This fall, the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business enlisted brokers to provide a new window onto the Phoenix real estate market.

The Phoenix economy is mending, with indications that its real estate market is the hottest in the nation. But before retail developers jump in, economist Dennis Hoffman cautions them to pause and consider how the retail landscape has changed.

Mike Orr, author of the monthly housing report issued through the W. P. Carey School of Business, said that developers were busy shopping for land in December.

Criticism of the Phoenix metro area clusters around a few main themes: The city is not sustainable, it’s not walkable and it’s just a giant bedroom community with too much sprawl and too few well-paying jobs. So where does metro Phoenix go from here, on its way to 2035?

Real estate professor Andra Ghent’s study of historical mortgage laws and foreclosure statistics shows that state laws vary greatly and, when laws require lenders to work through the court system, foreclosure processes tend to drag on and on. Such delays can hobble housing-market recovery.

Good design is an essential ingredient of success, for developers and communities. Real estate Professor Mark Stapp writes that buildings must be more than functional and financially feasible.

The real estate recovery is an opportunity for cities in the Phoenix metro area to re-think an approach to development that has prevailed for the past 60 years. Recently, two housing experts talked about what the next phase of Arizona’s growth might look like, given vision and planning.

Supply in the Phoenix real estate market rose during January, but only slightly, according to Mike Orr, author of the monthly housing report from the W. P. Carey School of Business.

In a market with chronic supply shortages, normal demand can drive prices up. That continues to be the case in the Phoenix market, according to Mike Orr, director of the W. P. Carey School’s Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice and author of the monthly Phoenix housing report.

Each year Urban Land Institute Arizona presents “Trends Day” -- a major event designed for professionals in the real estate and development industries -- to inform and to spark discussion about current conditions and the latest thinking in planning, design and development.