Nationwide, home prices rose just 0.5 percent in the first three months of 2007 — the slowest quarter-to-quarter gain in a decade, a report released Thursday by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight shows. Arizona ranked No. 25 in the country with a year-over-year gain of 5.2 percent.U.S. first quarter home prices were up 4.3 percent from the same period last year — a far cry from the 13.7 percent year-over-year gain recorded in the second quarter 2005. The top 5 states for appreciation were Utah (17 percent), Idaho (12.3 percent), Montana (11.68 percent), Wyoming (11.67 percent) and Washington (11.63 percent).Out of more than 200 metropolitan areas tracked, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale region ranked No. 121 with a year-over-year gain of 4.51 percent.

Nationwide, existing home sales in April were down 10.7 percent compared with the same month a year ago — falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.99 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s also down 2.6 percent from March.Economists say the continued slump stems in part from tightening lending standards, which are making it tougher for marginal and new homebuyers to qualify for loans.The crackdown on creative mortgage products isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. Many industry leaders believe the stricter guidelines ultimately benefit consumers, since some new owners in recent years — many of who are now facing foreclosure — never should have bought a home in the first place.The national association also reported Friday that the median existing home price was $220,900 last month, down 0.8 percent from April 2006. Sales in the West declined 1.7 percent from March and were down 15.6 percent from April of last year.

Nationwide, sales of new, single-family homes surged unexpectedly last month — hitting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 981,000. That’s a 16.2 percent jump from the March rate of 844,000, estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development show.April’s new home median sales price — where half cost less and half cost more — was $229,100. Analysts say builders dramatically slashing prices to unload excess inventory is one reason for the unexpected rise in sales.Valley builders have seen success in doing just that with the number of speculative homes slowly dwindling. However, local industry experts say the new home market won’t be able to start a true recovery until the existing home market starts to show improvement.The number of resale homes on the market hit a record high in recent months, jumping to more than 50,000. Professionals in both the new and existing home sales business say that many homesellers still aren’t being realistic in their asking prices — wanting more than what their homes are now worth. Until that happens, they say, the market will continue to stagnate.

The latest massive mixed-use development to hit Tempe, known as The Pier at Town Lake, is set to begin construction late this year. The City Council approved plans for the 3.7 million-square-foot project — which will include 10 condo towers with 1,500 units, two office buildings, a four-star hotel and 98,000 square feet of retail space — last week.Sitting on 27 acres along Rio Salado Parkway just east of Rural Road, The Pier will include nine buildings in all. The three partners developing the site bought the land from the city last summer for $42.5 million.Look to see buildings start rising in early 2008 with residential units going up in the summer.To check out artist renderings of The Pier go here.To contact the developer about the project go here.

Some 71 percent of appraisers surveyed for a 2007 study say mortgage brokers have applied pressure on them to boost residential property value estimates for loan approvals, compared with only 60 percent in 2003. And 75 percent of those appraisers say they either lost the client or didn’t get paid if they refused.That’s according to a recent survey conducted by market information provider October Research Corp. for Forsythe Appraisals LLC in St. Paul, Minn. To read more click here.

Nationwide, first quarter existing home sales were down 6.6 percent from the first three months of 2006 — hitting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.41 million units, according to a new study by the National Association of Realtors. The Valley fared a bit better — seeing only a 2.2 percent drop in sales from a year ago.Despite yet another year-over-year drop, national home sales did rise 2.4 percent from the end of last year. Some 14 states, as well as the District of Columbia, also experienced sales pace increases from a year ago, compared with only six states showing gains in the fourth quarter 2006.Meanwhile, the national median existing home price wsa $212,300 in the first quarter, down 1.8 percent from the year-ago period. The median price for a home in the West wsa $336,200, also down 1.8 percent from last year.

Some 4,129 properties in Arizona entered some stage of foreclosure last month, a 7.75 percent drop from the month before, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties. Unfortunately, foreclosures in this state were still up more than 140 percent, compared with April 2006.Nationwide, 147,708 properties entered some stage of foreclosures last month, down 1 percent from March but up 62 percent from April 2006. Not surprisingly, six out of 10 cities with the highest foreclosure rates were in California — Stockton (No. 1), Vallejo-Fairfield (No. 2), Riverside-San Bernardino (No. 4), Modesto (No. 6), Sacramento (No. 7) and Merced (No. 8).Industry observers say homeowners foreclosure woes will continue, and likely get worse, for at least the next 6 months to 8 months.

Nationwide, the median existing home price is expected to drop 1 percent to $219,800 in 2007, according to the National Association of Realtors, or NAR. The national trade group also said in a statement Tuesday that it has lowered sales expectations because of stricter lending standards and a decline in the subprime mortgage market.NAR is projecting that existing-home sales will total 6.29 million this year, down from 6.48 million in 2006. Home starts are also expected to fall — hitting 1.46 million, compared with 1.80 million last year.The group’s 2008 outlook is a bit rosier. It’s predicting that the median home price will rise by 1.4 percent and sales will increase to 6.49 million.