Phoenix Real Estate Blog

It doesn’t cease to amaze me: the fact that so many mortgage lenders blatantly committed out-and-out fraud during the real estate boom.  An article Saturday in the New York Times, “Saying Yes, WaMu Built Empire on Shaky Loans” shed light on WaMu’s bad behavior in that regard -- though I don’t ima...

An article last Friday, by the Associated Press, drew attention to a lesser-known consequence of the foreclosure crisis: renters being forced out of a lease when a bank takes possession of the home. From the article: “You’re paying your bills, but your landlord isn’t. And you’re the one holding t...

In my last post, I wrote about one company’s attempts to change the credit scoring system so that it doesn’t punish people who haven’t borrowed enough money.   But even if the credit scoring system changes, your credit score will still be negatively affected if you’ve missed payments or defaulted...

J. Craig Anderson posted an interesting blog last week about a “Better mousetrap for credit scoring.”  His premise is that, perhaps, a faulty credit scoring system contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis.   Barrett Burns is CEO of VantageScore Solutions a company that’s hoping to work with th...

At the Third Annual National Housing Forum in Washington D.C. the week before last, Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan gave his audience a "sneak preview" of a soon-to-be-released report showing the re-default rate on loans that have been modified. In other words, when a lender agrees to a...

Scottsdale The number of homes resold in Scottsdale in November was down 26.7%, after increasing 8.7% in October.  Lower sales volumes are typical for the last months of the year, as buyers and sellers alike turn their attention to the holidays.  And still, November’s sales numbers were 10% highe...

  Welcome to the tenth edition of the MyPhoenixMLS area-specific market conditions update.  Today, I’ll post market conditions reports for the East Valley, including Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe, and Mesa; in my next post I’ll describe market conditions in the Scottsdale and Phoenix markets. Chandler...

I'm no longer going to be producing my monthly real estate news videos for Realty Times -- but not to worry; I'm still going to be sharing the monthly real estate market updates with you every month on my blog.  So, read on for a snapshot of what went on in the Phoenix area real estate market in ...

On Wednesday, business leaders and economic experts met at the 45th Annual W. P. Carey School of Business/JPMorgan Chase Economic Forecast Luncheon.  Speaking on the Arizona economy, ASU economics professor Lee McPheters and local real estate expert Elliott D. Pollack said that 2009 is going to b...

Below you'll find a list of the great activities going on in and around Phoenix in the second half of December (and don't forget New Year's!).  The events that run throughout the month were listed in my December events Part 1 blog posting - so check those out too.  Enjoy!  And if I've missed your...