Daily Archives: April 8, 2015

Mortgage Loan Rates Drop for Third Consecutive Week | South Salem Real Estate

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning. The report noted a week­over­week increase of 0.4% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index for the week ending April 3, following an increase of 4.6% for the week ending March 20.

Mortgage loan rates decreased on all types of loans last week. On an unadjusted basis, the composite index increased by 1% week­over­week.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 7% compared to the week ended April 3. The unadjusted purchase index also rose by 7% for the week and is now 12% higher year­over­year.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased 3% week­over­week, and the percentage of all new applications that were seeking refinancing slipped from 60% to 57%, its lowest level since last October.

The MBA’s chief economist noted: Purchase mortgage application volume last week increased to its highest level since July 2013, spurred on by still low mortgage rates and strengthening housing markets.

Purchase volume has increased for three straight weeks now on a seasonally adjusted basis. Adjustable rate mortgage loans accounted for 5.5% of all applications, down from 5.6% in the prior week.

The FHA share of all applications rose from 12.8% a week ago to 13.2%, and the VA share increased from 10.5% to 10.7%.

 

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http://247wallst.com/housing/2015/04/08/mortgage-loan-rates-drop-for-third-consecutive-week/

One-of-a-Kind Cooking Spaces | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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We asked avid home cooks on Houzz to share photos of where they make their magic. In this first part of a series, learn the stories behind some of their very personal cooking spaces and what they love to whip up there.
Cooks' Kitchens Master
1. Former Cookhouse in Sequim, Washington

Cook: Laurie Gasnick
Size: 13 by 13 feet (about 3.9 by 3.9 meters), plus a 14- by 9-foot (4.2- by 2.7-meter) eating area
Wall paint: Similar to Prescott Green HC-140, by Benjamin Moore
Countertop: Blue Pearl granite and some butcher block for the counters; zinc for the island
Flooring: Fir

Cooks' Kitchens Master
Gasnick writes: “Our house was built in 1890 and originally served as a cookhouse for a logging mill. It was in pretty bad shape, but we tried to keep all the old architecture intact, including a built-in-the-wall icebox that is now the laundry room. I designed the kitchen around the 1936 stove, old sink unit and Hoosier. The old-growth fir floors are from a closed elementary school.

“The kitchen island is an old farm table for storing vegetables, and we put on the distressed zinc top, which was an arduous task. The counters are Blue Pearl with shiny flecks of silver. The backsplash [tiles above the stove] are tiles I picked up in Tunisia 30 years ago and had never thought of a use for them until now.”

More about zinc countertops

Cooks' Kitchens Master
What happens here: “My husband loves to cook, and I like to clean and bake, which makes it a good partnership. He works long hours but still has the energy to whip up a complete dinner for us, even when I think there is nothing in the house to make. I think he can make an entrée out of ketchup if need be.”
Cook's Kitchens Master
“When we renovated I realized we had no need for a formal dining room anymore. The table just collected mail. I had many fond memories of our family eating our meals around the breakfast nook, so that’s what I built, and it still keeps the flavor of the old house.

“It took 12 years to save up enough money to add an addition of a kitchen, dining room, living room and new entry hall, so I had a lot of time to imagine how I wanted it to be. Love my new/old house.” ♦︎

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http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/46317330?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u1151&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery0

Current Trend For U.S. Median New Home Sale Prices | Bedford Real Estate

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Beginning in January 2014, the trajectory of median new home sale prices in the U.S. with respect to median household income began to follow a new trend, with typical new home sale prices increasing at an average pace of nearly $11 for every $1 increase in typical household incomes.

(click to enlarge)

The good news is that rate of increase is less than half that observed during the primary inflation phases of the first and second housing bubbles in the U.S. The bad news is that rate of increase with respect to household incomes is still 2.7-3.3 greater than those recorded during periods of stable growth in the periods preceding the inflation phases of real estate bubbles.

As we noted in our previous installment, the current pace of growth is consistent with that observed in the latter portion of the inflation of the first housing bubble.

Now, it’s important to note that this situation doesn’t mean that a new crash in housing prices is imminent, or even likely. Now that real estate investors have established a shortage of affordably priced homes in the U.S. market, U.S. homebuilders are now better able to exploit the situation by building more affordably priced homes, which several have begun to do in recent months.

Note to America’s builders: less-expensive homes are starting to move.

Purchases of new homes climbed 7.8 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted 539,000 annualized pace in February, a seven-year high, according to the latest U.S. government report. Perhaps the best news for the housing industry as a whole came in the breakdown of sales, by price.

Americans signed contracts to purchase 17,000 new houses in the $200,000-to-$299,999 price range last month, the most since March 2008. That amounts to 39 percent of the 44,000 properties sold in February (unadjusted and not annualized). Another 8,000 homes-the most in nine months-sold in the range of $150,000 to $199,999.

The shifting sales mix of new homes toward lower-priced homes is prompting an increase in sales volumes, which is a desirable outcome for the current market. Since November 2014, when the median new home sale price in the U.S. peaked at $302,700, the median sale prices of new homes has fallen in each month since, and in February 2015, stands at a preliminary value of $275,500. This figure will be revised several times over the next several months.

 

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http://seekingalpha.com/article/3054396-the-current-trend-for-u-s-median-new-home-sale-prices?ifp=0