Arizona Could See Population Growth Trend Upward Again
The Yuma Sun reported that, although Arizona has seen only modest population growth in recent years, things could change in the not too distant future.
Phoenix Area Duo Plead Guilty To Mortgage Fraud
A pair of Valley residents plead guilty on Monday to conspiring to commit multiple-transaction mortgage fraud, a case valued at $5.3 million.
Arizona Lawmakers Question Health Pact
Seven members of Arizona’s congressional delegation have demanded answers from the Department of Defense about its decision to select UnitedHealth Group over a Phoenix-based company for a lucrative $20.5 billion health-care contract to serve 2.9 million military personnel and their family members. Phoenix-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance has held the contract for 16 years.
Last week, TriWest challenged the contract through a protest filed with the Government Accountability Office. TriWest contends that UnitedHealth presented a higher bid than TriWest and that the insurance company has a history of performance and regulatory issues that should have been carefully vetted. In a letter sent this week to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Arizona members of the U.S. House of Representatives wanted to know how the federal agency evaluated the competing proposals and considered the costs associated with swapping contractors.
Investors Rescue Phoenix-Area Housing Market, but the Future Is Uncertain
By purchasing and holding tens of thousands of existing homes, investors have created a demand where little had existed and drastically reduced the inventory of homes for sale, which has helped boost prices over the past six months. The investors’ goal is to buy and rent out a large portfolio of homes and collect monthly lease revenue until home prices increase to significantly higher than what the investors paid, at which time they will sell the homes.
This snatching up of homes by investors makes it nearly impossible for traditional homebuyers in certain neighborhoods to acquire an existing home without paying a premium to an investor, but it also raises serious concerns about what will happen to the housing market when all those investors decide to sell. The concerns about the destabilizing effect investor dominance in the housing market could have on local communities has led to programs designed to help offset this negative effect.
Fannie Mae, the first bank-owned home seller to express concerns about this destabilizing effect has implemented a program called First Look, which prohibits investors from bidding on Fannie Mae-owned homes for the first 15 days after they are listed for sale. Read more…
Recovery Threatened by Runaway Student Loan Debt
Today’s Middle Class is feeling squeezed from multiple directions: underwater with their homes and mortgage loans, feeling the impact of a faltering economy, and overwhelmed by debt. Student loan debt is a non-yielding threat to the majority of struggling middle-class professionals and, surging above $1 trillion, U.S. student loan debt has surpassed credit card and auto-loan debt in the U.S. The National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys warns that escalating student loan debt and delinquencies could be the next debt bomb for the U.S. economy.