Of Local Interest

Another story about rising home values and prices in the Valley of the Sun. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has released it's quarterly report for 1Q 2005. And?

Homes in Arizona more than doubled the national average of 2.2% increase in home prices with a rate of 5.2% in the first quarter of the year! The Arizona Real Estate Center at Arizona State University points to the Federal survey as yet another example of just how hot the Phoenix market is right now.

In fact, they say, if you use just resale data you get an even bigger rate of increase (monstrous in comparison) :

Using resale data, Valley home prices climbed 21 percent during the first three months of the year, according to the Arizona Real Estate Center.

Either way, I'll take it all. Call me selfish if you must, but having been shut out of the market in my hometown I will ride this for as long and as far as it takes me! Home ownership, of course, anchoring wealth-generation for the majority of the middle-class and all...