Rental Housing Journal Arizona
February 2017 - Vol. 9 Issue 2
2. Health and Housing Policy 5. Prepared Property Managers Can Handle Recommendations for New Administration What Comes Down the Pipeline
9. Dear Maintenance Men – Caulk, Plumbing, Doors and Curtains
3. Pending Home Sales Bounce Back in December
10. Arizona Company Ranks in Top Best Places to Work in Multifamily
7. U.S. Home Sales Finish Strong in 2016
4. Pockets of Affordable Housing Exist Within the Most Expensive Markets
8. Valley's Demand Drivers, Growth Prospects Heightening Appeal to Investors
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any communities require their employees to live onsite, and the often include an apartment as part of their compensation. As in any business, management must sometimes terminate employees. This article will examine the acceptable grounds for termination and the procedures to require terminated workers to vacate the premises. Most employees are “at will.” This means they work at the pleasure of the employer. The law presumes every employment contract for an indefinite term to be terminable at will. As an “at will” employee, his or her employment is for an indefinite term at sufferance. Either party could terminate employment at will for no cause or any cause. Another term for this is the employment-at-will doctrine. Management can fire an employee for good cause or no cause, but not for “bad” cause. For example, an employer and employee agree that the employee will do the required work and employer will continued on page 11
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Home Values Rise 7 Percent
he median home value in the U.S. is now $193,800, according to Zillow's December Real Estate Market Reports. Rents grew 1.5 percent annually to a $1,403 median monthly payment. Home values rose 6.8 percent from last December, the fastest annual pace of the year. The Zillow® Home Value Indexi (ZHVI) is $193,800, just below the highest value set in April 2007, according to the December Zillow Real Estate Market Reportsii. Home value appreciation slowed slightly in Portland, but remains the fastest in the nation, up 13.8 percent from last December. Tampa, Seattle and Dallas saw similarly high home value growth, with home values growing nearly 12 percent from a year ago. Hot home values characterized 2016 all the way to the end – and they show no sign of slowing in 2017. However, as the new year begins, flattening rents could take the heat off buyers who are struggling to find a home amid low continued on page 6
Home Buyers in Expensive Markets See a Longer Wait to Break Even than a Year Ago It takes at least 1.5 years longer to break even on buying a home in the Bay Area than it did a year ago
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ome value appreciation is expected to slow in some of the nation's most expensive markets, and as a result, it now takes longer to break even on a home in those markets compared to renting it. Nationally, buying a home becomes a better financial decision than renting it in just under two years, according to the Q4 2016 Zillow® Breakeven Horizoni. When home values grow quickly, home equity also accumulates faster, helping to offset and eventually recoup
the large upfront costs of buying a home more quickly. But home value appreciation is slowing down in some places, especially expensive areas like Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. This makes building home equity a slower process, and the Breakeven Horizons in both the San Jose and San Francisco metros are nearly two years and 1.5 years longer, respectively, than they were the year before. No other major metros saw the Breakeven Horizon grow as much in a single year.
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Home value appreciation isn't slowing everywhere. Home values in the Washington metro, for example, are expected to grow at a faster pace over the next year after staying largely flat recently, leading to a shorter Breakeven Horizon. Buyers in this area can now expect to break even after 3.5 years. Overall, U.S. home value growth accelerated at the end of 2016, ending the year at a 6.8 percent annual appreciation rate. At the same time, rent continued on page 11
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