snider, a Moody's VP and a senior credit officer.
Regarding D.R. Horton, Snider wrote, "The downgrades reflect that the company has begun to generate quarterly losses before impairments and other charges, and Moody's expects this trend to continue into next year, as the rate of expected revenue decline exceeds the pace at which the company can continue to pare costs. When large and continuing impairment charges are folded in, the company's debt leverage will continue to edge up while covenant compliance will become, and remain, very challenging."
The comments were similar for KB, Centex, Pulte and Ryland, in each case centering around continuing generation of losses before impairments and the erosion of debt-to-equity ratios that is likely to make covenant compliance difficult going forward. Snider cited KB for its joint-venture exposure and "already high lease-adjusted debt leverage of 59.2%," and chided Pulte for poor performance relative to its peers in reducing inventory and lot supply.
The entire public builder group was down in mid-afternoon trading, with the exception of NVR (NYSE:NVR), which was up marginally to $552.42. The S&P Home Builders ETF (AMEX:XHB) was off 2.2% at $18.39, nearing its three-month low.
Friday, June 6
If you build it they will come.
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Fri 06 Jun 2008 08:28 PM MST
New movie theater, Burger King and so much more. This info comes from the Builder/Management's website at http://www.gvsw.com/Content/News.aspx?NewsID=353&DocType=Doc Finally! Seeing a movie without driving 20 miles! 
Maricopa New Homes, Foreclosures and short sales
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Fri 06 Jun 2008 08:04 PM MST
Well, we know that sales in Maricopa have increased for the 3rd month in a row.
Lets look at the changes in the types of homes closed last month:
Foreclosures 107
New homes 35
Short sales 9
Resales 4
Relocation 1
Please note: There were more new homes closed than 35.
35 is only the number listed on the MLS. Many builders don't list all homes.
Although the numbers are accurate. There is a slight margin of error as all homes are not clearly labeled foreclosure and shortsales.
Thursday, June 5
Fannie Mae changes guildelines for borrowers w/ a previous foreclosure
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Thu 05 Jun 2008 03:16 PM MST
By the way, DU refers to desktop underwriter. Basically, DU determines if the lender is able to get a computerized approval for the loan. If the computer declines the application, it then goes to manual underwriting
Updates to Policy for Prior Foreclosure Actions
Selling Guide, Part X, Chapter 8, Section 803.02, Payment History
The presence of a prior foreclosure action in the borrower’s credit history is evidence of significant derogatory credit and increases the likelihood of future default. The lender should consider the presence of a foreclosure as an added risk element that represents a significantly higher level of default risk. The greater the number of such incidences and the more recently they occurred, the higher the credit risk.
We currently require four years to elapse after a foreclosure before we will consider the borrower to have a re-established credit history. With this Announcement, we are increasing that time period to five years. We will continue to allow a lesser time period to elapse (three years in lieu of the current two-year requirement) for borrowers who can demonstrate documented extenuating circumstances that resulted in the foreclosure action.
These policy changes apply to all mortgage loans delivered in accordance with the Selling Guide, loan casefiles underwritten with DU Version 7.0, or pursuant to any variance contained in the lender’s Master Agreement.
Manually Underwritten Mortgage Loans
•
Elapsed time is measured by comparing the application date of the new mortgage to the completion of the foreclosure action as reported on the credit report or other foreclosure documents provided by the borrower.
•
After the requisite five year elapsed time period
-
The borrower may obtain a new mortgage to purchase a principal residence with a minimum 10 percent down payment and a minimum credit score of 680.
-
The borrower may obtain a limited cash-out refinance mortgage pursuant to our eligibility requirements in effect at that time.
-
The borrower may not obtain a cash-out refinance or obtain a mortgage secured by a second home or investment property for seven years after the foreclosure action.
•
If the foreclosure was the result of documented extenuating circumstances (as defined in the Selling Guide) and the requisite three year elapsed time period has passed
-
The same requirements apply as outlined above, with the exception that the minimum credit score of 680 is not required.
Mortgage Loans Underwritten with DU
•
DU determines the elapsed time based on the credit report date and the length of time that has elapsed since the foreclosure was reported in the credit report.
•
If the foreclosure was reported within five years of the credit report date, the loan will receive a Refer with Caution/IV recommendation.
Announcement 08-08 Page 11
•
DU is unable to determine if there were extenuating circumstances that resulted in a foreclosure action. If lenders have the appropriate documentation that extenuating circumstances were the cause of the foreclosure and at least three years have elapsed since the foreclosure, lenders can manually underwrite a loan that otherwise received a Refer with Caution/IV recommendation. The loan must meet all requirements of the Selling Guide or this Announcement that pertain to manually underwritten loans, including full documentation, minimum credit scores, maximum LTV ratios, etc.
•
If DU is unable to determine the date of the foreclosure, the lender will receive an Underwriting Finding message requiring the lender to manually verify the filed and satisfied date of the foreclosure action and apply the policy accordingly.
Effective Date
These changes are effective for all manually underwritten mortgage loans with application dates on or after June 1, 2008 and for loan casefiles submitted to DU Version 7.0. Mortgage loans that conform to our existing foreclosure policy must be purchased by Fannie Mae on or before October 31, 2008 for whole loans, or delivered into MBS pools with issue dates on or before October 1, 2008.
Wednesday, June 4
Model Home Furniture sale Sat June 7th 8am-noon
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Wed 04 Jun 2008 09:50 PM MST
 Clients ask me all the time where builders find those incredible furnishings. I am not sure, but I know where you can get them now! 
Tuesday, June 3
Finally a bridge over the wash!
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Tue 03 Jun 2008 10:19 PM MST
This won't make too much sense unless you have visited Maricopa, but there is a very deep wash/gulley on Honeycutt Road. Many homeowners have to take an alternate route after heavy rains. I have been telling folks that the bridge should be started soon. Here is the press release!
Santa Rosa Bridge to get underway. |
Maricopa, Ariz. (June 3, 2008) - At tonight's City Council meeting, held at 7:00 p.m. at Global Water Center, the Council voted unanimously to award a contract to DBA Construction in the amount of $2,444,489.80 to construct a bridge over the Santa Rosa Wash on Honeycutt Road.
The bridge will be four lanes wide, include pedestrian sidewalks and is ADA compliant. Construction on the bridge is expected to begin in early July with an estimated completion date in January 2009.
"It is anticipated that Honeycutt Road will remain open during bridge development," stated Development Services Director Brent Billingsley. "The only exception would be a short closure for the construction of the temporary bypass road."
This will be the City's first major construction project. The bridge was originally stipulated to the Tortosa development, but in order to ensure citizen safety and move the completion date forward the City took over the project.
Funding is $1 million from transportation DIF, $750,000 from Pinal County half-cent road tax and the remaining $750,000 is from the general fund capital reserve.
# # # |
Maricopa sales up for 3rd month in a row!
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Tue 03 Jun 2008 01:21 AM MST
I believe that we can call this a trend now. It is a small one, but still a trend!
May sales 153 homes
April sales 136 homes
March sales 108 homes
Please keep in mind that these are only homes listed on the MLS. Many builders don't list their spec homes there. There are undoubtedly more homes sold, but that has been constant the entire trend.
Monday, June 2
New Homes- 5 year picture- May '08
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Mon 02 Jun 2008 11:30 AM MST
IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
May 2008
New Homes: The Five-Year Picture
The current over supply situation became undeniable when our
market exceeded the historical record for specs twenty-six months ago (2,400
specs reported the week of January 15, 2006). This article provides you with a historical
perspective and a glimpse at our current market in the big picture.
Five-Year Subdivision
Count
The first two years of the five-year graph below shows a
normal ebb and flow of active subs; the count climbs in late spring, when
builders are preparing for the summer when sales are typically higher, and
declines a little in late summer. In 2004
and 2005 the active sub count dropped dramatically with the investor/speculator
boom, when plans for coming subdivisions could not be acted upon as fast as active
subdivisions were selling out. The
lowest count was 482 active subs in May 2005.
Compare that with the current count of 1046 active subs and you can see
that the active sub count is still double what it was two and one half years
ago, but the subdivision count has been declining for the last nine months.
UIS defines an active subdivision as one accepting contracts
from qualified buyers. The subdivision
count data we report comes from the Ultimate
New Homes (UNH) database, which covers the entire Phoenix metro market area and approximates
the area covered by the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service
(ARMLS). Ultimate New
Homes covers all of Maricopa County (74% of UNH subs) and significant
portions of Pinal County (23% of UNH subs) as well as a few location
outside of these counties (primarily in Yavapai County) (3% of UNH
subs).
Five-Year Spec Count
The Ultimate
Information System (UIS) spec count is made up of the individual properties
that each subdivision chooses to report to us to be included in the UIS system
for ARMLS affiliates. The degree of completion will vary from builder to
builder and from one subdivision to another.
We believe our current count is on the conservative side, as some
subdivisions do not report their total spec quantity to us.
We only have comprehensive spec data going back through
October 2004. Prior to that our data is spottier,
but we know that the highest historical spec count was 2,400 in May 2003. Even with this partial data, a pattern is readily
apparent. The spec count maintained a
low to normal level throughout 2004, and fell sharply in 2005 during the real
estate boom when supply was unable to keep up with demand. For a year after October 2005 the spec count climbed
steadily and then declined over the next six months to a new plateau. Since April 2007 the spec count has remained
at a level well above the normal market level.
Five-Year Builder Count
Again, UIS lacks complete five-year data, but a pattern is
still clearly visible. We have the
highest historical builder count in March 2003 (159 builders), and a slow
decline of builders since then. The
builder count started rising again in June 2005, and is now at 174.
Commentary
The subdivision and spec counts and graphs clearly
illustrate that the Phoenix
metro area new homes market is in uncharted territory and has been for two and
on half years. Confirming this is the
fact that many builders are taking extraordinary measures to attract buyers in
order to reduce spec inventory including:
1. Offering huge buyer incentives
2. Offering unprecedented Realtor®
co-broke rates.
3. Offering very substantial price
reductions
It is our belief that we will not see what would be
considered a normal market until the spec count has been reduced to about 2,500
and the subdivision count is back in the range of 800. These counts have been leveling off in the
past couple months, however even when these levels are reached the resale
inventory must be considered. Therefore, we conclude that we are still many
months away from a balanced market.
Copyright® 2008 - This information is compiled and
written by Ultimate
Information Systems, Inc. Use of this article, in part or in its entirety,
is expressly prohibited without written permission. Click
here to request limited rights to reuse this information.
Sunday, June 1
Listing v. Sales price graphs
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Sun 01 Jun 2008 06:17 PM MST
IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
May 2008
Listing vs. Sales Price
This article looks at the relationship pattern between the Median* Listing Price and the Median* Sales Price.
Commentary
The pattern associated with the size of the expectation gap that started appearing when the median sale price flattened out in June 2005 has significance. Also note that the expectation gap is shrinking.
*The median price is the price at which 50% of the homes sold had a price greater than this number and 50% had price less than this amount.
Copyright® 2008 - This information is compiled and written by Ultimate Information Systems, Inc. Use of this article, in part or in its entirety, is expressly prohibited without written permission. Click here to request limited rights to reuse this information.
Why Possible shortsale and foreclosures aren't being sold!!
by
Maricopa New Homes
on Sun 01 Jun 2008 01:50 AM MST
I think I have the answer!
It is because the listing realtor doesn't return call from the buyer broker.
If the buyer broker has clients that would like to make an offer, then feel free Mr. Lister to answer your phone and answer his questions.
If you aren't returnung calls asap, then you are not doing your fiduciary duty. If my clients buy another house, because you never communicated to me, then you have done a poor job...
You mister Realtor, get this! 
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