An Irvine, Calif.-based company redeveloping local resorts said Friday it purchased the corporate headquarters building of Scottsdale-based Dial Corp., one of the nation’s oldest consumer products companies.

An Irvine, Calif.-based company redeveloping local resorts said Friday it purchased the corporate headquarters building of Scottsdale-based Dial Corp., one of the nation’s oldest consumer products companies.

NEW YORK - Frustrated as her house languished on the market for three straight summers, J.J. Rodgers is trying a new sales tactic: giving the two-story home away in an essay contest.

The mortgage industry’s tailspin from lofty heights has left potential Valley homebuyers scrambling to pick up the pieces of shattered deals, as lending standards tighten on a near-daily basis.

Government cash didn't help John Foley and Cindy Case sell their house before the federal home buyer's tax credit expired at the end of April, so the couple decided to take matters into their own hands.

The city of Glendale says a prospective buyer of the Phoenix Coyotes, "in a show of good faith," has deposited $25 million in an escrow account.

The continued rapid fall of housing prices in Arizona has now wiped out any gains of the past year and is starting to eat into the increased values homeowners saw in the last five.

Bright spots of renewed homebuyer interest are popping up in new-home subdivisions across the Valley amid talk by some experts that prices are beginning to level off.

Homebuilders are bringing more buyers into the local market by offering steep discounts and other incentives. That’s according to the latest Phoenix Housing Market Letter by housing expert R.L. Brown.

New home sales increased last month across the Valley as buyers raced to beat the original deadline to take advantage of the federal first-time homebuyer tax credit, according to the latest report from local analyst RL Brown.

The Valley saw a slight boost in home sales last month even as thousands more homeowners fell into foreclosure and worries about the struggling economy spread.

Sales of new Valley homes inched upward in July, though builders continued to battle an oversupply of unsold houses, stricter lending standards and low consumer confidence.

The Valley's new home market showed more promise last month as both sales and construction permits increased, according to the latest Phoenix Housing Market Letter by analyst RL Brown.

Growing interest from buyers, reduced inventory and a slight uptick in construction has homebuilders with communities across the south East Valley cautiously optimistic about 2009.

The resale prices of single- family homes in Pinal County, including Apache Junction and portions of Queen Creek, are declining partly because of buying incentives being offered by builders for new homes.

Foreign investors on the hunt for deals are eagerly snapping up Valley homes, as the value of the U.S. dollar continues to slide amid a faltering economy.

Buyers welcome. That’s the message the East Valley’s new home market is starting to send to people looking to buy homes, especially those who held back as prices escalated to new records.

Even the real estate agents — typically the most optimistic analysts of the home market — are getting blue. On Friday the National Association of Realtors lowered its 2006 forecast for home sales, saying a large inventory and price imbalance must work through the system before things get better.

Even the real estate agents — typically the most optimistic analysts of the home market — are getting blue.

ORLANDO, FLA. - Builders in the new Sawgrass subdivision south of Orlando are adding to what is already the fastestgrowing segment of the housing market in Central Florida: model homes.

Chandler is forging ahead with a $2.4 million program to "stabilize" neighborhoods by purchasing vacant, foreclosed homes even as investors move in to snap up the cheap houses, city officials say.

At The Mix, the retail heart of downtown Scottsdale’s Southbridge development, you can buy a $5,000 fountain pen or a gem-studded picture frame.

Sales of existing homes in the West edged higher overall in July, as many buyers took advantage of falling prices in foreclosure-ravaged areas in California, Nevada and elsewhere, according to two reports Monday.

In a brutally competitive housing market, real estate agents and builders have been clamoring to find the next great marketing tool to draw in buyers.