Surging interest in attached homes has the potential to change the character of the city, adding urban density to the sprawling metro area.

Reporting on President Barack Obama’s January 8 visit to Phoenix, USA Today quoted Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice, on the president’s announcement that FHA mortgage insurance rates will drop.

The Phoenix metro area has a history of rapid price increases and breath-taking drops, so to longtime observers the currently calm market may seem — well — dull. But experts at the “Phoenix Housing Market Explained III,” hosted by the W. P.

There has been little change in the Greater Phoenix real estate market for the last year, and the October numbers show a continuation of the trend, according to Mike Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice at the W. P. Carey School of Business.