Here at UrbBurb we have a in-tune finger on the pulse of the local real estate market. We’ve been through the market “downs” when we moved here in 1993 after the S&L crisis of the late 80′s which devastated the local commercial, and then the residential market. We were here through the rise of the market buoyed by the internet revolution, increasingly cheaper mortgage money and a metropolitan market finally emerging into a national spotlight. We rode the gyrations of the market as it – surprisingly-quickly – healed itself after the financial market crash in 2007. Now, we’re fully confident of a slow and steady continuation of the housing market recovery locally with increasing new home construction, more rental and urban infill projects and a changing dynamic from the old urban sprawl mentality. We’ll keep you informed on the trends as we see them and the numbers that back us up. The bottom-line is that on urbburb.com and our main websites, urbburb.com and our other blog, urbburbphoto.com, you’ll have the information you need, the opinions you can count on and the pictures and narrative to keep it all in perspective. Thanks for a great 2012 and we look forward to meeting many more of you in 2013.

There are many opinions of what’s in store for this coming year. The Wall Street Journal starts their 5-part take in today’s article, Housing Issues to Watch in 2013:

Home prices finally hit a bottom in 2012, well ahead of many predictions that called for continued price drops this year.

Prices were up 6% from one year ago in October, according to CoreLogic CLGX -0.15%, putting them on track for their best year since 2005. Housing starts, which hit a bottom three years ago, ramped up to their highest level in four years. Sales of new homes are running around 20% of last year’s levels, while existing home sales are up around 10%. Continued declines in homes listed for sale—particularly foreclosures—explain much of the improving price picture.

So will 2013 be the year of recovery or relapse? Evidence points more strongly to a continued rebound, albeit one that still has considerable headwinds and that varies from one market to another. This week, we’ll offer five areas of focus for 2013.

Tags: 2013 trends

This spiral staircase is not made for the faint of heart or heights. And it makes forgetting to pick up the milk in the way home a nightmare!

Actually it was developed as a tourism attraction in the Taihang Mountains in Linzhou, China. Chinese tourist officials in Linzhou are hoping that this massive spiral stairs, with its birds-eye view, will give a unique experience within the mountain range. The staircase is so tall it is said that when the wind can blow it as much as 3 foot in each direction, an experience that is certainly not for the easily intimidated.

Check out other wild commercial and residential spiral staircases from around the world:

The Most Terrifying Spiral Staircases On Earth
101 Dizzying Spiral Staircases & Twisted Architectural Art Photos

Tags: spiral staircase

Twistedsifter has a profile on 23 buildings that make you smile. When the grey skies of winter and the onslaught of looming holiday obligations gets to your nerves the chance to see a happy face on your home would be a tonic to keep the spirits up.  images: Flickr/SReed99342, Flickr/mandragor.de

Tags: funny home faces

From Downtown Phoenix Journal, City Council Approves First Steps in Developing ASU Center of Law:

The Phoenix City Council last week approved city staff to begin negotiations and enter into contracts to facilitate Arizona State University’s development of the Arizona Center for Law and Society on city-controlled property in downtown Phoenix.

ASU proposes to develop the Arizona Center for Law and Society on approximately three-quarters of a block of city property bounded by Polk, Taylor, First and Second streets.

The Downtown Devil has its opinion on what it would like to see taken into consideration as ASU and the City of Phoenix moves forward with the design and density of the newly proposed ASU Center of Law: Opinion: ASU, build the law school – but only if you reach for the sky.

Update: I just pulled this article – Phoenix gives ASU $12 million to move law school downtown – showing that the City of Phoenix is serious about getting ASU to build the campus in downtown Phoenix as opposed to building on the ASU Tempe campus. It’s a smart move for Phoenix – not only for the cachet of having the Center for Law downtown but also to promote increased population density in the area. The area extending from the downtown core to the Roosevelt Row is ripe for development and resurgence but only if the City of Phoenix pushes aggressively (and gets a little looser with zoning and cash incentives) and provides the justification for developers to consider it as a viable commercial and residential growth area.

Tags: ASU Center for Law, ASU Downtown

Raising chickens in your backyard may sound like an awesome urban extension to your organic garden but for some neighbors, it’s a fowl addition to their peaceful environment. From Some cry foul over backyard farming in Chandler:

Hundreds of Phoenix-area farmers have faced nuisance and zoning violations after neighbors have complained about smelly coops or clucking hens. Often complainants feel poultry poses a health risk or just doesn’t belong near residences — claims chicken owners vehemently dispute.

Similar cases across the Valley highlight the code-enforcement headache cities face as a result of a national movement toward urban agriculture. A push for locally raised, environmentally sustainable foods is clashing with more traditional expectations of how neighborhoods should sound, look and smell.

…Cities have approached the chicken-farming trend with varying degrees of resistance and acceptance. Proponents of the chickens say several cities, including Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale, have relatively friendly ordinances, meaning they don’t prohibit the practice outright in residential areas. Other cities, such as Chandler and Glendale, take a far more restrictive approach. Both cities ban chickens in many neighborhoods, with exceptions for those with more rural or agricultural-type zoning overlays. But nearly every city bans roosters outright or implicitly because their crows would violate most any noise ordinance — and rattle neighbors hoping to sleep in on a Saturday morning.

…Although city officials don’t encourage or try to combat urban chicken farming, their goal is to get neighbors to communicate and compromise. Owners can often avoid citations by simply moving a coop to a different part of their backyard or making other adjustments.

Tags: Chandler, urban chickens