The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently ranked Phoenix 9^th among all metropolises nationwide for job creation. Phoenix had only recovered 44% of the 250,000 jobs it lost during the last recession, so there’s plenty of room for the desert metro to expand. That’s good news for the area’s home builders, whose 11,000-plus starts in 2012, while up by two-thirds over the previous year, were a far cry from the 65,000 homes per year started during the last housing boom here, or even the 30,000 to 35,000 starts experts now predict will be this market’s leveling-off point. Ben Sage, director of Metrostudy’s regional office in Mesa, Ariz., shared details about Phoenix’s recovery during Builder’s Housing Leadership Summit last week. He noted that Phoenix “is not all the way back yet.” But Sage sees encouraging signs of sustainable growth. For one thing, Phoenix’s resale market, whose annualized sales rate rose to more than 80,000 in April, is “extremely strong.” [Read this article]

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A recent international ranking of the world’s best cities for biking didn’t shower North America with plaudits. Only one city – Montreal – made it to the top 20. But the truth about biking in the U.S. and Canada is more complicated than that headline suggests: there are some really nice places to bike, and some, well, are best approached with caution. A new expanded ranking of bikeability from biking map service BikeScore in U.S. cities gives a sense of the contrasts. Bike Score uses four criteria, weighted equally: the availability of infrastructure like bike lanes, hilliness, route options, and the level of commuting. Among cities with more than 500,000 people, at the top were Portland, San Francisco, Denver, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle, Tucson, New York and Chicago. The city heat maps show the most bikeable areas in green, with the least bikeable in dark red. [Read this article]

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While the California housing market rebounded over the past year, Texas dominated on volume, according to a report from analysis firm CoreLogic. Among the top 10 markets for the volume of new home sales, four were in Texas, with Houston leading the country. There were more than 14,400 new home sales in Houston over the 12 months through March, according to CoreLogic. “Houston has long been an energy hub and the combination of an energy boom, low interest rates and higher foreign real estate investment has led to a boom in the local economy,” according to CoreLogic economist Sam Khater. Long-term trends for high affordability and growing labor markets are supporting the other three leading Texas markets, according to CoreLogic. Dallas had about 8,000 new home sales over the 12 months through March, followed by San Antonio with about 7,000 and Austin with 6,300. Other cities with strong annual new home sales were Phoenix, Atlanta, New York, Washington, Seattle and Orlando. [Read this article]

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After a long and painful downturn in the housing market, home prices in many – but not all – regions of the U.S. are showing signs of recovery. According to Zillow, home values rose 5.1% across the U.S. between February 2012 and February 2013. Many local housing markets are performing considerably better than the country as a whole. Home values rose more than 13% in 10 of the 30 largest housing markets for which Zillow has data, and rose more than 20% in five of them. Most of the 10 housing markets on the list were disproportionately hurt by the housing crisis. However, many of the areas with the most growth in the past year have remained desirable places to live. This has helped these areas recover at a faster clip compared with the rest of the country. From 24/7 Wall St.’s review of the Zillow data, here are the 10 hottest housing markets 2013, which include Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Jose, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver and Riverside, California. [Read this article]

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When we think of an exciting place to live, we think about places where there is always something to do – whether it’s eating at new restaurants or jogging through a park. Recently, Movoto got to thinking about cities and what makes them exciting and interesting places to live. They compiled a list of criteria and set out to determine which U.S. cities have the most zest for life. The list includes Oakland, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta and Portland, among others. To formulate the list, these 10 criteria were surveyed: park acreage per person, percent of population between 20 and 34 years old, fast food restaurants per square mile (the fewer the better), bars per square mile, big box stores per square mile (the fewer the better), population diversity, movie theaters per square mile, museums per square mile, theater companies per square mile and music venues per square mile. [Read this article]

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The threat has been hanging over the Sacramento real estate market for years: A hypothetical “shadow inventory” of foreclosed homes that forecasters said could suddenly come up for sale and flood the market with cut-rate houses. But with home prices rising sharply in recent months and the supply of homes for sale near record lows, the shadow appears to be lifting. In particular, the idea that banks are sitting on thousands of foreclosed homes – and artificially inflating prices by constraining inventory – has become far less plausible, experts said. Many homeowners who fall behind on their payments are receiving loan modifications or getting permission from lenders for short sales, in which homes sell for less than what’s owed. The result: Far fewer homes are going back to banks. [Read this article]

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Young entrepreneurs started many of the tech powerhouses of this decade. Young entrepreneurs often have little savings and few years of business experience, so they need funding as well as mentors and collaborators, and they need to be able to get their small business off the ground cheaply. NerdWallet sifted through the factors that matter to young entrepreneurs – funding, collaboration, economic factors and affordability – to determine which cities are the best for youngsters looking to launch their own startup. Their list of the best cities for young entrepreneurs includes Tampa, Atlanta, Raleigh, Seattle, Minneapolis, Austin and Houston. [Read this article]

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The new South Florida boom in home construction is gaining momentum, according to a recent report by Metrostudy. Builders started construction on 1,585 single family homes in the six-county area during the first three months of the year. This is the highest pace since mid-2007, and it was 61.2% higher than 1Q12’s pace. Annual single-family housing starts rose sharply year-over-year, with the 1Q 2013 level of 5,721 being 46% higher than the 1Q 2012 level. Consumer demand is strong; all of the homes are getting moved into as soon as they are completed. Quarterly move-in pace is up 18.8% vs. this time last year. Demand is up sharply throughout the Miami market, Metrostudy’s research shows. Miami-Dade County builders started 1,984 single-family homes in the first quarter of 2013, up from 940 four quarters ago. Palm Beach County’s quarterly starts are up 37% vs. four quarters earlier. [Read this article]

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The United States’ economic ills and sputtering employment landscape have done little to dampen college students’ enthusiasm about living and working in the country. In a survey of 4,341 students across the globe, 19% of respondents said they would prefer to work in the U.S. post-graduation over any other country, according to Universum, a recruiting, branding and research firm. “It’s still the dream to come to the United States, where there will be unlimited opportunities,” said Melissa Murray Bailey, president of Universum Americas. Students gave a variety of reasons for wanting to make the U.S. their home if offered a job there. “I feel great affection for the country and I see great opportunities for growth,” said one student. Meanwhile another noted, “It’s the biggest economy on the planet and home of the biggest enterprises as well.” U.S. cities students said they would like to move to included New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta, and Denver. [Read this article]

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After a long and painful downturn in the housing market, home prices are finally beginning to head north. According to Zillow, home values rose 5.1% across the United States between February 2012 and February 2013. Many local housing markets are performing considerably better than the country as a whole. Home values rose more than 13% in 10 of the 30 largest housing markets for which Zillow has data, and rose more than 20% in five of them. The biggest growth of all took place in Phoenix, where home values rose 24%. Six of the 10 housing markets on the list are in California, which was hit harder by the housing downturn than most states. Three of the four metropolitan areas not in California – Detroit, Las Vegas and Phoenix – were also disproportionately hurt by the housing crisis. Home values do not necessarily rebound quickly after a major downturn, said Svenja Gudell, a senior economist with Zillow. However, many of the areas with the most growth in the past year, notably those around Silicon Valley, have remained desirable places to live. This has helped these areas recover at a faster clip compared to the rest of the country. [Read this article]

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