Tag Archives: National Real Estate

Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash music publisher’s estates look to sell prominent Phoenix land

Jan 13, 2017

Land is for sale at the southwest corner of Indian School Road and Central Avenue in midtown Phoenix neighboring Willo Historic District, Encanto-Palmcroft Historic District, FQ Story, Alvarado and Ashland Place districts.

That is one of the busiest intersections in the region and is also on the Metro light rail systems. The land is owned by real estate entities managed by trusts of the Aberbach family.

arizona, commerical,real,estate,elvis presley,president richard nixon,

Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley

Julian J. Aberbach, who died in 2004, was the music publisher for Elvis Presley. Music publishers do deals related to song writing and royalties when compositions are used.

Public records and real estate databases show land at the Indian School/Central land is owned by Aberbach Investments LLC and Vembec LLC.

Those entities are managed by estates for Julian J. Aberbach and his family.

Greg Vogel’s Land Advisors Organization is marketing the land.

The corner was previously home to an AM/PM gas station which is no longer there, parking lots and a Yoshi’s restaurant.

Vogel said the land for sale totals approximately 3 acres with an asking price of $50 per square foot.

Vogel sees the Indian School/Central land as a good spot for a new apartment development.

Julian Aberbach and his late brother Joachim Jean Aberbach were in the music publishing business and forged deals with Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and Johnny Cash.

Julian Aberbach died in 2004 at age 95.

The New York Times outlined in his obituary the business ties to Presley whom he first forged a deal with in 1955. That included telling Presley to hire songwriters to provide him more music.

“I gave Elvis a check for $2,500, an advance against the royalties of his stock ownership,’’ Aberbach said in a 2002 interview with Billboard magazine according to the Times obit. “And he promptly went to the Cadillac dealer and got a pink one.”

Elvis first appeared on the “Ed Sullivan Show” in 1956.

Land Advisors is a leading real estate firm in the state and region. Vogel’s group forged the deal that is bringing Lennar-developed apartments to the northwest corner of McDowell Road and Central Avenue.

by Mike Sunnucks Senior Reporter Phoenix Business Journal

10 Housing Markets to Envy in 2017

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 01, 2016

Housing Forecast Chart for 2017The national housing market is largely predicted to moderate in 2017, but a handful of metros are expected to beat expectations. In fact, 10 markets are looking like hot-beds for growth in the new year with Phoenix, Arizona being number one.

Realtor.com®’s research team has flagged markets that will likely see average price gains of 5.8 percent and sales growth of 6.3 percent in 2017. Those gains would exceed next year’s anticipated national growth of 3.9 percent in home prices and 1.9 percent in home sales.

As such, real estate professionals in these 10 markets should expect a booming business in 2017. Realtor.com® notes these are the hottest housing markets to watch in the new year, based on price and sales gains:

1. Phoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale, Ariz.

2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.

3. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.

4. Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif.

5. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.

6. Jacksonville, Fla.

7. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.

8. Raleigh, N.C.

9. Tucson, Ariz.

10. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.

Why are expectations so high for these 10 markets? Realtor.com®’s research team notes that strong local economies and population growth are helping to fuel sales. Also, the top 10 housing markets have other commonalities, such as relatively affordable rental prices, low unemployment, and large populations of millennials and baby boomers.

Top Housing Trends for 2017
Next year’s predicted slowing price and sales growth, increasing interest rates and changing buyer demographics are setting the stage for five key housing trends:

  1. Millennials and boomers will dominate the market – Next year, the housing market will be in the middle of two massive demographic waves, millennials and baby boomers – that will power demand for at least the next 10 years. Although increasing interest rates have prompted realtor.com® to lower its prediction of millennial market share to 33 percent of the buyer pool; millennials and baby boomers will still comprise the majority of the market. Baby boomers are expected to make up 30 percent of buyers in 2017 and given they’re less dependent on financing, they are anticipated to be more successful when it comes to closing.
  2. Midwestern cities will continue to be hotbeds for millennials – Midwestern cities are anticipated to continue to beat the national average in millennial purchase market share in 2017 with Madison, Wis.; Columbus, Ohio; Omaha, Neb.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Minneapolis, leading the pack. This year, average millennial market share in these markets is 42 percent, far higher than the U.S. average of 38 percent. With strong affordability in 15 of the 19 largest Midwestern markets, realtor.com® expects this trend to continue in 2017 even as interest rates increase.
  3. Slowing price appreciation – Nationally, home prices are forecast to slow to 3.9 percent growth year over year, from an estimated 4.9 percent in 2016. Of the top 100 largest metros in the country, 26 markets are expected to see price acceleration of 1 percent point or more with Greensboro–High Point, N.C.; Akron, Ohio; and Baltimore–Columbia–Towson, Md., experiencing the largest gains.  Likewise, 46 markets are expected to see a slowdown in price growth of 1 percent or more with Lakeland–Winter Haven, Fla., Durham–Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Jackson, Miss., undergoing the biggest shift to slower price appreciation.
  4. Fewer homes on the market and fast moving markets – Inventory is currently down an average of 11 percent in the top 100 metros in the U.S. The conditions that are limiting home supply are not expected to change in 2017. Median age of inventory is currently 68 days in the top 100 metros, which is 14 percent – or 11 days – faster than U.S. overall.
  5. Western cities will continue to lead the nation in prices and sales – Western metros in the U.S. are forecast to see a price increase of 5.8 percent and sales increase of 4.7 percent, much higher than the U.S. overall. These markets also dominate the ranking of the realtor.com® 2017 top housing markets, making up five of the top 10 markets on the list (Los Angeles, Sacramentoand Riverside, Calif., Tucson, Ariz., and Portland, Ore.) and 11 of the top 25 (Colorado Springs, Colo.; San Diego; Salt Lake City; Provo–Orem, Utah; Seattle. and Oxnard–Thousand Oaks–Ventura, Calif.)

REPORT: Phoenix Ranked Second-Best Metro Area For Homeowners

Bankrate.com Aug 31, 2016

The Phoenix metro area is the second-best in the nation for homeowners, according to a Bankrate.com report released Wednesday.

phoenix,az,market report,real estate,historic,bestPortland, Phoenix, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Minneapolis/St. Paul round out the best metropolitan areas for homeowners, according to the report. Bankrate.com is a leading aggregator of financial rate information and this marks their first time releasing such a report.

The study reviewed eight factors: home affordability; price appreciation; property taxes; homeowners’ insurance, energy and maintenance costs; foreclosures and how rapidly rents rose over the past six years for which data are available.

Phoenix ranked high on the list for several reasons, including strong home-price appreciation, few foreclosures and inexpensive homeowners’ insurance, according to the report.

“Phoenix was one of the best cities in all the categories we looked at,” said Claes Bell, Bankrate.com analyst. “We were looking to see which cities were the best for attainability, sustainability, affordability and if there was a rewarding financial benefit to owning a home in these areas.”

The Phoenix area scores fifth lowest on the scale of rent hedging, which is a way of measuring rent increases compared with the home price appreciation. In Phoenix, house prices have also been rising faster than rents over the past five years, contributing to the Valley’s high ranking. The Phoenix metro area had the tenth highest energy cost among the 50 metro areas, a reflection of high air conditioning bills during the summer months, according to Bankrate.com.

Home values plunged during the housing bust, but now they are recovering, according to Bankrate.com, and the pace of home appreciation in Phoenix in the last five years is second fastest among the 50 largest metro areas.

The greater Phoenix area also has bounced back from the foreclosure crisis. For the last three years the city has had the second lowest foreclosure rate among top metro areas.

“Builders stopped building during the housing bubble and now demand beats out supply,” Bell said. “Phoenix is no different in that way from the rest of the country. What’s different is the property tax rate and the affordability of the home itself. In cities like New York and L.A., housing costs are half to three-quarters of a person’s annual income.”

Strong home-price appreciation over the past five years is a common thread in Phoenix, Atlanta and Las Vegas. The Twin Cities’ best housing attributes are strong home-price appreciation and a dearth of foreclosures.

Hartford, Connecticut ranks last because of high carrying costs: It has above-average property tax, energy, homeowners’ insurance and maintenance fees. The New York City metro area is second-worst due to high property taxes, minimal home-price appreciation and expensive maintenance costs. Only Los Angeles (fourth-worst) prevented a northeastern sweep of the bottom five (Providence is third-worst and Buffalo is fifth from the rear), according to the report.

“Major cities in the middle of the country did really well in this ranking,” Bell said in a press release. “Out of the top 15 metro areas, only one is within 250 miles of an ocean. Homeowners in America’s largest coastal cities face a number of challenges, ranging from sky-high mortgage payments gobbling up an outsized portion of homeowners’ incomes to high property insurance rates, especially in hurricane-prone areas, and our ranking reflects that.

It’s a terrific time to buy or sell a home in the Phoenix Metro area.

Mortgage Rates Hover Near All-Time Low

HISTORICPHOENIXDISTRICTS.COM DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, JULY 01, 2016

Fixed-rate mortgages this week dropped to their lowest averages of the year, which analysts attribute to the fallout from last week’s “Brexit” vote.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.48 percent this week, only 17 basis points from its all-time record low of 3.31 percent in November 2012, Freddie Mac reports.

“In the wake of the Brexit vote, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond plummeted 24 basis points,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “This extremely low mortgage rate should support solid home sales and refinancing volume this summer.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for the week ending June 30: 

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.48 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.56 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.08 percent. 
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.78 percent, with an average 0.4 point, dropping from last week’s 2.83 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 3.24 percent. 
  • 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.70 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 2.74 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.99 percent. 

Source: Freddie Mac

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It’s never been a better time to buy a home. Money is inexpensive but that doesn’t mean you should spend a lot, unless you’re wealthy, of course. Call Laura B. for a free consultation on buying a home in any one of the Historic Phoenix Districts, historic adjacent, Uptown, Midtown, Downtown, Scottsdale, Biltmore, Paradise Valley, Arcadia or Surrounding suburbs.

Just released – Phoenix has 6.0% appreciation over last year

The latest S&P/Case-Shiller® Home Price Index® numbers came out this morning, covering sales that closed between February 2016 and February 2016. The greater Phoenix metro area came in with 6.04% appreciation over that 12 month period. 

Case Shiller IndexThe Cromford Report comments – “The west coast continues to appreciate the fastest, with Denver also very strong. Phoenix is in the middle of this pack of 20, but beat the overall average for the USA. When we look at the month to month change we see:

  1. San Francisco 1.06%
  2. Seattle 1.06%
  3. Denver 0.94%
  4. Portland 0.75%
  5. Los Angeles 0.70%
  6. Tampa 0.59%
  7. Dallas 0.52%
  8. Atlanta 0.37%
  9. Charlotte 0.35%
  10. Phoenix 0.27% 
  11. Las Vegas 0.21%
  12. Detroit 0.10%
  13. Miami 0.08%
  14. San Diego 0.06%
  15. Boston -0.08%
  16. Washington DC -0.20%
  17. Chicago -0.31%
  18. Minneapolis -0.44%
  19. New York -0.47%
  20. Cleveland -0.60%”

If you’re ready to buy a home in Phoenix, Scottsdale or surrounding areas, contact me today for a no obligation consultation.

Top 20 Cities for Luxury Sales Revealed

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2016

Scottsdale, Arizona Among Top 20 Cities For Luxury Living

Scottsdale Luxury Homes,For Sale,ArizonaAmerica’s top cities and ZIP codes for luxury home listings and sales kept a stable pace of growth over the last year, according to Coldwell Banker Previews International’s latest annual Luxury Market Report.

In some pockets across the country, however, luxury sales soared. For example, sales of $1 million-plus homes last year jumped 32 percent year-over-year in Austin, which is seeing a boom in its tech and entertainment industries. Other markets that are seeing large growth include Fort Lauderdale (up 31%) and Seattle (up 30%), according to the report.

Florida earned the top spot as the main destination for real estate’s high-priced segment. Luxury sales posted double-digit growth in Miami, Naples, and Palm Beach. Newcomer areas like Lake Worth and Wellington, also placed in the Top 20 list for $10 million sales for the first time, the report showed.

The following are the 20 top performing cities in the luxury real estate market for $1 million-plus sales, according to the latest report:

  1. New York, N.Y.: 3,662 (number of listings)
  2. Miami, Fla.: 1,654
  3. Miami Beach, Fla.: 1,473
  4. Naples, Fla.: 1,146
  5. Park City, Utah: 1,037
  6. Los Angeles, Calif.: 985
  7. Atlanta, Ga.: 982
  8. Scottsdale, Ariz.: 951
  9. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: 878
  10. North Miami Beach, Fla.: 810
  11. Chicago, Ill.: 735
  12. Houston, Texas: 696
  13. Boca Raton, Fla.: 662
  14. Greenwich, Conn.: 535
  15. Honolulu, Hawaii: 501
  16. San Diego, Calif.: 471
  17. Austin, Texas: 460
  18. Sarasota, Fla.: 455
  19. Dallas, Texas: 420
  20. Santa Barbara, Calif.: 387

If you’re looking to buy real estate in Scottsdale, whether it’s a single-family home or a condo in an amenity-laden high-rise with 24-hour valet and concierge services, or a historic Scottsdale home, we can help you design a lifestyle tailored just for you.

If you like Scottsdale, you’ll probably like Paradise Valley which is situated between Scottsdale and Phoenix. Paradise Valley consists of 16-square-miles of tranquil oasis with large lots, unobstructed mountain views and acre-plus zoning.

For additional information and for a tailored, custom luxury homes search in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley or Historic Phoenix, contact me today.

Mortgage Rates Hit New Low for 2016

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, APRIL 08, 2016

Mortgage rates this week plunged to their lowest level since February 2015, unlocking more savings for home buyers and home owners who are refinancing.

2016 Mortgage Rates,Phoenix,National“Mortgage rates this week registered the delayed impact of last week’s sharp drop in Treasury yields, as the 30-year mortgage rate fell 12 basis points to 3.59 percent,” says Freddie Mac chief economist Sean Becketti. “This rate marks a new low for 2016. Low mortgage rates and a positive employment outlook should support a strong housing market in the second quarter of 2016.”

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending April 7:

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.59 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 3.71 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.66 percent.
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.88 percent, with an average 0.4 point, falling from last week’s 2.98 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.93 percent.
  • 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.82 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 2.90 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.83 percent.

It’s a great time to buy a home in Phoenix, Arizona. Call Laura B. today to begin the process of buying your historic Phoenix dream home.

Source: Freddie Mac

The Numbers Are In and 2016 Is Off to a Good Start in Home Sales

We may be on the verge of spring, but housing and economic reports work on a bit of a lag time. We’ve only just gotten the major data reports for January, and it’s giving us a clear-eyed view of how the real estate market is measuring up this year.

Home sales in 20162016 Is off to a good start in home sales. And yeah, things are looking good.

Job creation—arguably the most important factor in housing demand—is moving apace. January saw 151,000 jobs created. That level of employment growth is below 2015’s monthly average, but unemployment is now near 10-year lows and is in line with the current macro forecast from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). This level of employment growth should translate into the 3% growth in housing sales we are expecting for the year.

Speaking of sales, January’s existing home sales report did not disappoint. Even though sales are taking longer to close, due to the implementation of new disclosure and closing forms and procedures, the pace grew 0.4% in January from December. Granted, that’s not a lot, but analysts had been expecting a decline. And from January 2015 to January 2016, existing home sales grew a solidly impressive 11%.

The increase in sales is resulting in continued tighter-than-tight supply—measured by NAR to be four months in January.  For you non-economists out there, that metric measures the number of months it would take to sell the current inventory of available homes, at the current pace. Got it? Six to seven months’ worth of homes on the market is considered normal; four months is cray-cray.

This is driving prices higher and encouraging consumers who hope to buy this year to get started as soon as possible.

January’s new home sales and new home construction remained consistent with the pace of activity of the last several months. Still, the level of new construction still represents solid year-over-year growth, especially in single-family homes. The most encouraging sign: The median price of new homes is finally declining, as a result of the fact that builders are offering more affordable homes.

Finally, the most timely readings we can pass on come from our own observations at realtor.com that confirm that demand is growing rapidly at the start of the year, resulting in an acceleration in inventory movement that we typically do not see until March or April.

OK, not everything is rainbows and unicorns. The biggest negative trend impacting potential demand relates to the January and February declines in stock values, which have taken a toll on consumer confidence. But, even that negative trend has a silver lining: Mortgage rates are now substantially lower. The average 30-year conforming rate has stabilized at under 3.7%, giving buyers almost 5% more buying power than they had at the end of 2015, and strengthening their ability to meet the debt-to-income ratio requirement for a loan.

Net-net, pent-up demand appears stronger than any weakness caused by the financial markets. And the lower rates are encouraging would-be buyers to act sooner rather than later. With this strong start, 2016 should indeed see growth, but the biggest constraint will be the tight supply.

Courtesy Realtor.com

If you’re ready to get pre-approved for a home mortgage and start home shopping, give me a call or email today.

The Historic Phoenix Indian School Is Being Restored in Central Phoenix

After three years of fundraising and community input, construction is scheduled to begin on the former Phoenix Indian School music building at Steele Indian School Park in central Phoenix. The building, which has fallen into disuse, will become the site of a new Indian Center.

TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2016 AT 6 A.M.
BY JANESSA HILLIARD – Phoenix NEW TIMES

historic phoenix,central,real estateThe improvements and future center are part of the Phoenix Indian School Legacy Project, a joint partnership between the City of Phoenix, which owns and operates both the former Indian School buildings and Steele Indian School Park; the Phoenix Indian Center, the first urban Indian Center in the nation, offering everything from work placement and development to addiction services; and Native American Connections, which serves more than 10,000 individuals and families annually, addressing issues of homelessness and housing along with behavioral health and outreach services. The city will provide funding for the project, while the nonprofits will operate the center and onsite events.

The center will be housed in the 6,000-square-foot music building, construPhoenixPhoenixcted in 1931 and first used as an elementary school. It was converted to the band-chorus room in 1964 and remained the music hall until the school’s closure more than 20 years ago.

Designed by Architectural Resource Team with input from tribal leaders and organizations during a series of community meetings, the architectural plans include creating a public gallery as well as a private board room and business center. The gallery will share the century-long history of the Phoenix Indian School with visitors alongside an open conference room for community events, and a commercial kitchen to prepare traditional indigenous foods. The center plans to frequently host health and nutrition courses as well.

“We are going to be able to bring the public back into the space, and educate and enlighten the community about the Native American boarding-school experience and how it impacted Phoenix, as well as the state of Arizona,” Diane Yazzie Devine, CEO of Native American Connections, said in a press release last week.

“We also recognized that for some people, coming back to the Indian boarding school could be a very emotional experience, so we have a reflection room at one end of the gallery,” Devine continued in a separate e-mail to New Times. “People can sit in that room and pay their respects to the memory of the students, or just sit and be quiet.”

The Phoenix Indian School originated in 1891, housing and educating thousands of students from more than 23 tribes across New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, California, and Arizona. The controversial institution initially forbade students from interacting with their culture through strictly enforced rules dictating everything from language to haircuts. Those rules were eventually relaxed, and the school closed in 1990.

The City of Phoenix acquired the campus and its surrounding acreage in 1996 after a land exchange with the federal government. The three remaining buildings — Memorial Hall, the Indian School, and the Indian School Band Building — were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Steele Indian School Park, where the buildings remain as an homage to the landmark location, opened that same year.

“Phoenix Indian School played an important role in the history of our city, our state and our nation, so we must do all we can to preserve that legacy,” Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said in a press release sent out by Native American Connections last week. “Restoring the music building will ensure that the story of Phoenix Indian School and its students will continue to resonate with new generations while providing a valuable community asset at one of our busiest city parks.”

Renovations and new construction are expected to take eight to 10 months. The complex is slated to open next spring.

Mortgage Rates Move Lower Than Expected

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2016

Janet Yellen Interest Rates

For the fifth consecutive week, mortgage rates trended down, surprising even forecasters. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now at its lowest average since April 30, 2015.

“Market volatility — and the associated flight to quality — continued unabated this week,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “The yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped another 15 basis points, and the 30-year mortgage rate fell 7 basis points as well, to 3.72 percent. Both the Treasury yield and the mortgage rate now are in the neighborhood of early-2015 lows. These declines are not what the market anticipated when the Fed raised the Federal funds rate in December. For now, though, sub-4-percent mortgage rates are providing a longer-than-expected opportunity for mortgage borrowers to refinance.”

This week the market forecasted zero hikes in 2016 for the Fed’s short-term rates, which could keep mortgage rates low. Analysts are now predicting that the closely monitored Fed Futures market has nearly a 60 percent chance of no rate hikes at all this year, marking a “dramatic U-Turn from only a month ago when the market was pricing in a 75 percent probability the Fed would increase rates at least once in 2016,” CNNMoney reports.

The Fed had risen rates 0.25 in December, its first increase in nearly 10 years. But with stock markets spiraling downward and the fragile global economy, analysts believe this will likely prompt the Fed to pause in raising rates.

“Things have happened in financial markets and in the flow of economic data that may be in the process of altering the outlook for growth,” Fed vice chairman Bill Dudley told MarketWatch this week.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Feb. 4:

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.72 percent, with an average 0.6 point, dropping from last week’s 3.79 percent average. A year ago, 30-year rates averaged 3.59 percent.
  • 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.01 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.07 percent average. Last year at this time, 15-year rates averaged 2.92 percent.
  • 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.85 percent, with an average 0.4 point, falling from last week’s 2.90 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.82 percent.

The opportunity to buy a home at low interest rates is still here. For how long, who knows?

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