Clearwater Hills Lifestyle

CLEAR

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2015

C L E A R WAT E R H I L L S

Wendy Walker Fine Properties

Ready, Set, Holiday!

In the Spirit of Giving Thanks.

CREATING THE PERFECT TABLE

We, at Wendy Walker Fine Properties, are truly thankful this holiday season for the opportunity to work alongside our clients to successfully achieve their real estate goals.

This has been a stellar year; we doubled our 2014 size and performance!

It is through YOUR continued trust, unwavering support, and countless referrals that we have grown to serve this community in a significant way. We delight in the fact that honesty and integrity are rewarded, and that our clients know that we care more about their bottom line, than ours.

So again, thank you so very much for a phenomenal 2015...and we look forward to working with you in the New Year!

New To Market

Real Estate Re-Defined Coldwell Banker Residential Broker Wendy Walker Fine Properties 3113 East Lincoln Drive Phoenix, AZ 85016 P: 602-468-8888 | F: 602-391-2888 E: wendy@wwfineproperties.com www.wendywalkerfineproperties.com Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Arizona Hall of Fame Award 2013 & 2014

Real Estate Update

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Equity Title Biltmore Office

3125 E Lincoln Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85016

602.956.5141 Our experience makes the difference!

If your home is currently listed, this is not a solicitation for that listing.

Produced by Desert Lifestyle Publishing • 480.460.0996 • www.DesertLifestyle.net

Cover Photography | Kevin Brost

Wendy Walker

Limited Supply Continues to Fuel Growth

Lakeside View Retreat 7340 N. Lakeside Lane Paradise Valley, AZ 85253 Offered at $1,195,000 Exclusively By

Festive Fogo de Chão’s Mango Chilean Sea Bass

In Good Taste

DINNER IS

Nothing says the holidays more than a beautiful dining table set for a feast lovingly prepared for family and friends. Whether you’re throwing your first family fete or just looking for some new ways to spice up your table setting this season, it’s easy to find plenty of inspiration in the modern world. No more tearing pages from magazines at the doctor’s office. After all, a wealth of (free!) ideas is just a click away online.

FogoDeChao.com | 480.609.8866

Mango Chilean Sea Bass INGREDIENTS 2-8 oz 1/4 tsp 1/2 tsp 2 tsp 8

1

Chilean sea bass filets coarse cracked black pepper (divided) Kosher salt (divided) olive oil stalks asparagus (steamed) lemon (cut in half)

First place to go for drool-worthy tips and tricks?

Pinterest will keep you entertained for hours (and hours!). Just type in “holiday table settings” and you’ll find a plethora of ideas, from tutorials on where to put all the plates, glasses, and silverware, to homespun projects for table runners, centerpieces, candles, chargers, and place markers. You’ll be inspired to decorate places you may have otherwise left unadorned … the chandelier, the sideboard, the chairs, even the walls. These pinners love to craft and decorate! Overwhelmed with ideas? Narrow your search by adding in what specific holiday you’re celebrating or the theme or color you are working with (for example, add key words such as “red,” “simple,” “Hanukkah,” “elegant,” or “winter wonderland”). For help with those tricky cloth napkins, just type the words “folding napkins” and you’ll be greeted with numerous elegant and fun suggestions (we warned you,

Mango Hot Sauce: 1/4 c 1/4

1/4

1/4 oz 2 ¼ tsp 1/8 tsp 1/8 tsp

mango puree small sweet onion garlic clove, finely minced vinegar water salt blended malagueta hot sauce*

Mango Relish: 2 1 slice 1 slice

strawberries – diced mango – diced apple – diced

PREPARATION The Fish: Preheat oven 350˚F. Season fish with Kosher salt and coarse black pepper. Heat olive oil in sauté pan. Place fish in pan and sear brown on two sides. Transfer to preheated oven and roast until cooked through (140˚F in the center). Cut steamed asparagus to 5-inch pieces. Lightly coat in olive oil and sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Place on stove or griddle until grill marks appear.

Blended Malagueta Hot Sauce*: Place 10-15 whole malagueta peppers and liquid in blender and blend well. Strain liquid, discard seeds and skin. Blend and strain additional peppers and liquid to add more spice.

In a saucepan, bring all mango hot sauce ingredients plus blended malagueta sauce to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add additional malagueta hot sauce to taste. Start with small amount and add to preferred heat level. Chill.

Combine all three fruits in a bowl and refrigerate to chill.

Serving the Fish: Place asparagus in center of plate all facing same direction.

Place fish on top, then drizzle mango hot sauce on top and around fish. Garnish fish with mango relish. Place half a lemon on side of plate for extra flavoring.

Serves two.

N OVEMBER | DECEMBER 2015 ArtFest of Scottsdale

there are lots of options!). Pin the pics you want to use at your own table and you’ll have all the elements you desire in one easy-to-reference spot. Now that’s convenient (and way less expensive than buying all those food and home magazines).

Scottsdale Civic Center Plaza | November 21-22 888ArtFest.com | 480.968.5353 One of the valley’s most popular holiday traditions.

Visitors will enjoy fine art, fine crafts, local authors, live music throughout the festival, taste tempting foods in a beautiful sculpture garden setting.

Houzz, a popular home design website, is another good table setting resource. Here you’ll find photos from interior designers with links to products you can add to your table settings. Instagram also offers up pics posted by users of their past and present table settings for your viewing.

And don’t forget those rightin-the-mailbox resources: Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Sur La Table, and many other popular catalogs, which offer up beautiful ideas for the taking. Whether you shop for a whole new look or mix and match using items you’ve owned for years, you’re sure to find a new way of presenting your table you never thought of before. Now all you need is the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Hmm …

Maybe your sister-in-law can bring those? Oh, and don’t forget the kids’ table.

Mary Poppins Hale Centre Theatre | through November 28 480.497.1181 | HaleTheatreArizona.com Winner of three Tony Awards! At last, Disney’s and Cameron Mackintosh’s beloved Mary Poppins flies into Downtown Gilbert! This show is practically perfect in every way and includes all your favorite songs including, “Spoonful of Sugar,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” and “Let’s Go Fly a Kite!” Mary Poppins is breathtakingly beautiful, and full of dancing and heart.

The Night Before Christmas Great Arizona Puppet Theater | December 2-27 602.262.2050 | AZPuppets.org Enjoy a joyful celebration of Christmas with stories, music, and an amazing array of puppets. With its soaring, hand painted arches, the Great Arizona Puppet Theater is housed in a beautifully restored historic building across the street from the Japanese Friendship Garden. Great Arizona Puppet Theater is a non-profit professional puppet theater founded in 1983 as a touring company.

GAPT has received the Mayor’s Environmental Award for Education, numerous Best of Phoenix awards and the UNIMA-USA Citation for Excellence in Puppetry.

Real Estate Market Update Over the past year we have seen several factors that have stimulated housing demand: • Mortgages for 30-year fixed rate loans remained at or below 4 percent • Household income was supported by the labor market adding 3 million jobs across the nation • Consumer confidence rose to the most optimistic level in eight years

Mango Relish:

Served

Event Calendar

shopping to buy homes which is good news to the entire economy.

These three factors have worked to increase the number of households that are The Valley is a hot market again. This is excellent considering that Phoenix led the nation in the number of foreclosures during the recession. This time, however, it is not investors snapping up distressed properties, but owner-occupant buyers driving robust sales.

Sales volume is up 9.1% year-over-year while the median sales price increased 5.7% and average sales price increased 4.7% according to Tom Ruff of the Information Market.

In addition, more new home starts are driving growth. “In the past two months the number of building permits issued in the $200,000 to $500,000 range has increased,” said Michael Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice.

But, turning to supply – the number of homes offered for sale has remained relatively low. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average supply of homes in the second quarter 2015 was 5.1 months, down from 5.5 months a year ago.

The real estate analytics firm, CoreLogic, reports that of the top 100 real-estate markets in the U.S., 14 are now overvalued – more than double the number that were at the end of the first quarter 2015.

Las Noches De Las Luminarias

Q3

The primary driver behind the overvaluation of more housing markets is supply. The factors keeping supply tight is a high number of owners who still owe more on their homes than they are worth and a pace of home construction that is still well below the rate of the early 2000s. The homes that do get built tend to be at higher price points, causing affordability issues for entry-level buyers.

The key to more choices for homebuyers is new inventory, but it’s coming slowly.

In 2014, construction of rental apartments and condos returned to pre-boom-andbust levels. But construction of single-family homes made it just halfway back to the normal annual average of 1.3 million starts according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The NAHB forecasts that single-family-home starts won’t hit a million until 2016.

30-year fixed rate loans remain steady at or below

3 million new jobs nationally supports household incomes

consumer confidence is at 8-year high

Desert Botanical Garden November 27 - December 31 DBG.org | 480.481.8188 Join us this holiday season as we bring one of Arizona’s best holiday events, Las Noches de las Luminarias. Each night of Luminaria, the Garden will come to life with the soft glow from more than 8,000 hand lit luminaria bags, thousands of white twinkle lights and Munro’s vibrant works of art. As you walk the paths with a warm cup of cider, the sounds of hand bells ringing and Mariachis singing will remind you of what the season is all about.

The Polar Express

4% interest

3

million

8

REAL ESTATE

corner

Grand Canyon Railway | November 6 - January 3 TheTrain.com | 800.843.8724 The classic children’s book comes to life on the Polar Express. The Polar Express comes to life on a journey from the nighttime wilderness of Williams, Arizona, to the enchanted beauty of “the North Pole”- where Santa and his reindeer are waiting with a keepsake present for every good boy and girl. Enjoy hot chocolate and cookies while listening to this timeless story.

In Good Taste

DINNER IS

Nothing says the holidays more than a beautiful dining table set for a feast lovingly prepared for family and friends. Whether you’re throwing your first family fete or just looking for some new ways to spice up your table setting this season, it’s easy to find plenty of inspiration in the modern world. No more tearing pages from magazines at the doctor’s office. After all, a wealth of (free!) ideas is just a click away online.

FogoDeChao.com | 480.609.8866

Mango Chilean Sea Bass INGREDIENTS 2-8 oz 1/4 tsp 1/2 tsp 2 tsp 8

1

Chilean sea bass filets coarse cracked black pepper (divided) Kosher salt (divided) olive oil stalks asparagus (steamed) lemon (cut in half)

First place to go for drool-worthy tips and tricks?

Pinterest will keep you entertained for hours (and hours!). Just type in “holiday table settings” and you’ll find a plethora of ideas, from tutorials on where to put all the plates, glasses, and silverware, to homespun projects for table runners, centerpieces, candles, chargers, and place markers. You’ll be inspired to decorate places you may have otherwise left unadorned … the chandelier, the sideboard, the chairs, even the walls. These pinners love to craft and decorate! Overwhelmed with ideas? Narrow your search by adding in what specific holiday you’re celebrating or the theme or color you are working with (for example, add key words such as “red,” “simple,” “Hanukkah,” “elegant,” or “winter wonderland”). For help with those tricky cloth napkins, just type the words “folding napkins” and you’ll be greeted with numerous elegant and fun suggestions (we warned you,

Mango Hot Sauce: 1/4 c 1/4

1/4

1/4 oz 2 ¼ tsp 1/8 tsp 1/8 tsp

mango puree small sweet onion garlic clove, finely minced vinegar water salt blended malagueta hot sauce*

Mango Relish: 2 1 slice 1 slice

strawberries – diced mango – diced apple – diced

PREPARATION The Fish: Preheat oven 350˚F. Season fish with Kosher salt and coarse black pepper. Heat olive oil in sauté pan. Place fish in pan and sear brown on two sides. Transfer to preheated oven and roast until cooked through (140˚F in the center). Cut steamed asparagus to 5-inch pieces. Lightly coat in olive oil and sprinkle with more salt and pepper. Place on stove or griddle until grill marks appear.

Blended Malagueta Hot Sauce*: Place 10-15 whole malagueta peppers and liquid in blender and blend well. Strain liquid, discard seeds and skin. Blend and strain additional peppers and liquid to add more spice.

In a saucepan, bring all mango hot sauce ingredients plus blended malagueta sauce to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add additional malagueta hot sauce to taste. Start with small amount and add to preferred heat level. Chill.

Combine all three fruits in a bowl and refrigerate to chill.

Serving the Fish: Place asparagus in center of plate all facing same direction.

Place fish on top, then drizzle mango hot sauce on top and around fish. Garnish fish with mango relish. Place half a lemon on side of plate for extra flavoring.

Serves two.

N OVEMBER | DECEMBER 2015 ArtFest of Scottsdale

there are lots of options!). Pin the pics you want to use at your own table and you’ll have all the elements you desire in one easy-to-reference spot. Now that’s convenient (and way less expensive than buying all those food and home magazines).

Scottsdale Civic Center Plaza | November 21-22 888ArtFest.com | 480.968.5353 One of the valley’s most popular holiday traditions.

Visitors will enjoy fine art, fine crafts, local authors, live music throughout the festival, taste tempting foods in a beautiful sculpture garden setting.

Houzz, a popular home design website, is another good table setting resource. Here you’ll find photos from interior designers with links to products you can add to your table settings. Instagram also offers up pics posted by users of their past and present table settings for your viewing.

And don’t forget those rightin-the-mailbox resources: Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Sur La Table, and many other popular catalogs, which offer up beautiful ideas for the taking. Whether you shop for a whole new look or mix and match using items you’ve owned for years, you’re sure to find a new way of presenting your table you never thought of before. Now all you need is the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. Hmm …

Maybe your sister-in-law can bring those? Oh, and don’t forget the kids’ table.

Mary Poppins Hale Centre Theatre | through November 28 480.497.1181 | HaleTheatreArizona.com Winner of three Tony Awards! At last, Disney’s and Cameron Mackintosh’s beloved Mary Poppins flies into Downtown Gilbert! This show is practically perfect in every way and includes all your favorite songs including, “Spoonful of Sugar,” “Chim Chim Cher-ee,” and “Let’s Go Fly a Kite!” Mary Poppins is breathtakingly beautiful, and full of dancing and heart.

The Night Before Christmas Great Arizona Puppet Theater | December 2-27 602.262.2050 | AZPuppets.org Enjoy a joyful celebration of Christmas with stories, music, and an amazing array of puppets. With its soaring, hand painted arches, the Great Arizona Puppet Theater is housed in a beautifully restored historic building across the street from the Japanese Friendship Garden. Great Arizona Puppet Theater is a non-profit professional puppet theater founded in 1983 as a touring company.

GAPT has received the Mayor’s Environmental Award for Education, numerous Best of Phoenix awards and the UNIMA-USA Citation for Excellence in Puppetry.

Real Estate Market Update Over the past year we have seen several factors that have stimulated housing demand: • Mortgages for 30-year fixed rate loans remained at or below 4 percent • Household income was supported by the labor market adding 3 million jobs across the nation • Consumer confidence rose to the most optimistic level in eight years

Mango Relish:

Served

Event Calendar

shopping to buy homes which is good news to the entire economy.

These three factors have worked to increase the number of households that are The Valley is a hot market again. This is excellent considering that Phoenix led the nation in the number of foreclosures during the recession. This time, however, it is not investors snapping up distressed properties, but owner-occupant buyers driving robust sales.

Sales volume is up 9.1% year-over-year while the median sales price increased 5.7% and average sales price increased 4.7% according to Tom Ruff of the Information Market.

In addition, more new home starts are driving growth. “In the past two months the number of building permits issued in the $200,000 to $500,000 range has increased,” said Michael Orr, director of the Center for Real Estate Theory and Practice.

But, turning to supply – the number of homes offered for sale has remained relatively low. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average supply of homes in the second quarter 2015 was 5.1 months, down from 5.5 months a year ago.

The real estate analytics firm, CoreLogic, reports that of the top 100 real-estate markets in the U.S., 14 are now overvalued – more than double the number that were at the end of the first quarter 2015.

Las Noches De Las Luminarias

Q3

The primary driver behind the overvaluation of more housing markets is supply. The factors keeping supply tight is a high number of owners who still owe more on their homes than they are worth and a pace of home construction that is still well below the rate of the early 2000s. The homes that do get built tend to be at higher price points, causing affordability issues for entry-level buyers.

The key to more choices for homebuyers is new inventory, but it’s coming slowly.

In 2014, construction of rental apartments and condos returned to pre-boom-andbust levels. But construction of single-family homes made it just halfway back to the normal annual average of 1.3 million starts according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The NAHB forecasts that single-family-home starts won’t hit a million until 2016.

30-year fixed rate loans remain steady at or below

3 million new jobs nationally supports household incomes

consumer confidence is at 8-year high

Desert Botanical Garden November 27 - December 31 DBG.org | 480.481.8188 Join us this holiday season as we bring one of Arizona’s best holiday events, Las Noches de las Luminarias. Each night of Luminaria, the Garden will come to life with the soft glow from more than 8,000 hand lit luminaria bags, thousands of white twinkle lights and Munro’s vibrant works of art. As you walk the paths with a warm cup of cider, the sounds of hand bells ringing and Mariachis singing will remind you of what the season is all about.

The Polar Express

4% interest

3

million

8

REAL ESTATE

corner

Grand Canyon Railway | November 6 - January 3 TheTrain.com | 800.843.8724 The classic children’s book comes to life on the Polar Express. The Polar Express comes to life on a journey from the nighttime wilderness of Williams, Arizona, to the enchanted beauty of “the North Pole”- where Santa and his reindeer are waiting with a keepsake present for every good boy and girl. Enjoy hot chocolate and cookies while listening to this timeless story.

CLEAR

NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2015

C L E A R WAT E R H I L L S

Wendy Walker Fine Properties

Ready, Set, Holiday!

In the Spirit of Giving Thanks.

CREATING THE PERFECT TABLE

We, at Wendy Walker Fine Properties, are truly thankful this holiday season for the opportunity to work alongside our clients to successfully achieve their real estate goals.

This has been a stellar year; we doubled our 2014 size and performance!

It is through YOUR continued trust, unwavering support, and countless referrals that we have grown to serve this community in a significant way. We delight in the fact that honesty and integrity are rewarded, and that our clients know that we care more about their bottom line, than ours.

So again, thank you so very much for a phenomenal 2015...and we look forward to working with you in the New Year!

New To Market

Real Estate Re-Defined Coldwell Banker Residential Broker Wendy Walker Fine Properties 3113 East Lincoln Drive Phoenix, AZ 85016 P: 602-468-8888 | F: 602-391-2888 E: wendy@wwfineproperties.com www.wendywalkerfineproperties.com Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Arizona Hall of Fame Award 2013 & 2014

Real Estate Update

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Equity Title Biltmore Office

3125 E Lincoln Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85016

602.956.5141 Our experience makes the difference!

If your home is currently listed, this is not a solicitation for that listing.

Produced by Desert Lifestyle Publishing • 480.460.0996 • www.DesertLifestyle.net

Cover Photography | Kevin Brost

Wendy Walker

Limited Supply Continues to Fuel Growth

Lakeside View Retreat 7340 N. Lakeside Lane Paradise Valley, AZ 85253 Offered at $1,195,000 Exclusively By

Festive Fogo de Chão’s Mango Chilean Sea Bass