Fulton Ranch In South Chandler...

Master-planned community tests slowing housing market, from the Arizona Republic, reports that sales have finally started at Fulton Ranch in south Chandler at a time where the Valley is experiencing a significant slowdown in the real estate market. Fulton Ranch is the city's last major master-planned community and had a list of 14,000 potential buyers interested in the lake community a year ago. The waiting list has fallen to 1,800 people, according to Dennis Webb, vice president with Fulton Homes. "Interest is still there because I think it is a very desirable location, even though the market is not what it was a year ago," said Webb. "People still want to live there." He said the biggest challenge now is that many potential buyers have to sell their existing homes first. Fulton Ranch is planned to have 620-single-family homes, 300 condos-townhomes and 64 custom homes. It will also have two retail centers. Home prices at Fulton Ranch start from the high $500,000's to more than $1 million.



http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/print.php?referer=http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/1108biz-cr-fulton1108.html

Mortgage Rates Dip To 6.31%

Mortgage rates dip to 6.31 percent, from MSNBC.com, reports that rates on 30-year mortgages dropped this week to the lowest level in a month as financial markets viewed new evidence of a slowing economy as a sign that inflation will decline. Rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 6.31 percent this week, down from 6.40 percent last week. The article also states that in an effort to dispel some of the gloom surrounding housing at present, the National Association of Realtors announced that is beginning a series of newspaper ads proclaiming "it's a great time to buy or sell a home." The ads, which were to start appearing in newspapers on Friday, noted that mortgage rates have been falling recently and the near-record level of unsold homes means that buyers have more homes to choose from. The ad quotes former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan as saying that "most of the negatives in housing are probably behind us." Tom Stevens, the Realtors president, said, "The market is much better than you might hear or read."



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7148582/

This Being The Floor Of The Market...

Drop in MLS listings could mark housing turnaround, from the Phoenix Business Journal, reports that the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service reported a drop in resale listings from the end of September to the end of October-- from 46,390 down to 46,228. That number includes 4,600 new homes. This is the first dip in the number of listings since March. Other good news--- sales topped out at 5,468, an increase of 40 from last September. "It only went down a little, but it went down," said Mike Chasse, a senior home builder advisor with Scottsdale-based Land Advisors Organization. "I've been antsy for two weeks (for the MLS monthly update) because I was seeing signs the market was balancing out," he said. Calling it a "milestone", Chasse said "I hope it stays and keeps coming down... we may be looking back at this moment as this being the floor of the market". A balanced home-sale market, he said, would be in the 33,000 listings range. Chasse predicted "we could experience a little bounce by mid-year."



http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2006/10/30/daily26.html?t=printable