Get a look at planned South Mountain Freeway art in Phoenix. “[It] will feature ‘five distinctive aesthetic character areas to… help tell an area’s story…’ Some patterns will evoke the area’s agricultural heritage, while others will feature… shapes based on native cholla and ocotillo…” (Since this art is all about telling the “area’s story,” maybe ADOT can also throw in a few works that evoke the narrative that concerns the repeated legal smackdown of various groups and their failed attempts to stop this long-awaited, much needed freeway.) See the artistic “mock-ups” and take a seven-minute, bird’s-eye virtual tour of the “22-mile extension,” at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2mxH4f1
STAYING POWER – Tempe ‘squatter’ loses in court again as judges affirm lower-court ruling that case lacks merit. “But [Steve Sussex’s] 12-year turf war remains far from resolved. Sussex’s attorney… said… he would appeal the court decision to the state Supreme Court. And a separate court case between the squatter and Tempe is still pending at the Superior Court level.” View a squatter slideshow, take a video tour of the “century-old… [h]istoric adobe house,” and find out why it could take another 100 years before this case is ever resolved, at AZCentral. http://bit.ly/2mBVtqI
Pollack: A disconnect with Arizona’s employment data. And The Monday Morning Quarterback confesses that it’s a “disconnect [that] puts us at a loss to explain.” See why and also check out the “Snapshot” topics which include… U.S.: Personal & Disposable Income, Consumption & Savings, Consumer Confidence (“highest… since… 2001”!), Manufacturing & Non-manufacturing Indices, Auto Sales, Pending Home Sales, Home Buying Interest (“highest… since… Great Recession”!). AZ: Greater Phoenix S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. http://bit.ly/2mfxhb9
This past year was a record setter for mortgage applications. “Black Knight Data & Analytics Executive Vice President Ben Graboske… ‘A strong fourth quarter finish to the year pushed total 2016 origination volumes to the highest level seen in nine years…. [However]… it [is] very likely that we will see [some]… numbers decline significantly in the first quarter.’” Jann Swanson sifts through the latest data from Black Knight’s Mortgage Monitor (with charts & graphs galore!) at Mortgage News Daily. http://bit.ly/2lYT0mU
Compared to last year, homebuyers are more inclined to buy now. How has your perspective on buying changed in the past year? What do you think will happen to mortgage rates in the next six months? What most influenced your recent decision to buy? Those were the questions posed in “a recent Redfin survey of 1,002 homebuyers.” For a full breakdown of survey results, click through to, yep, Redfin. http://bit.ly/2naWkeD
Housing demand over the next decade. “[O]ver the next decade, existing home sales should be hitting approximately 6 million a year… even if mortgage rates should go up to 7%.” More on this and other Lawrence Yun prognostications, as the NAR Chief gazes into his closing-activity crystal ball, at Forbes. http://bit.ly/2lTXev3
Cameron’s $5M + deals of the day – http://bit.ly/2mftTNL
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