News Article From: 07-26-2005
The first article, Existing home sales set record in June, from MSNBC, reports that sales of existing homes in the nation set a record in June with home prices shooting up at the fastest pace in nearly 25 years. The median price of an existing home in the U.S. rose to $219,000, a gain of 14.7% from the median price a year ago. The performance in June beat experts expectations, who thought that sales last month would be flat. David Lereah, chief economist at NAR, said the boom is being driven by low mortgage rates.
The second article, $3 Billion Intel expansion slated for Arizona, from the Phoenix Business Journal, reports that Intel Corp. announced plans to build a new $3 billion facility in Chandler which is expected to create at least 1,000 hi-tech jobs. Construction is to begin immediately and start production in 2007. The deal depended on the state of Arizona passing a controversial tax measure, which it did earlier this year, giving tax cuts to manufactures and chip makers. This is GREAT NEWS for our local economy and shows that we are also creating more high paying jobs in addition to all the construction, retail, call center and lower paying jobs that have been recently announced!
The third article, MAG council likely to back Williams Gateway proposal, from the Arizona Republic, reports that the MAricopa Association of Governments (MAG) is expected to approve on Wednesday a recommendation for a new freeway (the Williams Gateway Freeway) that will extend south from the Santan Freeway Loop 202 and run east along Frye Road in south Mesa. Williams Gateway is projected to be a major employment hub in the SE Valley. Construction on the new freeway isn't scheduled for about a decade.
The fourth article, Home building still soaring, from the Arizona Republic, reports that metro Phoenix's home-building market is rocketing toward another record, according to numbers released by RL Brown in his Phoenix Housing Market Letter. The numbers show that metro Phoenix is on pace to break last years records for both new home permits and resale numbers. Larry Seay, chief financial officer for Scottsdale based Meritage homes says "we expect the Phoenix housing boom to go on for quite some time." The price for a new home in metro Phoenix was $224,605 in June, a more than 23% jump over June 2004. |