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Housing market situation ‘desperate’ for buyers
State hails new Scottsdale Community Bank
BY PAUL MARYNIAK
Progress Executive Editor
The word du jour for the Valley’s housing market is “desperate,” according to a leading analyst of the Phoenix Metro region.
“This market desperately needs more homes to buy,” the Cromford Report said last week, adding that “without a significant increase in the number of homes for sale, any hope of halting the brisk rate of price increases is likely to be crushed.”
And brisk it is, according to the Cromford Report’s rating of home prices in the Valley’s 17 major cities that is based on a variety of factors to create an index in which the higher the number above 100, the more the market is tilted in sellers’ favor.
Only Buckeye moved toward 100 – and thus more favorable to sellers – and its index number was 237, higher only than that of Maricopa.
In 11 of those 17 cities, Cromford’s market index was above 400 with Fountain Hills leading the way at 723. Phoenix was at 426.
Even more startling, according to the Cromford Market Index, seven cities saw their market position increase by more than 20 percent in a month. Those cities included Tempe, Goodyear, Surprise, Phoenix, Gilbert, Avondale and Scottsdale.
Stating “the momentum in favor of sellers is growing,” the report noted “some increase in the number of homes available to rent.”
But those are houses that big investors took off the market and converted into rental. Additionally, it said, many brand-new homes are being purchased to either convert into a rental or to immediately flip for a profit.”
Simply put, it added, “demand is not the controlling factor.”
“The market is showing almost no sign of turning in favor of buyers,” the report said. “The bad supply situation is getting worse. Or at least worse from a buyer’s perspective.”
“In January we should be seeing a lot of new listings piling up ready for the surge of buyers arriving after the Super Bowl is done,” it continued. “But we are not getting more supply, it is already going lower than at the start of the year.
This 4,350-square-foot equestrian facility on E. Dixileta Drive in Scottsdale recently sold for just under $8.5 million and sits on the 18-acre Ruckman Ranch. It includes four living spaces as well as 67 stalls, three barns, an arena and outdoor track, and other amenities and the sale price equaled $1,952 per square foot. (Special to the Progress)
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PROGRESS NEWS STAFF
The Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions has hailed the opening of Scottsdale Community Bank – which obtained the state’s first independent bank charter in more than 14 years.
“Scottsdale Community Bank’s willingness to invest in Arizona demonstrates the state’s strong position as a great place to do business and the need for continued banking expansion. Community banks continue to perform a significant role in the country’s banking sector, and I welcome this addition to Arizona’s banking community,” said DIFI Director Evan Daniels.
The newly chartered full-service commercial bank opened at 8767 E. Via De Ventura after receiving final regulatory approval from both the state and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The board of the new Scottsdale Community Bank includes people with extensive backgrounds in banking, business, non-profit, and public service, including long-time Scottsdale and Arizona community leaders, the bank’s vice president said. (Special to the Progress)
Boasting “personalized financial services while leveraging market opportunity with small and medium-size businesses, especially those wishing to pursue product offerings with local decision-making and concern for the
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JANUARY 23, 2022
Farley Foundation gives $6M to HonorHealth
PROGRESS NEWS STAFF
Scottsdale-based HonorHealth said a $6 million gift from the Farley Charitable Foundation will enable it to standardize high-tech cardiodiagnostic equipment across its six hospitals and expand its Cardiovascular Center of Excellence.
The gift was announced last week by the Farley Foundation, which was established by the late James and Sarah Farley and continues through their five children.
Jim Farley, who died in 2012, was a long-time entrepreneur whose groundbreaking work in electrical and mechanical engineering and the semiconductor industry led to his formation of SpeedFam-IPEC, which was acquired by Novellus Systems in 2002 and is now LAM Research.
Named the 1997 Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, the Kauffman Foundation and Nasdaq, Jim Farley and his family have had a long relationship with the HonorHealth Foundation that began more than two decades ago.
When the late James “Jim” Farley needed heart surgery nearly 20 years ago, he traveled out-of-state for the procedure because the Valley lacked top-notch cardiovascular surgeons at that time.
“He worried about those in the community who didn’t have the resources to seek out care that could make the difference between life and death,” Sarah Huskey, Farley’s eldest child, told HonorHealth.
After discovering that high-caliber heart surgeons didn’t come to the Valley because of a void in quality cardiodiagnostics, Farley and his wife made significant philanthropic gifts to HonorHealth to “change the entire landscape of cardiac care in the Valley,” Huskey said.
“The Farley’s gifts provided technology and equipment so the tests needed to accurately diagnose heart problems could be performed and results could be easily accessed—all which helped to expedite effective and potentially lifesaving treatment,” said HonorHealth, which created the James N. and Nancy J. Farley Cardiodiagnostics Department at HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center.
The new equipment that the foundation gift supports is essential, according to Dr. Robert Burke, HonorHealth’s director of noninvasive cardiodiagnostics.
“Everything we do for patients is determined by their echocardiogram. We see how their heart is functioning. Is it healthy or not? Accuracy of data is critically important or we can start down the wrong treatment path. If that happens, it’s difficult to course correct,” he said.
“Electrocardiograms often give us the first insight into a heart patient’s condition,” Burke added. “An accurate diagnosis facilitates better treatment, so every HonorHealth cardiovascular patient receive optimal care.”
Farley’s son Stuart said his parents “wanted their children to have the opportunity to experience the pleasure and good feeling that comes from supporting the community. And we wanted to continue the good work they started nearly two decades ago.”
HonorHealth Foundation President/ CEO Jared Langkilde called the gift “truly remarkable” and said it continues an 18-year legacy of investment in HonorHealth by the Farley family. “It’s appropriate that our largest single charitable commitment ever is to HonorHealth Foundation,” says Stuart Farley. “Our parents first recognized the opportunity to contribute to the quality of healthcare in Arizona and taught us the joy in giving back. We are proud to continue supporting the work that was so important to them.”
HonorHealth said that with identical ECHO machines at each of its hospitals, employees “can step in confidently at any location” – which is particularly important as all healthcare institutions struggle with a shortage of workers.
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“This is quite a shock, but not exactly unprecedented. It happened in January 2021, but that was a precursor to a spring of absolute madness and frenzy. This is telling us that the bull market in housing has a lot of legs in it yet.”
The Cromford Report only a year ago expressed concern about housing inventory and cited several examples of how the situation has worsened: Paradise Valley plummeted to “an all-time low of just 93 single-family homes for sale,” almost half the number available in January 2021.
“Scottsdale is down to 344 singlefamily homes for sale. There were 569 this time last year,” it continued. “Mesa is down to 314 single-family homes for sale There were 483 as recently as Oct. 3. Phoenix is down to 777 single-family homes for sale. There were 1,095 just one month ago.”
It’s not a matter of huge demand, either, although the Cromford Report said it was high.
“What is unusual about the current housing market is the chronic and extreme shortage of supply,” it said. “When buying a house, it feels like ‘high demand’ because there are far too many buyers for every house. The fact is this is due to there being so few houses available to buy. The number of buyers is only somewhat above average.”
There are some bright spots – in Pinal County, it noted, adding, that there, “supply is still very low, but not as low as in Maricopa County.” Prices also are reflecting the tightening supply, according to the Cromford Report, which noted that the average sales price per foot in December was $267.31 – a 26.4% increase over the $211.44 per square foot in December 2020. The median sales price of a house in the Valley was $425,000 in December – a 28% increase of the December 2020 median price of $332,000.
“The downward trend in supply that started in late October accelerated throughout December, taking us to the lowest number of active listings at year end that we have ever recorded,” it added.
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Scottsdale community,” the bank is locally owned and managed.
“There is a tremendous banking opportunity in Arizona, which is one of the fastest growing financial and business centers in the nation, yet is drastically underserved,” said Neill LeCorgne, president and CEO of Scottsdale Community Bank.
He noted that Arizona has only 10 community banks compared with 410 in Texas, 401 in Illinois, 144 in California and 41 in Utah. “Our greatest opportunity is rooted in our local decision-making and having our products and services delivered through the most innovative banking platforms available in the industry today,” LeCorgne added. “If you want a banker who answers your calls, actually listens to you, and makes house calls to your business, then we are your bank.”
Vice Chair Hemant Patel said the leadership team comprises people with extensive backgrounds in banking, business, non-profit, and public service, including long-time Scottsdale and Arizona community leaders.
He said the approval process involved a 1,000-page application, extensive background checks of board members and to executives and even a pandemic banking forecast.
“We raised over $19 million in capital, which was $3 million more than targeted, from over 200 insightful founders who saw the dire need in our community for an innovative, efficient bank that truly provides personalized attention and swift financial services to its clients,” Patel boasted: “One of our guideposts is: ‘Doing well for our investors by doing good for the community.’” SCB plans to partner with other financial institutions on various projects of mutual interest.
Sandra Watson, president/CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority, congratulated board Chairman George Weisz, stating, “As the first new community bank in Arizona in nearly 15 years, Scottsdale Community Bank’s personalized services to small, medium, and family businesses demonstrates their commitment to support the growth of local businesses.”
Mayor David Ortega also said he welcomed the new bank. “ This is a significant sign of the thriving economic climate that Scottsdale’s business community and government sector have been producing for years,” he said, predicting the bank “will bring local banking and cutting-edge financial services to our businesses, which are the lifeblood of our flourishing economic engine.”
Arizona Bankers Association President Paul Hickman said the bank “brings additional energy, technology, and resources to our vibrant financial landscape at a time when our community needs it the most.”
People interested in becoming charter members of the bank can email Nlecorgne@scbaz.com. Information: scottsdalecommunitybank.com.
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