The Dealmaker: 10/20/2016

Company plans large senior facility in Gilbert. “Chicago-based CA Senior Living Holdings [a division of CA Ventures] has requested input from the Gilbert Planning Commission on plans to develop a… two-story senior living and care facility on 4.59 acres at the SEC of East Morrison Ranch Parkway and Higley….” More at AZBEX. http://bit.ly/2en5mU4

‘The first-time buyer is ready to come back.’ That’s the view of Realtor.comchief economist Jonathan Smoke on his company’s “analysis of web searches” which shows that “[f]irst-time home buyers now make up 52% of prospective buyers looking to purchase in 2017, up from 33% a year earlier.” However, according to this piece in The Wall Street Journal: “Just because many more young people are searching for homes doesn’t mean they will be able to buy…. [because] some big obstacles remain.” http://bit.ly/2ec2Int

Why housing numbers are not as horrible as they look. CNBC’s Diana Olick looks at what’s behind the “big drops” in September housing starts (“9 percent below August and 12 percent below September 2015”) and explains why it “may be a one-month phenomenon.” http://bit.ly/2enobte

SMOKE: ‘SIGNAL’ – House hunters take heart: More new homes on the way. Once again, Realtor.com’s Jonathan Smoke, this time on “the number of permits to build… new homes [rising]… 9.5% in September compared with [a year earlier]”: “It’s a very positive signal that we’re going to have more new construction in the months ahead… We haven’t been building enough to keep up with population growth, and that’s why we’ve been seeing significant increases in both rents and home prices.”  More here —> http://bit.ly/2dDxHFC

Existing-home sales rebounded in September. “Sales of previously owned homes rose 3.2% from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million… Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a more modest 0.4% increase to a sales rate of 5.35 million in September…. [F]ollowing a two-month slide, [the] rebound… point[s] to stabilization in the U.S. housing market.” http://bit.ly/2eoiGG5

Dealmaker BONUS: Here’s just how much building it would take to boost big city affordability. The Wall Street Journal looks at a new Zillow analysis which shows that “[c]ities facing a crunch would have to exceed the pace reached at the height of the housing boom… Cities such as Los Angeles, Boston and New York will have to build more homes per year than they did from 2000 to 2010…” http://bit.ly/2dqROsc

World’s Greatest Polo Party returns November 5th to Scottsdale – http://bit.ly/2ekVD3n