The end of summer brought few surprises in the Phoenix real estate market. Prices were down, as expected for the season. Compared to spring, however, it was a much less frenetic market, said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Rea Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business. Supply continues to be tight, although in areas on the fringe of the metro area, such as San Tan and Maricopa, listings are growing. Investors are active as well, with transactions between investors on the rise. Orr expects to see more action in the next couple months – again, an expression of seasonality.

Dan Harkins, the owner and chief executive officer of Harkins Theatres, was the featured speaker at the Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon on October 11, 2012. Family-owned and -operated Harkins Theatres was founded in Arizona in 1933 and now has 30 locations in five states. Harkins talked about the position of theater operators in the entertainment industry and building a successful family business. The Economic Club, associated with the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, is a forum for the exchange of ideas about business and the economy.

Real Estate Roundtable: In part two, Mark Stapp, director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, and Jonathan Koppell, dean of ASU’s College of Public Programs discuss the debate over the advisability of writing down underwater mortgages, the role of Ed DeMarco, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the future of federal subsidies for home ownership.

Historically, summer in Phoenix has been a sluggish season for the real estate market, and July 2012 has been no exception. Michael Orr, director of the Center for real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business, reports that single family house prices dipped compared to last July, but, paradoxically, so did supply. This market continues to be a complicates set of moving pieces, although the trend is for improvement. How long till it reches “normal”? The answer continues to be “quite a while.”

Real Estate Roundtable: In part two, Mark Stapp, director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, and Jonathan Koppell, dean of ASU’s College of Public Programs discuss the debate over the advisability of writing down underwater mortgages, the role of Ed DeMarco, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the future of federal subsidies for home ownership.

Real Estate Roundtable: In this two part podcast, Mark Stapp, director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, and Jonathan Koppell, dean of ASU’s College of Public Programs discuss conditions in the Arizona real estate market, including the shift to more rental housing stock, the characteristics of a mature Phoenix metro area and the current state of federal real estate policy.

The June housing market report indicates that some stability may be returning to prices in Phoenix, however the market is complex and continues to be out of balance. Mike Orr, director of the W. P. Carey School’s Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice, reports that there was indeed little change in prices between May and June of this year, but compared to last year prices are up. Supply continues to be tight, however, making another period of price increases possible.

The Phoenix real estate market has been showing signs of life, but a panel of experts warns that a full recovery is unlikely until around 2015. Mark Stapp, director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, and Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice, met this week with Tom Rex, director of the Center for Competitiveness and Prosperity Research for a wide-ranging discussion of the factors influencing the Phoenix and Arizona economy, including population trends, employment and consumer confidence. A regular feature of KnowRE, the Real Estate Roundtable brings together experts from the university and industry to discuss real estate in context with the overall community.

Real Estate Roundtable: The Phoenix real estate market has been showing signs of life, but a panel of experts warns that a full recovery is unlikely until around 2015. Mark Stapp, director of the Master of Real Estate Development program, and Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice, met this week with Tom Rex, director of the Center for Competitiveness and Prosperity Research for a wide-ranging discussion of the factors influencing the Phoenix and Arizona economy, including population trends, employment and consumer confidence. A regular feature of KnowRE, the Real Estate Roundtable brings together experts from the university and industry to discuss real estate in context with the overall community.

The imbalance created by high demand and low supply continues to be the dominating factor in the greater Phoenix housing market, according to Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business. With summer in full swing, Orr expects rising prices to stabilize as buyers take time off from the hunt. Rising prices have attracted more sellers to the market, but not enough to balance out demand, so according to the rules of economics one would expect the price increases to resume in the fall. Here’s Mike Orr discussing the current situation.

Phoenix home prices continued to rise in April, although the number of homes dipped, despite the historical trend for increased sales in the spring. A change in the mix of homes for sale and continuing tight supply is contributing to the increase in price. But, although demand is strong, prices have not yet reached the point where sellers will be lured into the market in higher numbers. Investors – those who fix and flip houses as well as landlords – are still in the game. The median sales price rose 25 percent compared to last April, from 112 to 140 thousand, and the price per square foot increased 16.5 percent. Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business, collects and analyses the data monthly.

Professor Dennis Hoffman, director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute at the W. P. Carey School, gave an analysis of the state’s budget situation. He says taxes on individuals are relatively low in Arizona, and the public pensions are generally solvent. Also, the recent upswing in the economy has helped provide some stabilization for incoming state revenue, even though tax collections as a share of income have continued to fall for years. However, the current clarity in the fiscal picture will start to get cloudy again. Hoffman spoke May 15, 2012 at the Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon, sponsored by the Economic Club of Phoenix.

In the Phoenix resale home market, supply is tight – especially for lower-priced properties -- and prices are on the rise, said Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School. In his presentation at the Annual Economic Outlook luncheon, Orr said that homebuilders will need to find a solution to the labor shortage in order to meet demand. The event is the finale of the 2011-12 season of the W. P. Carey School’s Economic Club of Phoenix.

Arizona is adding jobs at a rate that puts the state in the top 10 for job growth, but full economic recovery is still ahead, according to Lee McPheters, economist and director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business. McPheters spoke May 15, 2012 at the Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon, sponsored by the Economic Club of Phoenix.

Housing prices rose in the Phoenix market in March, signaling a shift in the mix of what is being sold, according to Michael Orr, author of the monthly resale real estate report from the W. P. Carey School of Business. Fewer low-price foreclosed properties are moving through the market, Orr explained. Median and per square foot price is moving up as traditional sales account for a greater percentage of activity. It’s a complex market, still extremely out of balance, he added. Supply in March was even more restricted than it was in February, which pushed prices up. Eventually, the market will find that magic spot where prices are high enough to coax more sellers to the game. The whole market changes character as prices rise, Orr said, and that is the mechanism that will bring Phoenix back in balance.

When adjusted for inflation, gas prices are about as high as they’ve ever been. So why aren’t we hearing more about pocketbook pain? At this week’s Dean’s Council of 100 Executive of the Year award luncheon, Dean Robert Mittelstaedt of the W. P. Carey School of Business looked at the factors affecting gas prices and the ways we’ve responded. The Economic Minute is a brief presentation about current conditions delivered by a W. P. Carey School of Business expert at the monthly Economic Club of Phoenix luncheons.

If you find yourself increasingly dependent on your smart phone, Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs should be at the top of your list of people to thank. Founding chairman and CEO Emeritus for Qualcomm Incorporated, Jacobs oversaw the development of the company’s innovations in Code Division Multiple Access – or CDMA – a technology fundamental to 3G mobile wireless standards. On April 19, 2012, Jacobs was named the W. P. Carey School Dean’s Council of 100 Executive of the Year – an honor reserved for change-making business leaders. In his speech, Jacobs gives us his personal recollections of a lifetime creating the technologies that have changed our lives.

In Arizona real estate is often described as driving the economy, but is that true? In the first of a series of roundtable discussions, economist Dennis Hoffman and real estate experts Mark Stapp and Michael Orr talk about the role real estate has played in the cyclical Phoenix economy, and what part it will play going forward. The supply of homes to purchase is currently extremely tight. In the past builders could have fielded crews of construction workers to respond quickly to demand, but policy changes mean that inexpensive labor will be in short supply as well. If desirable housing continues to be a scarce commodity, how will that affect a recovery in Phoenix?

You could say that Phoenix is a seller’s market this spring, although there’s very little real estate to buy. Real estate expert Michael Orr reports that with interest rates low, the economy beginning to stir and prices still very affordable compared to salaries and rental rates, a swift recovery could be in the cards. But supply is so tight that “buying a house is often quite a struggle.” After years of churn, the market is finally in focus, but it’s out of balance.

When the Arizona economy went into a severe downturn at the end of 2007, mounting job losses, rising foreclosures and increases in unemployment raised the possibility that Arizona’s population might actually begin to decrease as job seekers went elsewhere. New U.S. Census Bureau figures show that Arizona population increased during each year of the recession, but at a much slower pace than during the housing boom, according to economist Lee McPheters, speaking during the Economic Minute at the Economic Club of Phoenix March luncheon.

Doug Parker is chairman and CEO of US Airways. In a speech at the Economic Club of Phoenix, Parker surveyed the state of the airline industry as the economy slowly recovers. Consolidation has reduced carriers to the "right" number, and feesare now part of a new normal. He also traced the America West/US Airways story – which he termed “remarkable.” The Economic Club of Phoenix is a forum for the discussion of economic and business issues among academic, business, labor and public sectors in the Phoenix area.

In the last 12 months major changes have emerged in the troubled Phoenix real estate market – changes that have gone largely unrecognized by the shell-shocked public. This month we introduce Michael Orr, real estate expert and newly appointed director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business. Orr explains what he’s seeing in the Phoenix market, and offers his outlook for the months ahead. After listening, be sure to look at Orr’s full report for complete analysis and data.

Gary Naumann is an entrepreneur and director of the Spirit of Enterprise Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business. He oversees the Spirit of Enterprise Awards, putting him in contact with about 250 companies every year that are nominated for the awards. The award application is comprehensive, and goes beyond the numbers to uncover the stories of business success. Naumann’s own business experience combined with his work at the Spirit center has given him an up close view of the ways companies have coped through these down times. With green sprouts of recovery slowly beginning to appear, we asked him what businesses should be doing now to be ready for the comeback.

According to an economic model developed at the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona is headed for a pleasant surprise in April. Capital gain taxes, typically paid quarterly with the largest payment in April, are rising, according to economist Dennis Hoffman, director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute. But capital gains are volatile, Hoffman pointed out, and therefore cannot be used to fund ongoing expenses or permanent tax cuts. So, if the model proves accurate, all eyes will be watching to see how the legislature reacts.

Curtis Frasier is the executive vice president and general counsel of Royal Dutch Shell’s Upstream Americas business. He is also Shell’s head of legal in the USA. In his speech at the Economic Club of Phoenix on February 2, 2012, he described Shell’s business worldwide and commented on sustainable energy issues. The Economic Club of Phoenix is a forum for the discussion of economic and business issues among academic, business, labor and public sectors in the Phoenix area.

On January 2, 2012, the W. P. Carey School of business lost its benefactor and friend, Wm. Polk Carey. At the January Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon, Dean Robert Mittelstaedt delivered a tribute, speaking about Mr. Carey’s early interest in business, his game-changing innovations in finance and his high ethical standards. Mittelstaedt also recalled Mr. Carey’s support of higher education, especially his passion for the school at Arizona State University that bears his name.

Jay Butler, professor emeritus of real estate at the W. P. Carey School of Business, has been a familiar voice analyzing the Phoenix metropolitan market since 1978. With his December 2011 report, he closes his ASU career. In this podcast, Dr. Butler reviews the numbers from December and wraps up the year 2011. Butler also shares some thoughts about the much-smaller city he moved to in 1972, and the challenges ahead for the Valley of the Sun.

Sluggish consumer spending has been a prime job-killer in Arizona during what’s come to be known as the Great Recession, according to economist Dennis Hoffman, director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute. During the Economic Minute, a feature of the monthly Economic Club of Phoenix luncheons, Hoffman dissected consumption patterns going back to the 1980s. While spending is still below what might be expected given the historical trend, it is nevertheless creeping upward. Driving that increase, Hoffman said, is automobile sales.

Hamish Brewer is president and chief executive officer of JDA Software, a leading global provider of innovative supply chain management, merchandising and pricing solutions. In a speech on January 11 at the Economic Club of Phoenix luncheon, Brewer presented a primer on supply chain management, and discussed the technology-driven improvements that will alter the way business decisions are made and executed. The W. P. Carey School’s Economic Club of Phoenix provides a forum for the discussion of business and economic issues.

One of the characteristics of leadership is the ability to spur others to follow your direction. But exactly how do leaders do it? Kevin Corley, an associate professor of management at the W. P. Carey School of Business, studies leadership. He says the key is influence rather than coercion.