Chandler sees boom in multifamily housing

 
For the first time in at least 20 years, more apartment and condominium units than single-family homes are going up in Chandler this year.

It’s a trend that is likely to continue as Chandler moves toward build-out (see graphic at bottom of story), but city leaders recently got together to discuss whether that is consistent with their vision for the city.

“I have been concerned about how many apartments we have coming in,” said Councilman Jeff Weninger, echoing other City Council members. “A lot of them make sense and there’s special circumstances. ... But we have to be careful in the future, especially changing from other uses to the multifamily use, that we have the right balance because we could be affecting things for years to come.”

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Revenue skyrockets as sales of state land strengthen

Aided by the improving economy and land prices, the Arizona State Land Department has brought in more revenue recently, a trend that is likely to continue as the state auctions off more land, including prime property in Phoenix’s Desert Ridge area.

The trust has seen revenue skyrocket from land sales and leases as the economy and land prices have bounced back. The State Land Department brought in more than $318 million in fiscal 2013, which ended June 30 — a near 60 percent jump from the previous year, which saw revenue of a little more than $200 million, according to a department official.

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Arizona’s lost homeownership

 
The Phoenix area, Maricopa County and Arizona posted the biggest estimated declines in U.S. homeownership rates in their categories in recent years, confirming that metro Phoenix was in important ways the national epicenter of the housing crash.

Newly released Census Bureau data shows the metro area, the county and the state swung from slightly above-average homeownership from 2007-09 to slightly below-average rates in the 2010-12 period.

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Phoenix-area foreclosed owners could get thousands

Foreclosures generally don’t have an upside. But more than 1,000 owners who lost their metro Phoenix properties may be eligible to get back thousands of dollars in cash.

Rising home prices mean that houses taken back by lenders are selling for much more — sometimes more than what the borrowers owed. Excess proceeds of sale occur when a foreclosed property goes to auction and sells for more than the amount owed on it.

After the lender is paid off, the remaining money goes to the Maricopa County Treasurer’s Office. It remains there for three years.

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Frank Lloyd Wright’s archives net millions, records indicate

 
How much are the Frank Lloyd Wright archives worth?

“Priceless,” says Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation CEO Sean Malone, when posed with the question.

The exact financial components of a deal that permanently relocated the legendary architect’s vast archives from Scottsdale’s Taliesin West to New York City remain unknown. A non-disclosure agreement related to the September 2012 acquisition effectively silences the parties involved.

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Experts offer tips to prevent ID theft

 
Anyone worried about falling prey to identity thieves should think like a wildebeest hoping to elude lions on the plains of Africa: You want to stick near the middle of the pack, remain vigilant and make sure you can outrun your neighbors.

Experts meeting at a recent fraud and privacy conference in Phoenix gave a gloomy assessment of ID theft, noting that the number of crimes continues to rise as crooks find more ways to gain access to Social Security numbers, bank accounts and other sensitive personal information, often doing so by penetrating the defenses of banks, utilities, retailers or government agencies.

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Smaller home developments gain traction in Scottsdale

Perhaps it is the wave of the future in Scottsdale — small developments on small lots throughout the city.

A dozen new-home developments, none of them bigger than 66 units, are in the works in the city. A few have kicked off construction, and others are still going through the city’s approval process. All of them are on tight sites, averaging a little over 25 acres.

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