More econ development news... in other locations

I'm just going to continue to bring this kind of information here, from time to time, until we here in Kingman start to see these kinds of discussions happening in our media and from our elected officials.

CB 10 meets the challenge

All signs point to economic recession. But Community Board 10 intends to meet that challenge head on. The board voted unanimously to create a brand new economic development committee on Thursday, February 19.

“This new committee is going to be great,” board member Anne Jack said. “A lot of businesses in Westchester Square and on Crosby Avenue need our help.”

Until now, the board has barely addressed business concerns. But a global financial crisis has the district teetering between renewal and decline. Economic development, like residential development, deserves attention.

...

According to Kearns, the committee could work with Westchester Square merchants to launch a Business Improvement District. It could also sponsor seminars covering government loan, tax incentives and grants.

“We’ll have business-minded members on the committee,” he said. “We’ll have a business-minded chair.”

Board member Virginia Gallagher isn’t frightened by the prospect of a second Great Depression.” But Gallagher believes communication between business owners and civic leaders will prove crucial to the area’s success.

Ready to face the challenge... and ready to put a plan of action in place?? Cool.

Less duplication, more cooperation: Local officials say improvements possible

The local government machine aims to provide its taxpayers with public services they depend upon - transportation access, economic development, education, recreational opportunities, law enforcement protection, infrastructure for water, roads, growth planning and more.

...

Morton County Commissioner Andy Zachmeier said some duplication could be eliminated by city and county boards attending the other's meetings. "We could work together. The snow removal could be one example," he said.

"We want to promote growth, but we want to keep property taxes low and keep business taxes low," Zachmeier said. He said that would attract more residents and economic development.

While snow removal is not a worry for us here (at least this month), I do like the effort to keep taxes low on business and property in an effort to attract MORE residents and economic development. It can be done folks.

Economic development program hopes to lure top companies to region

The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada may be seen as a player-coach in Greater Reno-Tahoe's economic diversification efforts, but there are some real all-stars playing the actual game.

Key partners in this endeavor include NV Energy; the Nevada Commission on Economic Development; the cities of Reno, Sparks and Fernley; the seven counties that make up our region; the University of Nevada, Reno; Truckee Meadows Community College; Desert Research Institute; Reno-Tahoe International Airport; developers; Realtors; businesses and more. Some provide vital funding, others needed skills.

This diversity of talent will make something happen and that is precisely what our "Out-of-Market Business Attraction" program is all about. We're working to recruit companies and jobs to our area in addition to responding to inbound company inquiries and assisting existing companies looking to expand or even just stay in business.

Out-of-market attraction is important for at least four reasons:

# Jobs. Nearly everyone knows or is related to someone out of work and we need to create jobs as the feed source to the economic stimulus.

# Tax dollars. Companies and the people they employ pay taxes basic to our interdependent system of government and services.

# Diversification. A broad base of companies from different industries -- clean energy, advanced manufacturing, business and financial services, advanced logistics and more -- provide jobs and taxes that minimize the obvious dangers of a region supported by a single industry.

# Competition. Through sales relationships, public/media relations and marketing we must promote the Greater Reno-Tahoe region and its many assets to attract new business.

...

Our goal is to bring company executives here to experience Reno/Tahoe firsthand. Second only to personal contact, decision makers are most influenced by news stories, which makes a national public relations campaign critically important to our region's of-market attraction efforts and getting the word out that Reno/Tahoe is a top place to do business.

So I'm not just imagining influencing factors like 'news stories'. I knew it. I'll resist the urge to link to some really non flattering articles about our community from one of our main local media outlets. Issues that probably give private interests with private money pause before dropping their dollars locally.

But I really like the bullet points in the linked article. Jobs, tax dollars, diversity, competition... all things Kingman sorely needs more of.

PROGRESS: Building friendships: Cities find the personal touch helps draw, retain businesses

A friendly face can make all the difference in economic development.

The former Clarion Hotel in Wickliffe was a good opportunity and key location when Julius Mosley bought it in June 2007.

Yet, the reason the hotel reopened in January as the Mosley Select Suites Hotel was the city's desire to build a relationship with him.

"It helps when you have a friendly city," Mosley said. "Originally, they were very receptive so that was a plus. That takes down 90 percent of the roadblocks if you have a cooperating city."

Even with an economy still struggling to recover, Mosley continued his plans to open the 196-room hotel, located at 28500 Euclid Ave.

"I already started it before the economic meltdown. I can't let that affect me. I can't just roll over and play dead," he said.

...

Attracting business

Available land, buildings and work force represent vital elements to bringing business to the area, said Jay Foran, senior vice president of business attraction for Team NEO.

The Cleveland-area group, which focuses on marketing and outreach, has 45 active projects — 10 new ones in 2009 — that could potentially bring employers to Lake and Geauga counties. Although there were 12 new projects in 2008, the potential is great for the area considering there are 10 months left in the new year, Foran said.

"We're an attractive place," he said. "In these economic times, we will see a decent amount of lead opportunities come our way.

Of the 45 possible projects, Foran anticipates that 10 percent of them will come to fruition, which he considers "a good average."

"We've developed relationships with these people over the long run. We are being successful with these people," Foran said.

"We're becoming a contestant in these opportunities much more so than the past.

"Basically, I'm feeling good about our lead stream compared to the previous year. We didn't expect to be this vibrant this year," he said.

...

Keeping businesses

Business retention often can be more impactful than bringing in new businesses.

In 2008, Wickliffe attracted 30 new companies and 130 employees; however, Laver said 80 percent of the city's job creation is through existing businesses.

In Chardon, Assistant City Manager Randy Sharpe also said that job retention is crucial.

Last year, the city collaborated with the chamber of commerce to create a business visitation program, which allows them to build more personal relationships with employers.

Since the program was implemented, the city has visited 16 employers; Sharpe said the visits have been well-received.

"We felt it was a way to get to know them better, help them grow where they are or somewhere else in the community," Sharpe said.

Does Kingman see a decent amount of lead opportunities come its way??

Development head seeks to add 2 employees

By assuming day-to-day management of the city's infrastructure and development plan, the Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority is encountering a work force issue for itself.

GAEDA, the city's economic-development arm, has two employees, Executive Director Clifford J. Moller and Executive Assistant Angela Varnado. That staff may need to double for the authority to handle the $96 million development plan known as SPARC, for Special Planned Activity Redevelopment Corridors.

...

Alexandria Mayor Jacques M. Roy said compensation will be addressed in a cooperative endeavor agreement he hopes to present Tuesday to the Alexandria City Council.

The agreement will lay out the role and deliverables associated with the SPARC program as agreed upon by the city and GAEDA. "A sharing of responsibilities" is how Roy described it.

SPARC's goals range include improving infrastructure, transportation and housing as a means to induce private economic development. The plan segments the city into three cultural restoration areas, or CRAs, roughly described as downtown and the Red River waterfront; North Bolton Avenue and MacArthur Drive; and Masonic Drive and Lee Street.

A total of $40 million from the city's sale of two long-term municipal bonds in July 2008 is available now to fund projects.

...

Roy and Lawson agree on SPARC's potential to transform the city.

Lawson called it the most significant thing the council and city have done. Roy described SPARC as "city altering."

"I know it can be," the mayor said, "and I believe that we're really on the precipice of something great."

The goal there is to attract private economic development. Will that be the goal here in Kingman?? When??

Covington mayor gathering IDEAs through certification program

Economic development, strategic planning for communities and building a competitive community with an attractive quality of life are only a few of the topics of the Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association (IDEA)’s economic development certification program course that Covington Mayor Candace Watkins is attending this week in Baton Rouge.

Watkins said that participating in courses like these continuously gives her training to implement programs and ideas for growth in the city of Covington.

She will be commuting to Baton Rouge each day and plans to use the knowledge obtained through the course and seminars to further economic development and planning in the city.

Other seminars in the four-day course include retail expansion and downtown redevelopment, workforce development from the ground up, business retention and expansion, developing an entrepreneurial economy, finance in the local economic development world, effective targeted marketing for business recruitment and managing the economic development organization.

Citizens of Kingman are demanding everything I emphasized in the above paragraph from our local government.

Economy has slowed, city still seeing growth

Although the economy nationwide has slowed, Coppell’s economic developments is still growing, slowly, but it is growing, according to economic development coordinator Mindi Hurley.

“There has definitely been a slow down in development,” Hurley said. “Every city has experienced some slowdown because of the economy, but we have been fortunate in this area to not see the kind of slowdown other parts of the country has seen.”

...

Several new businesses have come into Coppell in the last six months, which is important to the city.

“In the last six months, we have had Market Street open, two restaurants, Chipotle and Mooyah, and American Home Mortgage Servicing,” Hurley said.

According to Hurley, American Home Mortgage Servicing could employ more than 750 people.

“I think that many people think you get a new business every week and that is not necessarily true,” Hurley said. “It takes a long time before a company will finally make the decision on a location.”

Hurley said she has had a few meetings in the past two weeks with companies putting out feelers about coming to Coppell.

“That doesn’t mean they will come,” she said. “In the last two weeks, I have met with four different companies that are looking.”

The companies range from small retail to larger industrial users, she said.

...

Hurley sees two areas which she hopes will continue to grow in the future.

“I hope we will see more retail and a variety of retail coming in,” she said. “In addition, we are just now beginning to see more office space in the community.”

When, I say when, will the good folks of the Kingman community see this kind of information in our own media??

New markets and obsolescence

Daniel R. Patterson is an Arizona State Representative in the current legislature, and he has a blog (fun to find these things from our elected officials). He, along with other House democrats, are pushing through a bill that passed the Water and Energy Committee.

Now, I'm NOT a legislator -- nor do I play one on TV -- but I started to give the bill a read and found some of it interesting pertaining to the future of housing (i.e. construction).

Here is the bill in its original form here. Now I won't say that I've read all 37 pages of the PDF file, in fact I've only read lines 5-27 on page of the proposed bill. I've scanned through some other pages but that is it. So my comments from here are based only on those lines of the bill at this point.

Below, I'm copying some from the House Summary pertaining to new construction of residential and commercial property.

Buildings/Construction

· States that it is the goal of the state to promote the construction of energy efficient buildings.

· Establishes voluntary statewide goals for the construction of energy efficient residential and commercial buildings as follows:

· 15% of new buildings are on average more efficient than the 2006 IECC in 2012.

· 30% of new buildings are on average more efficient than the 2006 IECC in 2016.

· 50% of new buildings are on average more efficient than the 2006 IECC in 2020.

· Requires DOCEO to track the number of energy efficient buildings constructed in the state and submit an annual report to the Legislature with the number and percentage of energy efficient buildings and an estimate of the percentage of new residential and commercial buildings that were more energy efficient, beginning in 2010. The DOCEO must also present the information to the House of Representatives Committee on Water and Energy and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Infrastructure and Public Debt.

· Requires cities, towns and counties to report to the DOCEO the total number of building permits issued and the percentage of those that were issued for energy efficient residential and commercial buildings, including the energy rating system value, beginning February 1, 2012.

· Defines energy efficient buildings.

The bill states plainly that all cities and towns shall report to the Department of Commerce Energy Office (DOCEO) whether new building permits meet the energy efficiencies referred to above. Starting on or before February 1 of 2010 all Arizona cities and towns will report to DOCEO all building permits and the percentage of the new buildings that will be energy compliant.

I'm removing the politics of this bill in my line of thinking here. I'll pretend that this bill goes through whether I want it to or not, I think this bill will deliver a couple of things. One is obsolescence and the other is a new market. In the current state of the housing market, neither is a bad thing right now in my opinion.

I know that I'm viewed in some circles as a champion for alternative energy products, like wind turbines for instance, and really I don't care if that is actually true or not. I see products like wind turbines and solar panels as potential property enhancements more than anything else really, products that could increase value and marketability. Property owners could wish to purchase such products and services for their own energy saving needs to utilize whatever benefit they may find, and also offer those products and services to the next owner of the property if the current owner decided to sell for whatever reason.

Of course I realize that these alternative energy products are going to have to actually deliver on the promises being made if the premise I'm in line with becomes reality. In other words a seller would have to prove that his/her home actually has a lower utility cost than perhaps his/her neighbor that is also selling but doesn't have the alternative energy products. Potential buyers will basically have to be able to see it, feel it, and realize it.

Now this bill doesn't actually have any wind turbine tower or solar panel information in it (at least from the documents that I scanned through), but the gist is the same. New construction homes, at least a percentage of them, will have to meet new requirements put in place by whatever government that puts them there.

Maybe it will be the squiggly looking light bulbs that have to be put into lighting fixtures, maybe it is (even) lower flow toilets, or something else along those lines that this bill is pushing... but no doubt that reducing energy needs in a home will be the rage (if it isn't already).

So this really means that new residential developments (if there ever is such a thing again) will likely market the heck out of the fact (if they choose to) they offer these energy efficient homes. These energy efficient homes will find a market for the new home buyer and strain the older less efficient home market... leading to a form of obsolescence.

The bill doesn't appear to even be as harsh as it certainly could be. The bill only calls for 50% of new construction projects to be up to whatever energy efficiency level they are talking about by 2020. But nevertheless, the clock is ticking (if the bill passes).

I guess that I don't live in one of these energy efficient homes at the moment (although I do have squiggly light bulbs in many places). I don't have a wind turbine or solar panels either. There will be opportunities to retrofit my home to be more efficient, and at the increased rate that utility rates are increasing, perhaps even someday soon those retrofits might even be cost effective.

But... my home will still likely be facing the clock of obsolescence.

Future developments that offer energy efficient homes will draw more demand than even a retrofitted home once that market really appears. Retiree's on fixed incomes will be drawn to such a home, folks that think they are saving the planet will be drawn to that kind of dwelling, penny pincher's like me will be drawn to a lower cost solution, and even just some folks that want to live near someone from the examples I just shared will likely be drawn as well. It will be a new market... a new product market. A new product is just really what the overall housing market could use to fuel demand.

Normally I'd rather simply let the free enterprise market deliver the new market, but it seems the government is bent on doing it at this time. I'd feel better about the kind of organic demand that free enterprise always delivers, and my only worry about the government interference in this case would be that these new 'efficiencies' aren't really efficient enough to make up for the actual cost/benefit difference that there clearly is at this point in time (I doubt I'm saving all that much money on my squiggly light bulbs yet... it is not noticeable at least).

I'm left wondering how much faster obsolescence clock ticks if this all happens and how quickly a new product market appears if these kinds of government mandated, along with truly beneficial cost saving energy efficient products, changes the overall housing market.

It is always smart to be in the present taking care of issues that need attention today... however we should always keep one eye down the road and be ready for future issues.

Tea... anyone??

I'm sure that you are aware of the 'tea party' demonstrations that are underway around the country. So my question is... are we having one in Kingman?? Should we??

I'd be willing to help organize such an event, with help being the key word.

If there is already something like this in the works, give me a heads up and I will help spread the word.

Folks for the most part based on what I've read about other demonstrations there is very little true organization, yet hundreds of people are coming out to join.

I'll let you decide.

Here is a link to a scheduled for next week tea party in Rochester New York.

Tonights City Council Meeting.... Wind Turbines Approved.

I'm not exactly liveblogging, but I am watching the meeting.

The wind turbine stuff was approved. It was a very good discussion. Lots of great questions... plenty of answers for those questions. Good stuff.

Approved by a vote of 5-1.

I might be back for the impact fee discussion.

Impact fee stuff:

Clay England <----- Get's it!! (might be interesting to see how the paper covers/quotes Mr. England)

Council promised Mr. England that they will be looking at the rest of the fees later on... that they owe it to them. Okay then, the ball is in their court... again.

However, council says they HAVE to, so they approved an increase to the impact fees.

Good meeting, if you missed it check the city's website for the video in a day or two.

Probably another IOU in the making...

I can't believe how desperate the California government is getting... eh... actually I can believe it.

Their latest plan involving housing is a $10,000 dollar tax credit for anyone that buys a home in California between March 1 this year and the end of next February of 2010.

Article that covers this is linked here.

One catch though (and I'm sure there will be more), to get the tax credit the buyer must buy a home that has never been lived in, i.e. a new home. The plan looks like a blatant attempt to attract more people to the state while at the same time punishing any seller currently living in a home... a seller that potentially is leaving the state.

And I can just see the new California tax payer next year opening his/her mail for the refund check from the government to find a $10,000 dollar IOU instead (well... at least the IOU won't bounce).

February Listings Report (2009)

Don't call it a comeback... I'm certain I've said that before on one of the reports (either listings or sales). This time I'm just saying don't call it a comeback... yet.

There are some surprising results from the new contract activity. Noticeable increases in the total number of units going under contract to the plus side each of the last three months. Of course this is spurred by the foreclosure listings available as they offer the best price to buyers, and they ARE bringing out the buyers. Banks outpaced traditional sellers in negotiated agreements.

Now will these numbers turn into noticeable sales increases in units?? Still unable to determine in my opinion as some of the contracts taken are no doubt short sales, and short sales do not always make it to a successful close of escrow. The key thing that jumps out is the level of activity. More to come, but first the disclaimer...

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Data tables for all new listings tracked in the month of February 2009

As of March 1 Total Listings on Market

Item	Total Units	Previous Month
Total Listings On Market	510	498
Total Listings Listed as Foreclosed	66	68

New Listing Data

Item	Month of February	Previous Month
New Listings Total	104	90
New Listings Listed as Foreclosed	33	22
Average Asking Price Per Unit	$169,214	$175,140
Median Asking Price	$135,150	$134,900
Average Asking Price Per Square Foot	$102	$105
Units Re-Listed	15	18
Units Already Under Contract	13	10

New Listing House Data

Item	Month of February	Previous Month
Living Area Square Footage	1,649	1,665
Bedrooms	3.16	3.02
Bathrooms	2.1	2.06
Garage	1.9	1.73
Year Built	1996	1989

Price Range of New Listings in February

Item	Lowest	Highest
Listings	$27,900	$599,900

New listings popped back up over 100 for the shortest month of the year. That is never good news for an over-supplied market, but the silver lining is the continued downward movement of the initial price offer. That figure is down 20% from last February as you will see in a table later on in this report.

I did my own little calculation on supply of inventory based on the rate of new contracts (averaged over the last three months) and it appears that there is still at least nine months worth of inventory on the market. Still too high, but it was ten months less than at this point last year based on the same formula and calculations. I'll live with nine months worth of inventory over 19 months worth.

Getting better, but not solved.

Data tables for all new Units under contract tracked in the month of January 2008

As of March 1 Total Units Under Contract

Item	Total Units	Previous Month
Total Units Under Contract	106	88
Total Contracts Listed as Foreclosed	55	45

Units Under Contract Data

Item	Month of February	Previous Month
New Contracts Total	62	55
New Contracts Listed as Foreclosed	34	31
Average Marketing Price Per Unit	$137,313	$131,448
Median Marketing Price	$119,500	$104,950
Average Marketing Price Per Square Foot	$86	$83
Days on Market to Acquire a Contract	84	111
Average Marketing Price Reduction	$12,155	$17,134

New Units Under Contract House Data

Item	Month of February	Previous Month
Living Area Square Footage	1,586	1,589
Bedrooms	3.05	3.15
Bathrooms	2.1	2.1
Garage	1.9	1.76
Year Built	1998	1994

Price Range of New Pending Contracts in February

Item	Lowest	Highest
Listings	$44,900	$394,900

I say again, problem NOT solved, but some things jump out at me. It is at this price level that is bringing more activity from buyers. If you talk to just about any local real estate agent locally, I'm certain that most would say that the level of activity from buyers is up. So, if you are a seller, take a good look at the pricing here. If you can list at this level, you will likely get more traffic from buyers.

But keep in mind sellers that with the still excessive inventory, prices will likely get pushed further down until some balance returns to the market. The prices will likely overshoot to the low side before all is said and done.

I'm only guessing here, but long term out... these price levels look as if they will be the norm when the local housing market comes out of intensive care.

Year over year data listings/pending contracts

Listings

Item	UP/DOWN	unit/dollar amount	Percentage
Total Listings	DOWN	122	(19%)
New Listings in February	UP	10	10%
Average Price per New Listing	DOWN	$42,507	(20%)
Median List Price	DOWN	$29,850	(18%)

Pending Contracts

Item	UP/DOWN	unit/dollar amount	Percentage
Total Pending Contracts	UP	4	3.9%
New Contracts for February	UP	16	35%
Average Marketing Price per Unit	DOWN	$33,922	(22%)
Median Marketing Price	DOWN	$29,500	(20%)

If you look closely at the two tables above, you can still see that buyers are still getting more of what they want as compared to the sellers and their initial price offerings in terms of percentages. Sellers are better at keeping up with the pace, but still falling behind.

The average marketing price is down on new contracts 22% from last year... they are down 40% compared to February of 2006.

Conclusions:

I've been waiting for a month like this to report on for quite some time. Not simply for the numbers to improve year over year... they have been improving month over month. The last time a month went by that saw over 60 new contracts reported was May of 2006. Now 60 is not a magic number... and I have no idea as of yet what the magic number might be (other than more of the good, less of the bad).

If, if, I say IF the data continues to roll in such a manner into the next quarter the local market will be closer to finding balance. Prices will continue to slide though, but perhaps begin to slide at a slower rate. Will still depend on the banks and how they handle the foreclosures as they are proving to be the best sellers at this time.

Now please understand that I'm basing all of this on the local activity, nothing else. I don't have any idea as to how the federal, state, or even local government and the actions they are taking will affect the market in the future. For now, without intervention, the bottom of the market feels like it is in sight.

Bottom line for this report is that activity is up and has been in what is basically the slower part of the year. Activity is up because prices are at a level that is drawing more buyers. Will it continue?? Check back next month to find out. Look for the sales report on the 9th or 10th later this month. Happy March!!

Some juicy econ development stuff

Of course... the juicy quotes and information comes from other communities dedicated on improving the local economic conditions. Hopefully soon and here locally in Kingman, we will begin to see similar bits about our own situation.

The first article linked on this post covers a local election.

In Wheeling, election will focus on economic development

Three candidates vying for the Wheeling village presidency April 7 agree the economy is the most pressing issue and that the village should monitor its spending to prepare for leaner times.

The differences lie, somewhat, in how they would pursue improving the village's economy.

Okay... candidate #1 you are up...

Judy Abruscato, 72, has been a village trustee for 22 years and a longtime member of local organizations like Rotary and the Lions Club.

Abruscato said her main initiative, if elected, would be increasing retail and commercial development in order to strengthen Wheeling's tax base.

Why not just institute a 'Shop Here!' program??

Now... candidate #2...

Patrick Horcher, 45, is the other sitting village trustee in the president's race, with 14 years on the board.

He said his priority would be making sure every applicant who comes before the board is treated fairly, which he says hasn't always happened.

"I want us to be very friendly to business," he said. "We have a lot of businesses that come in and they want to take advantage of our industry."

Horcher said he would advocate lowering the village's sales tax.

Wow... around here talk like that makes you an extremist to some.

Candidate #3...

Kolssak, 39, said his main economic priorities are redeveloping vacant land, and improving the village's strained relationships with its neighbors and other government agencies such as the local schools and the park and library districts.

"I just think it's time for a new style of leadership ... one that isn't mired by all the existing politics," he said. "I think it's time for some new ideas. The main thing I want to do is establish these collaborative partnerships with a lot of the agencies that are involved with the village."

Kolssak said he would like the village to offer new and existing businesses incentives to stay and grow in town.

Now that's just crazy talk right there (not really). Tough choices if economic development is important to you and how you decide to vote.

Next...

New Livingston economic development chief already has ideas for I-55

The newly named head of a Livingston County economic development group already says he has ideas for using Interstate 55 to spur growth in the area.

“Immediately I saw the opportunity that exists in relation to transportation routes with the access to Interstate 55 and five interchanges along that interstate,” Larry Vaupel said. “Those are great assets that we will be using to attract businesses.”

...

Livingston County has many qualities that could help attract business, such as enjoying proximity to larger metropolitan areas while still maintaining an “extraordinary quality of life,” Vaupel said.

...

The current financial climate in the nation is a concern, but communities which seek out economic development can prevail, Vaupel said.

“It certainly doesn’t make your job easier, but it makes the job more important than ever,” he said. “These communities that are strategic in their effort to attract economic development usually win in these times.”

When you are done there, Mr. Vaupel... we could use a person like you around here.

Next...

New jobs coming to Fayetteville : Arkansas Western Gas moving call center to town in July

...

Steve Clark, president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, said the announcement is great news for Fayetteville, especially since the new jobs come during times of economic downturn.

"Those are going to be good-paying jobs, those are not going to be minimum wage," Clark said.

He added that anytime new jobs come to a city, they lift the economy by bringing in new people and even boosting sales tax collections because the new people are spending money in the city.

"This is proof that the glass is getting more full," Clark said.

...

Mayor Lioneld Jordan agreed.

"I think that's wonderful," he said when told of the news. "I think there's a whole new change in the atmosphere. Anytime there's job creation in the city, I think that brings a certain optimism to the town."

And now the piece de resistance...

Breathing new life into RP's 'Economic Development' plan

...

Gugliotta sees “networking” as a solution these days. “In today’s political, social and economic climate most of us react by cutting advertising, travel and marketing expenses. This seems like a normal business procedure (but) it’s what we need to do as tougher times hit us.

“The results of course are different than we expect,” he added. “The income streams will start to dry up and of course our anxiety level usually goes through the roof. Many of us think that since there’s nothing we can do, we should just do nothing. But ‘nothing’ is really futile thinking, isn’t it?”

I could easily go on and copy and paster more juicy local economic development news making current headlines... just not in Kingman... for now.

All right... just one more...

Cleveland, Tennessee Lands "Major Economic Development Project," Jobs

...

Back in December, Bradley County commissioners voted to give an "unnamed" business a 50% tax cut for 25 years should it locate in the county. That "unnamed" business reportedly could create 600 jobs at a one-billion dollar plant possibly to be built in the county owned Hiwassee Industrial park.

Hurry to the half off sale if you bring 600 jobs to the area!! I like it!!

Rural Housing Loans...

Two things.

First, I'm messing around with a new (to me) screen capture program I've installed.

Second, because of the above I thought I'd try using it on an email that may have some local interest.



Just passing this along. If it is too difficult to read on the blog, click on it for a larger view.

Please note, I do not recommend or refer clients to particular lending agencies or institutions. The above was included for informational purposes only (and practice on my new screen capture program).

'The Foreclosure Five'

Very interesting article appeared over the weekend at the NY Post. While foreclosure mania is covered by the national media at will, this article breaks the data down to show -- what I have suspected for quite some time -- that the problems are local more so than national.

Of course Kingman is in what I call the ground zero area of foreclosures. Right in between Phoenix and Las Vegas and awfully close to California to boot. The article identifies Arizona, Nevada, California, Florida, and Michigan as the 'foreclosure five' states of the union.

Please read the whole article linked above, I'm going to cut and paste a few bits from the article below...

The beneficiaries of taxpayer charity will be highly concentrated in just five states - California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Michigan. That is not because the subsidized homeowners are poor (Californians with $700,000 mortgages are not poor), but because they took on too much debt, often by refinancing in risky ways to "cash out" thousands more than the original loan. Nearly all subprime loans were for refinancing, not buying a home.

I know that folks used sub-prime loans to buy homes too during the boom years, but I've never really had a grasp on how many loans were made for 'cash out' purposes. Data like that is not something I have access to (or know where to find it).

Nationwide, foreclosures fell 10% in January, to one out of every 466 homes. But that is a "mean" average dominated by places like California and Florida. In the median state with the 25th highest foreclosure rate, by contrast, only one out of 949 homes was in foreclosure - just one-tenth of 1%. Foreclosure rates were even lower in 25 other states. In Vermont, foreclosures amounted to just one out of 51,906 homes. Foreclosure can be a personal crisis, but it is not a national crisis.

Well stated.

So what's happening now? By looking at sales, you can see the free market is working very well. Sales of existing homes over the past year have soared in four states where home prices fell the most. Reducing the inventory of unsold homes, foreclosed or not, makes it easier to sell remaining homes and thereby works to arrest falling home prices. Falling home prices are not the problem, they're the solution.

Been saying that if sellers want to sell their prices need to be market to the current market, been saying it for a long time now. In fact, I will always say it -- because it is true.

Looking at the Foreclosure Five, you find another consistency - unemployment rates far above the national average (half the states were below 5.9% in December).

The exception is Arizona, where unemployment is a more reasonable 6.9%. Stephen Miller of the University of Nevada and Rangan Gupta of the University of Pretoria explained the apparent anomaly by explaining that migration and the market for second homes make Phoenix housing dependent on economic conditions in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Miller and Gupta found that "Los Angeles housing prices cause housing prices in Las Vegas (directly) and Phoenix (indirectly). In addition, Las Vegas housing prices cause housing prices in Phoenix" to rise or fall in step.

Interesting theory there.

In reality, the "Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan" compels taxpayers in most states to help those in just a few. Aside from Michigan's unique dependence on autos, the other four states' problems are already being solved the old-fashioned way: If something becomes too expensive, cut the price. Or move.

Indeed.

Polar Plunge time again...

When I say 'again', I don't mean again for me... as I'm not all that fond of icy cold water in subfreezing weather. However once again it is my wife, Gail, that is raising money for charity in the Minnesota area and this coming Saturday she takes the plunge again.

See this post from last year.

Looking at the weather forecast here and while it only goes to Friday (as of today), I doubt seriously that a warming trend of any significance is in the offing for Saturday. Should be much colder than last year.

If you would like donate this year to help the cause please do. I know that financial times are tough this year and maybe you are left with less than you normally are for charitable donations. To entice you though this year Gail will be raffling off a trip to Cabo. Details below.

Here is the link to the Frontier Team website, there you can scroll down to find Plunger Gail Tarson. Please help if you can.

Thank you for visiting my web page to support Special Olympics! This is my second year taking the plunge and you can imagine my excitement to freeze my bum off again. In all seriousness though, it is well worth the temporary sting of the bitter cold. It's a small sacrifice for a GREAT organization.

Your kindness and generosity in supporting me and the Special Olympics is inspiring and a great blessing. Last year, with your help (my family, friends and business colleagues), I was the TOP on-line fund raiser for this event. You all made it happen! Thank you! Let's do it again this year!!!

To support our fund raising efforts, my husband Todd and I have donated our Condo for 1 week (7 days, 7 nights) in Cabo San Lucas. Every person who donates to my fund raising effort with a minimum of $20 will be entered into a raffle drawing to WIN!

$20 1-ticket

$40 3-tickets

$60 5-tickets

$100 10-tickets

Drawing will be held and winner announced Monday, March 2nd, 2009.

Note: Winner is responsible for airfare and must have a passport. The raffle is for the condo only. Check out the resort at http://www.loscabosguide.com/hotels/vdpalmar.htm (Valued at over $1,200)

If by some chance donations come in and total over $5,000, Gail will wear a swimsuit at the event and I'll post photos here on this blog and on my social networks. She at least needs to make her goal of $1,000 in order for me to publish photos of the event.

Help if you can, thank you.

On the economic development front...

Someday perhaps pretty soon we will see articles like these linked below here in Kingman. Just a few recent articles about what other communities are doing to help their economic development opportunities. Some in Kingman believe, still, that it is better we hide in our collective shells until there is a brighter day. Meanwhile...

Governor announces legislation to encourage economic development

New and enhanced incentives could bring large projects, high-paying jobs to Georgia

2/18/2009 -

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Larry O’Neal has introduced a legislative package that will position Georgia as a more aggressive competitor for economic development projects that grow jobs and investment in the state. The proposed changes to the “Business Expansion Support” Act (BEST) legislation in House Bill 438 and House Bill 439 would enhance and update existing tax credit programs for qualified businesses, including both new and existing companies.

“Now is the time to arm ourselves with the tools that will help bring quality jobs to Georgia as we prepare for economic recovery,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “Our citizens are the ultimate beneficiaries when we can offer a competitive edge to companies who want to expand in Georgia or bring jobs here.”

Quick, somebody tell these people that hiding in a shell is what is called for, not incentives to bring business and jobs to the area. Who needs that??

Danville City Council approves $1 million for economic development

By Denice Thibodeau
Danville Register & Bee
Published: February 18, 2009

Danville City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to appropriate $1 million from the city’s general fund for an economic development incentive.

The money will be transferred to the Industrial Development Authority for disbursement to a project that has not yet been announced.

The city will be reimbursed the total amount through an approved Danville Regional Foundation grant as jobs from the project come online.

Talk about a leap of faith. Money will be transferred for a project not even announced yet?? Oh mercy!! Then add in the bit about reimbursement as jobs from this unnamed project come online?? Nah... I like the idea of starting a plywood business for empty commercial businesses instead.

Warrenton names economic development director
Schlenther optimistic despite economy's skid

By Sarah Whitney
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 3:13 AM CST

Despite a troubled economy, Michelle Schlenther is optimistic about her new duties as Warrenton's economic development director.

"I'm very excited, and looking forward to it, and hopefully (can) bring additional jobs to Warrenton," said Schlenther, who was promoted to the position in late January.

I'm sure this nice lady means well... but doesn't she know that the economy will hardly rebound?? She is wasting her time and effort... but luckily for her, when she comes to her senses, that there is plenty of room in our shell for her.

And now my favorite one for the day...

Economic Development Looking to Draw in More People
Reported by: Briana Denney
Last Update: 2/18 7:03 pm

Cerro Gordo County, IA- An area economic development group is making finding things to do, a top priority.

The North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corp. is trying to let people know the good things going on in Cerro Gordo County. Members goal is to entice people to move here. Director Greg Gillman believes finding things to do key to growing new and old business.

"That will help our workforce grow in the community and become more vibrant community," said Gillman.

Gillman said the more people who move here the bigger the tax base and more things the community can do.

"You don't want to be a dying community or area," said Gillman.

He adds Cerro Gordo County is no where near that but emphasizes it's important to be progressive and think of new ideas to bring people into the area.

"Always be taking steps to be a more vibrant community," said Gillman.

My favorite because it practically reads like a Bizarro Superman episode.

Greetings Mr. President...

Oh by now you heard that President Obama was in the Phoenix area today to tout some spending bill or whatever.

And sure, there were some protesters. What I like about these protesters is their sense of humor (what?? No 'Obamahitler' signs??).

Links here, here and here for news coverage and a look at some of the protest signs that were seen today. My favorite...

Be sure to click on the links for more.

Heh...

Hey folks... it's me, your humble spin Meister and propaganda minister here.

It seems that my little post from yesterday motivated a couple of folks at the Miner's website to start tossing out labels and hilarious allegations at my direction. No problem though, I enjoyed the laugh.

I responded to one comment post that appeared on the mayors blog site at the KDMiner.com which I'll link to again here.

But I thought it would be fun to respond to the other post here on my site. It comes from KDMiner blogger and all around good guy Loyd. It starts like this...

It seems to me that a P&Z commissioner is supposed to be dispassionate and fair and open-mined.

And if Loyd had been on the City Council he would have assuredly voted against me when my name was motioned and seconded for appointment to the commission. Instead of being appointed by a vote of 6-1 in favor, I would have been appointed by a vote of 5-2. I'll say this again, there is no one in this community more surprised by my appointment to the P&Z commission than me. I am still very honored and humbled. I willingly serve on the commission at the pleasure of the elected leaders and will do so as long as they have me. It is their gig, not mine.

Loyd, I apologize to you for having the passion I do on the rights property owners are afforded, I'm never dispassionate in those terms. As far as 'fair and open-minded' is concerned... that's very subjective and probably the main reason why the panel of commissioners is made up of seven members and not left in the hands of a planning and zoning czar.

Todd Tarson, newly appointed with the strong support of Mayor Salem, seems to be a willing go-between carrying water and PR clips for out-of-town developers.

Loyd is correct here. I was willing to copy and paste the comment from the project manager that works for the developer. I even went so far as to make the offer to do so. It is not my quote, I do not own it. If you, Loyd, or anyone else has a problem with it... fine by me. Like you and most all others that live in Kingman, save for two elected office holders and some paid city officials, I was not at the meeting so I have no idea what the hell went on there.

If Vice-Mayor Watson, Council Member Lyons, the attorney that the city hired to help with possible negotiations, or the other city officials want to send me, via email, their interpretations of the meeting held on February 9th in Phoenix that they attended... I'll gladly post them here on my blog.

Of course I wouldn't have to make this offer, or even would have had to post the email from the developer, if the media in Kingman -- namely the Miner -- could have somehow found the time to get a few quotes from the parties that attended the meeting. Like it or not... the issues involving Kingman Crossing are a big deal in this community. Getting some progress updates from time to time would be nice.

Tarson is totally unabashed in his vocal support for anything goes wind turbine issues.

Loyd I'm not surprised that you see it this way and really I don't care. Most rational people that may have been following along now with my writing on this subject (all 40 of you, thanks) know that I view this as a property rights issue. Wind turbines are not a self interest for me, I don't want one on my property.

Again, as a commissioner on the planning and zoning panel, I am one of seven (yet of the two agenda items put in front of that panel since I joined, both were approved unanimously... go figure).

And, when it comes to any type of development issues – well – "Yes", "Yes", "Yes" will be the championed cry.

Any type of development Loyd?? I've already voted to deny a developers request to change zoning in their favor... but facts, often times for you, seem to be irrelevant.

However, here is where your comment is correct. Does the proposed development issue lead to additional jobs in the community?? "Yes" will be the championed cry. Will the proposed development issue lead to improved community services and quality of life?? "Yes" will be the championed cry. Will the proposed development issue lead to more investment into our community?? Once again "Yes" will be the championed cry.

Yet no matter what, as a commissioner on the panel, I will only be one of seven and if I'm actually this extremist you're attempting to make me out to be... my vote will be in the clear minority.

But, I guess a "groomed" commission, as a former city manager once described, is what a "Pro-Growth" Mayor would want in place for moving big development agendas forward.

Chance are very good that Loyd voted for this 'Pro-Growth' mayor he speaks of. Also, it seems to me that Loyd has issues with 'Pro-Growth' agenda items... but don't you dare label him non growth friendly.

As far as any 'grooming' is concerned, the only contacts that I have received from the city are the ones that remind me of either the ride-a-round inspection the Thursday before the P&Z meeting or for the actual P&Z meeting.

Tarson seems more than willing to "grease the skids".

Before responding to this one I googled 'grease the skids'.

From here...

1. grease the skids

get things started, to warm up; to get the ball rolling; to not get caught with your pants down

Jon wanted to grease the skids by sending out an email in advance of the meeting

Also from here...

Idiom Definitions for 'Grease the skids'
If you grease the skids, you facilitate something

Heh. Guilty as charged then. I love facilitating open discussion on future development of the community.

Comment/update on Kingman Crossing...

Last week the community was alerted to a meeting that took place in Phoenix between the landowners/developers of Kingman Crossing and the City of Kingman officials.

I wrote about that here at this link.

I thought at some point last week the media would cover some details of the meetings, but nothing (of course) has appeared.

Out of the blue, I was contacted by the project manager of the Kingman Crossing development last week. We had a brief discussion brought on by the blog post I wrote. I asked the Vestar project manager, Ryan Desmond, if he wouldn't mind putting something in an email and I'd post it here.

Here it is...

Vestar and Vanderbilt remain committed to Kingman Crossing. We continue to believe in the need for additional retail options in the City of Kingman and the region as a whole and feel strongly that Kingman Crossing affords the best opportunity to make that a reality. After a meeting with city officials last week to begin discussions on a possible public/private partnership and funding mechanism for the future freeway interchange, the city’s attorney suggested that in light of some current litigation between another developer and the City of Phoenix that is working its way through the courts, it would be prudent for all parties to wait until the matter is settled before entering into any agreement between Kingman and Vestar and/or Vanderbilt. We understand these concerns and agree with the approach. Despite the unfortunate delay, our enthusiasm for the project remains as strong today as it did when we first began our initial discussions with the city. Once the Phoenix litigation is settled, we look forward to continuing our conversations and moving forward with Kingman Crossing.

Ryan Desmond
Vestar Development Co.

While the KDMiner decided that this meeting wasn't news worth covering, the mayor of Kingman did write up some of the happenings on his blog at the Miner. Here is the link to that blog post.

There is always a deal...

In this linked article about the challenges the federal regulators face in the current economic climate I found a couple of interesting passages to share.

From the article...

DebtX of Boston and First Financial Network of Oklahoma City, for instance, sell loans at auction to investors who typically pay 5 cents to 85 cents for each dollar of outstanding principal, according to Bliss A. Morris, First Financial’s president. It is unloading hundreds of houses across the country at bargain basement prices. In November, Lula Smith, 86, of Kansas City, Mo., bought a two-bedroom house across the street from her home for $4,000, one-tenth of its value two years ago.

“I am real satisfied with that price, yes sir,” she said, adding that after about $1,000 in additional costs to repair the house, and some new carpet, her son and daughter-in-law will move in. “It was a nice little deal, indeed.”

Always a deal.

Last month, the F.D.I.C formed a partnership with a company called Private National Mortgage Acceptance Company, based in Calabasas, Calif., which paid $43 million to take possession of $560 million in loans left from First National Bank of Nevada. Private National, a company set up last year to profit from the bad-debt market, paid the equivalent of 38 cents on the dollar for the 3,800 loans, which were left after another bank took over First National’s branches and deposits.

The company will try to collect payments from borrowers after renegotiating mortgages, or, if necessary, foreclose on loans and sell the property. Private National said it hoped to make an annual profit of more than 20 percent for its investors.

Despite the small upfront price Private National paid, F.D.I.C. officials said they considered it a good deal. The government will receive, at least initially, 80 percent of any money Private National can generate from the loans.

I'm posting this because I'm finally starting to see this kind of stuff in the media after hearing about efforts like these for probably a year now.

Still messy and likely means a loss for taxpayers at the behest of the political class in DC.

Sums it up in many ways...

Click for larger view

A local water issue dust-up in the works...

Came across this link this morning...

A Bullhead City legislator wants to change water laws to allow northwestern Arizona to be able to tap into more Colorado River water.

Current laws permit water pumped from the Colorado River into Mohave County to be used only for industrial applications such as mining, utility plants and golf courses. Those laws date back to the 1920s governing how the states along the Colorado River divide up their water allocations.

Rep. Nancy McLain, R-Bullhead City, has introduced a bill (HB 2142) to allow Colorado River water to be used to meet the growing municipal and consumer needs for the Kingman area.

There was an effort to pass legislation like this last year, I believe.

However, the logic of the wording from this report as the reasoning is a bit tough to follow. Kingman is not on the banks of the Colorado River. So I'm not sure how this proposed bill will work. Plus... the bit about the growing municipal and consumer needs in Kingman is folly at this time since it is clear that our community is losing more people than it is gaining... hence... we aren't growing.

Time for poaching...

California is a mess, in economic and political terms (no offense to Californians though... a beautiful state, it is just run poorly) and many have noticed.

Some, including economic development departments in other areas, are doing something about it.

From this link...

California business is the target of a Valentine’s Day marketing effort from the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

The Metro Denver EDC’s “COlovesCA” campaign is focused on California companies identified in research as being in growth mode and ripe for expansion.

...

“We want to capture the attention of business decision makers in the Golden State,” Janet Fritz, director of marketing for the Metro Denver EDC, said in the statement.

Meanwhile... we have a 'Shop Local!' program here in Kingman.

Waterproof sand...

Stumbled across something this morning that I thought would be interesting to share. Haven't really heard from the water-worry types in a while, but I don't want them to think that I've forgotten about them.

I was reading this post and found an item referred to as 'waterproof sand'.

Waterproof sand – or as German scientist Helmut F. Schulze calls it – hydrophobic sand, a nanotechnology wonder seven years in the making.

By simply laying down a 10-centimetre blanket of DIME Hydrophobic Materials sand beneath typical desert topsoils, the new super sand stops water below the roots level of the plants and maintains a water table, giving greenery a constant water supply. 3000 tons/day is already being produced. 1 ton of silicate coated sand would probably be good for 10 square meters. 4 days of production to cover one square kilometer.

...

With new hydrophobic sand in place, traditional watering of desert plants five or six times a day can be reduced to one watering, saving 75 per cent more water, a precious resource that is dwindling across the Arab Peninsula.

Arab Peninsula?? I suppose they need to preserve water, sure... but what about Mohave County?? Saving 75% more water always sounds like a good idea.

Plenty more information on this exciting technological advancement at these links below...

Next Big Future: Waterproof Sand Could Green the Deserts

Next Big Future: Hydrophobic Sand Details - Waterproof Nanosand

Of course... this means more golf courses!!

The government or you??

I hope to see more vid's like this... and I'll post them here if I do.

Updated 2/13/09

Like sands through the hour-glass...

In the seemingly never ending story of the future of Kingman Crossing, new developments have surfaced. While so far there hasn't been anything reported on by the KDMiner.com online (and I haven't seen the Standard or heard any radio reports), apparently the landowners and developers at Kingman Crossing are backing away from any discussions on public/private partnerships that may have led to future development at this time.

I did get an email a couple of days ago that gave me the heads up about a meeting between the private parties and the city where the city was informed that for now, talks are off.

Also, there is a mention of the meeting found in the online comments that appear at the bottom of this link to an opinion letter to the editor. The author of the comment seems to be the mayor of Kingman and for the most part I believe it is the mayor that left the comment, but in this world of online comments where anyone can be anyone else they want to be... there is at least a tiny bit of doubt if it actually is the mayor that left the comment.

Here is the comment from that link...

Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Article comment by: John Salem

The KC Interchange is on hold. A meeting was held in Phoenix with Vanderbilt and Vestar. There is a pending lawsuit between another developer and the City of Phoenix with respect to an off-site improvement and who is responsible for payment. This lawsuit will set precedent. Because of this, Vanderbilt and Vestar are backing out of negotiations for at least 6 months. I feel this is a shame because I have been and will be such a proponent for KC. Mayor.

Again, for the most part I accept that this comment was from the mayor. There will most likely be an article published on the Miner's website about this very newsworthy event and I won't be surprised if the mayor is quoted to say something very similar to the above.

So... is this it?? Is this chapter finally over?? Will there be commercial retail development and a new interchange at Kingman Crossing??

Well, if you are of the opinion that this particular infrastructure project would be a benefit to the community at large there is another alternative (there always is).

At the call to the public of the city council meeting on January 20th, long time local real estate broker David Hollingsworth shared a possible alternative with the members of council. Click on this link to see the presentation he made at that council meeting. You'll find it in the early part of the meeting.

It is unclear to me where this possibility will go. I'm hopeful that the city leaders will give this some serious consideration. A simple exchange of property for cash could lead to two infrastructure projects for the price of practically nothing (you really need to watch the video). Practically nothing meaning no increased taxes or bonds on the backs of community taxpayers if the numbers work out.

Worth looking into?? Certainly.

Impact fee discussion on another blog...

I recently added links to blogs in Arizona that discuss local and state political issues. While most that I included to this point are of the conservative persuasion, there is at least one that leans to the left. My only rule on adding links of this sort is if the link leads to something worth reading with some regularity. I believe that I am open minded enough to consider the views of others in the hopes that it either leads me to something I haven't thought of before or to a better decision on whatever it is the issue might be.

So today I found this blog post that was posted yesterday at a blog called Rum, Romanism and Rebellion. The blogs author is a self titled democratic activist living in Tucson (or near at least). The issue that he takes on is the possible suspension of impact fees in the city of Tucson.

Here is part of the post...

Yeah, some of y’all may not like this, but I am willing to give Rodney Glassman’s idea to suspend impact fees a chance.

Look, I am usually at the head of the line to bash the scrapers and bladers over as SAHBA. However, I think this idea has merit. As long as it stays limited to the city (I see no proposal like this passing the Board of Supervisors anyway) and the law is allowed to sunset. I also like that he is looking for a way to tie this into Shirley Scott’s proposals for affordable housing.

Glassman is selling this as a way to put folks to work. SAHBA claims that there are projects ready to go if they don’t have the expense of the impact fees getting in their way. I don’t entirely buy that the fee is the only thing stopping them from doing new construction. But, if getting rid of it allows them to build and provide a few extra jobs, I’m okay with that, especially with so many folks in the construction trades out of work. If it turns out that larger forces in the market are what is actually keeping them from building, then they wont build anyway, and what do we lose there?

I also think that this may be a way to encourage developers to build in the city rather than more far flung developments in the county far from existing services. Development in the city rather than in the hinterlands has environmental benefits, but would also obviate the economic and social impact of sprawl.

There is more to the post and I hope you will consider clicking on the link to read the rest.

I find this particular post interesting because the author makes it known that he is not normally on the side of the builders (the SAHBA is the same sort of association as our local NABA). However he is willing to consider the proposal made by Tucson City Council member Glassman (a deomocrat) for the reasons stated above.

Those reasons are very similar to what the NABA folks have been saying in our local confines. Our economy depends greatly on the building trade. Our local builders that have been asking for the elimination of impact fees have also stated that the fees are too costly to move forward with projects.

The author is correct in his thinking... basically if the fees are reduced or eliminated and the builders still don't proceed with projects, the community is not out any funding that the fees would provide.

The fees may make sense again when there is stability in the market, but not now. Some of something is better than all of nothing, and the impact fees seem to have led us to all of nothing.

I know that our city council has not put the subject of impact fees to bed, so to speak, and there will be more discussion in the future. If the local builders are right and it is only the fees that stand in the way of more growth (i.e. jobs and other forms of investment coming to this community now rather than later), then why not a chance for the builders to prove it by perhaps just suspending the fees for some period of time??

The Arizona stimulus package...

Some positive news comes from our neighbors in Chandler regarding the large employer Intel. Read this for all the news.

Taken from that article...

Officials in Arizona have been pushing various incentives to lure companies to spend in Arizona. The Arizona Technology Council has backed the R&D tax credit and plans to look for expansion to that credit in the current legislative session.

“The state has done some forward looking policy changes over the last couple of years, and that has sent a positive message to corporations,” said Steve Zylstra, president and CEO of the Tech Council.

Facing a tough upcoming budget year and after already cutting $1.6 billion from the state’s finances for this year, adding new incentives to lure businesses may be a tough sell.

“After seeing what we’ve inherited in the last couple of weeks, this is something that makes us feel very, very positive,” Gov. Jan Brewer said.

Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn said he believed those policies that allowed Intel to make a total of $7 billion in investments at the campus in the past few years continue to work. The state needs to focus more efforts on bringing large investment to Arizona, he said.

“I guess you could call this the Arizona stimulus package,” Dunn said.

A bit of an incentive and risk will lead to the creation of over 1,000 construction jobs for two plus years... and the job security of thousands that work in the plant. I didn't think that was possible in the current economic environment.

January Sales Report (2009)

Once again I will be changing some things up in this report to include a side by side table that compares data of traditional sellers vs. bank owned sales. I might even mess with a few other things as the creative sparks are firing this morning (might have to do with the snow storm). All the charts will still be included and the only changes you'll find on them is that I've removed the data from 2005 (it allowed me to adjust the scale of one chart).

Instead of a preview of the data we'll just skip ahead... after the disclaimer of course...

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Listings and sales in units chart:

Nothing new to report on this month... either. These lines need to intersect in a bad way. Not sure if that will happen in this new year though. Many are still reporting that there are still loads more of foreclosures set to hit the market in the coming months.

Average listings and sales averages chart:

I look back a few months and I see plenty of larger traditional seller type of housing hitting the market. Units with an asking price well over $300,000... and I think that is skewing the listing average to some degree. The larger homes are not selling at the same rate that the smaller homes and foreclosures are so it may take some time before these lines on the chart get closer.

2005 through 2008 unit sales chart:

You might notice that the 'pink' line representing 2005 is no longer included on this chart. I'm going with the color 'green' for this year. January 2009 outperformed 2007 (by one sale) and 2008. I'll temper the enthusiasm since I know that it is the foreclosure market pulling the numbers but as long as prices continue to get dragged down, more sales activity is likely this year.

2005 through 2008 average price chart:

The average sales price of a single family home in Kingman fell by 35% as compared to this time last year.

2005 through 2008 median price chart:

The median price fell 31% compared to last years median price.

Final sales prices in January ranged from $17,000 to $345,000.

Average SFR statistics:

Data tables for all sales tracked in January 2009

Price Data

Item	Jan. '09
Average Price per Unit Sold	$125,140
Median Price per Unit Sold	$108,500
Average Price per Square Foot	$82

House Data

Item	Jan. '09
Ave Living Space per Square Foot	1,520
Bedrooms	3.12
Bathrooms	2.12
Garage	1.8
Year Built	1996

Marketing Data

Item	Jan. '09
Days on Market to Contract	92
Days on Market to Close	131
Price Reductions on Market	$14,892
Negotiated Price Concessions	$7,821
Total Price Concessions	$22,713
Total Percent Conceded	15.36%

Bonus Charts:





Foreclosure Impact:

I have been getting email requests to break out the numbers between traditional vs bank owned sales for the last few months. So the table below will be used as the foreclosure impact part of this report for at least until the foreclosure, or bank owned, sales are not having the sort of impact they are on the market. This should offer some interesting data and I may end up tracking this to put in a quarterly or semi-annual report.

Traditional Seller vs. Bank Owned sales comparison for January 2009

Price Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Total Units Sold in Month	19	22
Average Price per Unit Sold	$144,971	$108,014
Median Price per Unit Sold	$115,250	$102,000
Average Price per Square Foot	$97	$70

House Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Ave Living Space per Square Foot	1,493	1,544
Bedrooms	3	3.23
Bathrooms	1.95	2.27
Garage	1.8	1.8
Year Built	1994	1998

Marketing Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Days on Market to Contract	124	67
Days on Market to Close	168	99
Price Reductions on Market	$14,605	$15,140
Negotiated Price Concessions	$9,123	$6,696
Total Price Concessions	$23,729	$21,836
Total Percent Conceded	14%	17%

As you can plainly see banks offered lower prices, slightly larger, newer homes while willing to concede a similar percentage of dollars in negotiations as their traditional counterparts. It took nearly twice as long for traditional sellers to attract a buyer in a contract. Traditional sellers should still expect a premium compared to bank owned properties and this comparison might help shed some light on the competition between traditional sellers have going among themselves.

If you are a buyer and are interested in perhaps buying a bank owned home, there is a bit more pressure being put on by other buyers for this listing. I would recommend aggressive negotiation with the banks as it appears they are still willing to give in to similar concessions.

If you are on the sidelines thinking of listing you do need to make your best guess as to where the prices will be in six months from now to help decide if it is even affordable to attempt to sell. The lower you can make your initial offering price now will likely lead to more interest from buyers, and clearly there are buyers out there... just not all that many.

No conclusions this month. I hope the new tables are helpful. Please comment or email me for anything that might help improve these reports. Have a great month... I'm off to buy a snow shovel!!



I'm kidding about the snow shovel, of course, anyway I'll leave you with our office snowman from yesterday.