Monthly Archives: July 2015

America’s Most Violent (and Most Peaceful) States | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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While violent crime rates in the country have fallen steadily over the past several decades, the United States is still one of the less peaceful nations in the world. According to the Global Peace Index 2015 report, the United States ranked 94th out of 162 countries. However, the peacefulness of American communities varies considerably within states.
Following the example of the Peace Index, 24/7 Wall St. generated an index to rank the peacefulness of each state in the nation. States with high violent crime and homicide rates, as well as high estimated small arms ownership and high incarceration rates were identified as less peaceful, while states with lower incidence of these factors were more peaceful. According to our index, Maine is the most peaceful state, while Louisiana is the least peaceful.

Click here to see the least peaceful states in America.

Click here to see the most peaceful states in America.

In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Aubrey Fox, executive director of the U.S. office at the Institute of Economics and Peace, said, “A perfectly peaceful place would be a place where there is no violence and no fear of violence.” He explained this would be a place with no crime, no police spending, a strong government, and a healthy economy.

According to Fox, one of the largest drags on peacefulness in the country and in individual states has been the high levels of homicide and incarceration. Only three of the 10 least peaceful states had incarceration rates that did not exceed the national rate of 498.1 per 100,000 Americans. In all of the most peaceful states, incarceration rates were well below the national figure.

5 Drivers of Peace

Less peaceful states needed to have relatively large police forces. The ratio of law enforcement employees to state residents exceeded the national proportion of 285.5 law enforcement workers per 100,000 Americans in eight of the 10 least peaceful states, while all of the most peaceful states had proportionately small police forces.

There are two ways to look at the relationship between peace and enforcement, Fox explained. While the perfectly peaceful community would have zero police officers, communities need to invest in policing to deal with local threats and lower crime. However, “There is typically a point at which you get less return on your investment,” Fox said.

Fox gave an example of a community with crime at a 50-year low, but where police are spending seven times as much to keep it that way. “We really need to ask how much of a lost opportunity cost is that?” Fox argued. In fact, U.S. crime levels are at their lowest level since 1972. Police spending was far lower at that time, however, according to Fox.

The connection is far from well-understood, however. Crime continued to drop in the U.S. during the most recent economic downturn, for example. During the downturn, police spending fell dramatically.

Still, economic costs add up the less peaceful a community becomes, and poor socioeconomic climates can lead to less peacefulness. “Being poor or having less access to resources does put you on a path that is less peaceful,” Fox said.

The manner in which these factors lead to violence, however, is very difficult to establish empirically. John Roman, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, an economic and social policy think tank, said, “The biggest predictor of whether there’s violence is dense clusters of unskilled young men.” He went on to explain that poor socioeconomic factors such as low educational attainment, high poverty rates, and high unemployment all lead to more violence by contributing to higher numbers of unskilled young males.

Read more: America’s Most Violent (and Most Peaceful) States – 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2015/07/15/americas-most-violent-and-most-peaceful-states/#ixzz3gRvMfKQT

Mount Kisco Named Among Best Places In New York To Start A Business | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Consumer finance site NerdWallet recently named Mount Kisco the ninth best place to start a business in New York.

Rankings were determined by the following criteria:

  • Average revenue of businesses.
  • Percentage of businesses with paid employees.
  • Businesses per 100 people.
  • Median annual income.
  • Median monthly housing costs.
  • Unemployment rate.

Mount Kisco has more than 17 business per 100 people, which is one of the highest ratios on NerdWallet’s list.

To see the full list, visit: www.nerdwallet.com/blog/small-business/places-start-business-york/.

Peek Inside the Rembrandt’s Former House | Bedford Corners Homes

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As far as famous artists go, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, born July 15, 1606, has to be among the most celebrated and well-known. He’s most revered for his oil-on-canvas paintings and his etchings completed during the Dutch golden age of painting in the 17th century. This period saw several Dutch artists practicing in a style of detailed realism.

A big chunk of Rembrandt’s work, including several famous self-portraits and arguably his most famous painting ever, The Night Watch (1642), was created over two decades while he lived in a central Amsterdam house. In celebration of the renowned master’s birthday, more than four centuries ago today, here’s a look at his former home.

Rembrandt's House
In 1639, Rembrandt and his wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, moved into a remodeled house in Amsterdam for which they paid 13,000 guilders, about $7,200 in today’s money, a huge sum at the time.

The home, which is now the Rembrandt House Museum, seen here, had been drastically remodeled in 1627 and 1628. During the remodel, the home gained a story, a new facade and a triangular corniced pediment — a feature that was the height of modernity at the time, according to the Rembrandt House Museum website. The museum says the remodel was probably spearheaded by Jacob van Campen, who later was the architect for Amsterdam’s town hall, now the Royal Palace, on Dam Square.

Rembrandt's House
But the homeowner experience wasn’t kind to Rembrandt. Despite his sizable income, he couldn’t keep up with his mortgage payments, which eventually led to his bankruptcy, according to the museum. And it wasn’t just the mortgage payments. Rembrandt had fine tastes and reportedly spent more than he was bringing in.

During this time, he had a habit of buying old-master paintings and drawings, busts of Roman emperors and suits of Japanese armor, and built up a large collection of antiquities.

Rembrandt's House
In 1656 the home was basically foreclosed on, and it and Rembrandt’s possessions, including his art collection, were sold off by his creditors. He then rented a small house until his death in 1669.
Rembrandt's House
Between 1658 and 1911 the house was split in two and altered, according to the museum. The city of Amsterdam bought the dilapidated house, which would have been torn down had Rembrandt not famously lived there. A foundation took control in 1907.
Celebrate Rembrandt's Birthday With a Peek Inside HIs Former House
One has to wonder, amid all the stress of owning a house and getting behind on payments, what this home meant to Rembrandt as a place of creativity, safety and nourishment, and how it might have influenced his work, for better or worse.

In the self-portrait shown here, which Rembrandt painted in 1640 shortly after moving into the house, he looks rather calm and confident, with perhaps just a hint of worry on his brow.

Celebrate Rembrandt's Birthday With a Peek Inside HIs Former House
Just a few years after going bankrupt and losing his house, now living in a small rental home, he painted this self-portrait in 1659. To me he looks considerably aged, not just by time but by stress and perhaps even considerable loss.
Rembrandt's House
A restoration of Rembrandt’s home was completed in 1911, though it looked nothing like when the Dutch painter lived there. In 1998 and ’99, the home was restored to look as it did during Rembrandt’s time there. The result of this meticulous restoration — headed by building historian Henk Zantkuijl, an expert in 17th-century houses — is seen in these photos. Ironically, Rembrandt’s bankruptcy inventory played a big role in aiding Zantkuijl’s restoration.
read more….
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/51495260?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u1519&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery7

Message from Bedford Town Supervisor | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Public Hearings on July 7, 2015
The following public hearings have been scheduled for July 7, 2015 at the Court Room in the Town House at 321 Bedford Road
Time
Topic
7:20 PM
Amendment to Zoning Code related to hamlet business districts
7:50 PM
Amendment to the sign ordinance
7:10 PM
Local law to implement Community Choice Aggregation
State Roads – Good News on Route 172
I heard back from the Executive Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation that DOT state funds have been re-allocated to provide for the 172 project. It would entail both drainage work and paving of Route 172 the entire distance from the Village Green through Route 137 in Pound Ridge. The DOT might begin the drainage work in the fall with the milling and paving to be done in Spring 2016 – otherwise the entire job would be 2016. We wish to thank the community for its patience and its support with many calling the DOT to emphasize on the need for the work. In the interim DOT promises to repair potholes and make safe Route 172 and Route 22 (we’re still working on getting it paved).
Working on Securing Paving for I-684
Literally thousands of Bedford residents are affected by the road noise from I-684 which has increased over the years with heavier traffic. Residents are petitioning the Governor, the DOT, our Congressman and our State Legislators. Our thanks to Bedford resident Mara Glassel, who has been organizing residents, and bringing new energy to the effort (which goes back literally
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for 20 years or more). Her petition, which you can access at www.change.org, then enter into search field “684” reads as follows:
1.
Efforts have been made all over Westchester County and NY State to reduce noise pollution, while Bedford and Katonah have been ignored.
2.
Increasing the speed limit to 65 mph and ever increasing truck traffic has increased the road noise substantially over the last few years.
3.
Neighbors are measuring noise levels as high as 85 dBs – which has been medically proven harmful – both physically and mentally.
4.
I684 has been neglected for decades and needs to be repaved for safety reasons.
5.
Funds are being appropriated to neighboring towns (i.e. exit 8) – while residents off of exits 4 – 6 continue to be treated unfairly.
Assemblyman David Buchwald is working with Ms. Glassel, the Town and DOT to try to advance these efforts.
Update on Bedford Village Parking
The Town Board of the Town of Bedford is moving forward with its plans to provide additional municipal parking in Bedford Village. Evans Associates, a consultancy firm for the Town for over 25 years, will present at the Town Board’s July 7 meeting a proposal to conduct an engineering/wetlands study to determine how best to maximize parking on property to be leased from the Presbyterian Church. There also may be the possibility of additional spaces at the rear of the Bedford Playhouse building. Both the Church and the owners of the Bedford Playhouse building have advised the Town of its support for these efforts. Assuming Town Board approval, the Town would pay the cost of the Evan Associates’ work as well as for the construction of the parking. In developing the plans and implementing them, the Town will seek the input of the community and obtain all approvals, which at the town level would include the Bedford Village Historic District Review Commission and the Wetlands Control Commission. The intention is to ensure that parking is in place in 2016 for use by patrons of existing stores and businesses as well as the Bedford Playhouse (renovation work is anticipated to be completed mid 2016).
Update on Parking – Town Wide
We are working with the community to improve parking enforcement (and therefore turnover of parking spaces), maximize parking availability and otherwise relieve insufficient parking in our hamlets. Police Chief Melvin Padilla and Comptroller Ed Ritter (who heads the Parking Bureau) will be discussing plans with the Town Board at the Board’s July 7 meeting.
Local Law Implementing Community Choice Aggregation
The Town Board has scheduled a public hearing on a proposed local law to enable the Town to participate in a community choice aggregation (CCA) program offered by Sustainable Westchester, Inc., (SW) a not-for-profit organization now comprised of over forty municipalities in Westchester County, including the Town of Bedford. Simply put, CCA enables Bedford to offer for its residents and small business lower energy costs – all on a voluntary basis. The Town would enter into an agreement to participate in SW’s program for its residents and business consumers who are not currently purchasing electricity from an energy service
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company, but only if the prices are lower. The Town also will undertake to inform residents about the CCA program; and that any customer at any time may “opt out” of the program. CCA has been a success in other states and Bedford is among several Westchester communities going forward with the program.
Community Organizations Take Note – Town Co-Sponsorship of Community Events
Following Town Board action at its June 16 meeting, Town Clerk Boo Fumagalli has prepared an application form, at the Town Board’s request, for community organizations requesting Town co-sponsorship of community events. This means that there may be the possibility of the Town Board relieving the organization from a portion of overtime expenses for Town personnel (e.g., police and public works) assisting with the event. Please note that funds are limited and Town co-sponsorship is subject to Town Board approval. The application form and the guidelines which the Board adopted are available from the Clerk’s office. The Clerk will review applications as received for completeness and compliance with the guidelines and forward them to the Town Board for action. You can contact the Clerk at 666-4534 or by e-mail at clerk at townclerk@bedfordny.gov.
Internship Opportunity
For all rising high school sophomores, juniors, seniors as well as college level students: I am currently scheduling interviews for an unpaid summer intern position. The duties of the intern include preparing and managing the weekly community calendar and writing, proofing, and researching various topics. There may be a couple of weeknights to help with our Supervisor and Town Board events in the Parks. Hours are flexible. If interested in this opportunity, please email the Supervisor at Supervisor@BedfordNY.gov or call 914-666-6350. Please submit your resume and hours of availability.
Comptroller’s Report
Comptroller Ed Ritter reported on June 16 as follows:
We will be running the June 15th payroll in both the KVS and Springbrook payroll systems for a parallel view and reconciliation. If this goes well we will be live in Springbrook for the July 6th payroll. Once the payroll portion is running well the Finance office will begin the conversion of the financial data from KVS to the Springbrook product.
Summer employees have started to arrive and are being added into payroll. As summer approaches our payroll increases to over 400 people.
More data has become available as to what we are required to do to be in compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I have scheduled a presentation on June 22nd by CPI-HR Inc. who will discuss and demonstrate all the requirements we must be aware of. This will be held in the court room at 321 Bedford Road at 1:00 pm.
REVENUE AREAS OF NOTE
Mortgage Tax has actual data from October through May 2015. The actual percentage over 2014 is a 11.59% decrease. This amount has been used as a basis for projecting the remainder of the year (through September). Mortgage tax is projected to be $1,011,445, which is $14,445 over budget.
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Sales Tax has actual data from January through April 2015. County sales tax shows a 2.44% decrease over 2014. This revenue is projected to be $2,462,546 which is $62,546 over our budget of $2,400,000.
Parking has actual data from January through April 2015. The actual percentage over 2014 is a 3.32% increase. Revenue to date is $99,857 which is an increase of $3,212 from last year at this time. The revenue for the year is projected to be $931,923 which is $1,923 over budget.
Fines and forfeited bail has actual data for January through April 2015. Revenue is $208,000 which is $27,768 under last year’s revenue at this time. The revenue is projected to be $770,850 which is $120,850 over budget.
Safety Inspection Fees has actual data for January through May 2015. Revenue is $366,278 which is 14,419 over last year’s revenue at this time. This revenue is projected to be $754,236 which is $14,236 over budget.
EXPENDITURES: 2015 expenditures are within budget limits at this time
Please note that more information, including analysis, is available through the Comptroller’s office – 666-8283
Proposed Septic System Repair & Replacement Fund Advances
Bedford’s proposal to create a $3.5 million septic system repair and replacement fund for Bedford properties within the New York City watershed is wending its way through the approval process, which we are hopeful will be concluded in the next couple of months. If established, the program would provide up to 50% of approved eligible expenses for construction of repair remediation or replacement of a septic system, as well as design engineering costs not to exceed 20% of total construction costs. An enhanced treatment unit (utilizing more advanced technology) would be permitted, provided the County Board of Health and, if applicable, DEC and DEP, approves it. As mentioned previously, two of the Town’s hamlet centers, Bedford Hills and Katonah, are located in the Croton Watershed, with Katonah’s commercial district immediately adjoining the reservoir. We believe that it is important to balance continued protection of the reservoir system with the economic vitality of these central business areas and their surrounding residential neighborhoods.
The Westchester County Planning Department has been working on a legislative proposal, including an Intermunicipal Agreement between the County and the Town, for submission to the Westchester County Board of Legislators to consider, as the BOL must approve the funding request.
Filling Vacancies in Town Elected Positions
At our June 16 meeting, the Town Board adopted a local law to provide for a special election to fill vacancies in the position of Supervisor, Councilman or Town Clerk which would provide that if the Town Board does not fill the vacancy by appointment within 45 days of the vacancy, then a special election must be held within 60 to 90 days. Summer elections or an election within a short time before a general election would be avoided.
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Other Town Board Action Taken
Also at the June 16 meeting, the Town Board appointed Mel Padilla to the position of Chief (it previously was provisional subject to his passing the Chief’s examination – which he did); accepted the proposal of Lothrup Associates for architectural services and construction management for renovations and additions to the police station; enacted an amendment to the Historic Building Preservation Law to allow the Historic Building Preservation Commission to waive public hearing requirements under certain circumstances so as to expedite action on applications; and scheduled the July 7 public hearings mentioned above. The Board also appointed Matthew A. Iacona as a police officer filling a vacancy. I also provided an update on plans for increasing public parking in Bedford Village (Evans Associates will present a consultancy proposal at the July 7 meeting).
Reminder: Emergency Information from NYSEG and Con Edison
Con Edison notified us that you now can text Con Edison about power outages. Here’s the message they sent us:
“Prefer texting? No problem. Sign up by texting REG to OUTAGE (688243) and we’ll text instead of calling.
But don’t wait for us to contact you. The sooner we know about a power problem, the sooner we can respond. Reach us at conEd.com, by texting OUT to OUTAGE after you sign up for texting, with our My conEdison app for Droid and Apple devices, or by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633).”
Both NYSEG and Con Edison encourage customers with special needs to enroll in special services for them.
“NYSEG is committed to providing their customers with safe, reliable energy delivery. They also offer many services for special need customers, including:

Special Identification for households where everyone is elderly, blind or disabled

Large print, sight-saver Bills for visually-impaired customers

Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) grants

NYSEG’s Energy Assistance Program (EAP)

Project SHARE emergency energy assistance program
If you or someone in your household relies on life-sustaining equipment, you should contact NYSEG immediately!
How to call NYSEG:
Electricity interruptions or emergencies: 1.800.572.1131 (24 hours a day, every day)
Customer relations center: 1.800.572.1111
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Payment arrangements: 1.888.315.1755
Hearing and speech-impaired: Dial 711 (New York Relay Service)”
“Message from Con Edison: Customer Central Special Services
Safety for Special Customers:
It is important that we have a record of everyone who uses electrically operated life-support equipment or has medical hardships so we can contact them in an emergency. To learn more and complete the survey, please visit the link below. You can also let us know by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633). Con Edison customers can enroll for this service by visiting www.conEd.com, clicking on Customer Central, and then the “special services” link. You will need your account number. To keep our records current, each year we send a letter asking you to recertify.
http://www.coned.com/customercentral/specialservices.asp
Customers with Special Needs:
We recognize that senior citizens and people with disabilities need special attention. That’s why we offer a variety of services and billing and payment options that make life a little bit easier for the elderly, visually or hearing-impaired, or customers with permanent disabilities. Please visit the link below to view the Customers With Special Needs brochure.
http://www.coned.com/customercentral/specialservices.asp”
I ask you to please send me an e-mail at supervisor@bedfordny.gov should you have any questions or comments on this report or any of our work on the Town Board.
Chris Burdick
Town Supervisor

Single-family housing starts down in June | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Privately-owned housing starts in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,174,000, up 9.8% (±19.9%) above the revised May estimate of 1,069,000 and is 26.6% (±19.6%) above the June 2014 rate of 927,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Most of the gains in starts and permits were in multifamily, not single-family contruction.

But the problem is single-family housing starts in June were at a rate of 685,000, 0.9% (±11.5%) below the revised May figure of 691,000. The June rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 476,000.

“While the rise in housing starts was driven by an uptick in multifamily housing, there are positive signs looming for the single-family housing market,” said Bill Banfield, vice president at Quicken Loans. “Homebuilder confidence is at its highest level in almost a decade and the number of first-time homebuyers looking to enter the market is increasing – making programs like FHA even more vital to support continued growth.”

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,343,000. This is 7.4 % (±1.2%) above the revised May rate of 1,250,000 and is 30.0 % (±2.3%) above the June 2014 estimate of 1,033,000.

“Housing construction has nearly returned to pre-recessionary levels, as builders ramped up activity on multi-family projects including condos and co-ops,” saidStifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza. “While builders and lenders benefit regardless of the type of construction, the economic benefit, however, is significantly greater from single family construction as opposed to multi-family units, particularly rental properties; single family housing activity results in additional spending and borrowing power as a result of equity building which is not necessarily present in multi-family properties.

“The housing market continues to take steps in the right direction, however, growth remains far from robust; as we have seen in the recent decline in retail sales, consumers continue to struggle to afford purchases – particularly large ticket items – amid stagnant income growth,” she said. “Still, with the threat of rising rates on the near horizon, some homeowners are jumping in to lock in low rates. As we saw during the taper tantrum of 2013, despite a still-sluggish ability to finance a home purchase, many potential homeowners are willing to jump into the market sooner than later if it means avoiding a significantly higher mortgage rate.”

Single-family authorizations in June were at a rate of 687,000; this is 0.9 % (±1.1%) above the revised May figure of 681,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 621,000 in June.

 

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Single-family housing starts down in June

Bidding wars return to home market | Armonk Real Estate

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Christina and Kevin Dirks have been searching for a house in the Denver area for four months at prices up to $275,000. They made offers on six homes—and were outbid on each one.

“When we first started looking, you had to pay $10,000 over” list price to win the bidding, Ms. Dirks said. “Then, as the weeks went by, it went up to $20,000. And now it’s up to $30,000 and $40,000.”

Ms. Dirks, a 28-year-old office coordinator, said she and her husband, a 30-year-old merchandiser, hope that as the market slows down this winter, “people will put a halt on being so crazy.”

Bidding wars, a hallmark of last decade’s housing boom, are making a comeback in a number of metro areas across the U.S. But while the earlier wars reflected enthusiasm fueled by easy-money mortgages, the current froth stems from a market short of homes for sale.

The reasons for the scant supply are myriad, including a much-slower-than-expected recovery in home construction. Yet an equally significant problem is that millions of people aren’t listing their homes for sale because they suspect they can’t qualify for a new mortgage, can’t afford the costs associated with a sale or fear that they won’t prevail in the scrum for the few houses available.

At the end of May, there were 2.3 million existing U.S. homes for sale, enough supply to last 5.1 months at the current sales pace. That is below the six to seven months of supply that the National Association of Realtors says is needed for a balanced market.

But in more than one-third of the 300 largest metropolitan areas tracked by Realtor.com, homes listed for sale in June had been on the market for a median of less than two months. A low median figure indicates rapid turnover in inventory as demand for homes exceeds supply.

Those include big markets like San Francisco, with a median time on market of 27 days, and Dallas at 38 days, as well as smaller markets like Vallejo, Calif., at 26 days and Kennewick, Wash., at 36 days.

The tightest market in June was Santa Rosa, Calif., a relatively affordable Bay Area suburb, where the median time a home was on the market was 24 days.

In those markets with limited supply, bidding wars tend to push prices higher, creating price bubbles. According to Realtor.com, the $580,000 median listing price in Santa Rosa is up nearly 10% from a year ago. That handily outpaces the national average increase in resale prices, which the National Association of Realtors calculates at 7.9%. Realtor.com is operated by Move Inc., which like The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp.

The low supply of homes reflects a reluctance or inability of owners to sell their current house or apartment and trade up to their next, often larger, one. Some remain skittish about the economy, their own finances or their ability to qualify for a mortgage. Others can’t sell because they are underwater, meaning they owe more on their mortgages than the homes are worth.

Even though U.S. home prices are up 31% in the past five years, 15.4% of homes—an estimated 7.9 million—remained underwater in the first quarter, according to real estate website Zillow. The long term average is 3% to 5%, Zillow says. These owners can’t sell unless they have thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars on hand to pay the shortfall on their old mortgage and finance costs of selling and moving.

Another pressure on housing inventories is growth in U.S. household formation. The U.S. added roughly 1.5 million households in the first quarter from a year earlier, though almost all were formed by renters.

 

read more…

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bidding-wars-return-home-market-000700177.html

CoreLogic: Cash sales once again trend lower in April | North Salem Real Estate

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Cash sales once again trended down, accounting for 33.7% of total home sales in April 2015, down from 37.4% in April 2014.

This marks the 28th consecutive month of declines, with the year-over-year share falling each month since January 2013.

On a monthly basis, the cash sales share fell by 0.9 percentage points. Due to seasonality in the housing market, cash sales share comparisons should be made on a year-over-year basis.

To put this in perspective, CoreLogic said, “The cash sales share peak occurred in January 2011 when cash transactions accounted for 46.5% of total home sales nationally. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25 percent. If the cash sales share continues to fall at the same rate it did in April 2015, the share should hit 25 percent by mid-2017.”

Click to enlarge

Chart 1

Source: CoreLogic

Click to enlarge

Chart 2

Source: CoreLogic

Housing Starts in U.S. Surge to Second-Highest Level Since 2007 | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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New-home construction in the U.S. climbed in June to the second-highest level since November 2007 as builders stepped up work on apartment projects.

Housing starts rose 9.8 percent to a 1.17 million annualized rate from a revised 1.07 million in May that was stronger than previously estimated, figures from the Commerce Department showed Friday in Washington. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was a 1.11 million rate. Ground-breaking on multifamily dwellings jumped 29.4 percent.

Building permits for single and multifamily properties, a gauge of future construction, climbed to an almost eight-year high, the report showed. Steady job gains, low mortgage rates and a gradual easing of lending standards are propelling sales, indicating housing will become a bigger source of strength for the economy.

“They’re pretty positive numbers,” said Lewis Alexander, chief economist at Nomura Securities International Inc. in New York. “You’ve got decent employment growth that’s been particularly good for young people, you’ve got relatively low interest rates, somewhat easing of credit standard — all of those things are helping.”

Estimates for housing starts in the Bloomberg survey of 76 economists ranged from 1.03 million to 1.23 million. The May figure was revised up from 1.04 million.

The gain in starts of multifamily homes followed a 16.9 percent decrease the previous month and a 37.5 percent April surge. Data on these projects, which have led housing starts in recent years, can be volatile.

Single-Family Homes

Starts of single-family houses eased to a 685,000 rate from 691,000 a month earlier, the report showed.

Three of four regions had a decrease in single-family construction in June, paced by a 27.3 percent drop in the Northeast and a 7.1 percent decline in West, according to the report.

Building permits increased 7.4 percent in June to a 1.34 million annualized rate, the highest since July 2007. They were projected to fall to 1.15 million.

 

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/housing-starts-u-surge-highest-123001192.html

Apartment construction drives US homebuilding surge in June | South Salem Real Estate

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U.S. builders broke ground on apartment complexes last month at the fastest pace in nearly 28 years, as developers anticipate that recent jobs gains will launch a wave of renters

The Commerce Department said Friday that housing starts in June climbed 9.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million homes. All of that growth came from a 28.6 percent surge in multi-family housing that put apartment construction at its highest rate since November 1987. Starts for single-family houses slipped 0.9 percent last month.

The gains show that what had been a sluggish construction sector is now running on economic adrenaline. Strong job growth and a rebounding economy have increased the numbers of buyers and renters searching for homes, while gradually rising mortgage rates have spurred homeowners to finalize deals.

Housing starts jumped 35.3 percent in the Northeast because of apartments, while climbing 13.5 percent in the South. Home construction slumped in the Midwest and West in June.

Nationwide, housing starts have risen 10.9 percent year-to-date.

Over the past 12 months, employers have added 2.9 million jobs, meaning that there are that many more people with paychecks to spend across the broader economy. The impact of those job gains and the unemployment rate dropping to 5.3 percent has surfaced in housing, where demand is outpacing the supply of homes and creating more pressure to build houses and apartments.

The market for new homes for sale had just 4.5 months of supply in May, compared to 6 months in a healthy market.

Approved building permits rose increased 7.4 percent to an annual rate of 1.34 million in June, the highest level since July 2007. The bulk of that increase came for apartment complexes, while permits for houses last month rose just 0.9 percent.

There are other signs that builders are increasingly optimistic.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released Thursday climbed to 60 this month, a level last reached in November 2005 — shortly before the housing boom gave way to the mortgage crisis that triggered the Great Recession. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view sales conditions as good rather than poor.

Mortgage rates have started to rise, although they remain low by historic standards.

The average 30-year, fixed mortgage rate was 4.09 percent last week, according to the mortgage firm Freddie Mac. That is up from a 52-week low of 3.59 percent.

 

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How Dodd-Frank changed housing | Waccabuc Real Estate

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The effect of loose lending during the last housing boom was abundantly clear: Nearly 8 million U.S. homes fell into foreclosure. The response was a slew of new lending rules under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, and the result was a credit lockdown that continues today, nearly five years after the legislation was enacted.

“For lenders this is all about paperwork, verification and doing a lot of the grunt work that was ignored or passed over before the crisis,” said Jaret Seiberg, a managing director at financing firm Guggenheim Securities.

The rules fill thousands of pages and have cost lenders millions of dollars in labor and software to revamp their systems in compliance, but at face value, they’re pretty simple. Highly risky loan products, like negative amortization mortgages, are now banned. Borrowers must document their employment and debt levels. Lenders must disclose all the costs involved in each loan, and, perhaps most important, lenders must verify a borrower’s ability to repay the mortgage.

That last one may sound ridiculous, but it was the fundamental reason for the financial crisis in housing. Borrowers were given loans they could never repay.

“If you’re a high-quality credit consumer, Dodd-Frank just made it a much bigger pain in the butt to get a loan. You’ve got to fill out more paperwork, you’ve got to dig up more tax returns,” said Seiberg. “You’ve got to find information related to retirement accounts, stuff that was never asked for before. But if you’re on the low end of the spectrum, it has made it tougher to get that mortgage.”

So tough that the average FICO credit score on loans made today are the highest in history. Tight credit, though, is blamed for a still-falling homeownership rate, now at the lowest in a quarter century.

“The biggest misconception is that you need a big down payment to buy a house. It’s just not correct. What has changed is not the down payment, it is the credit and the ability to repay rule. Beyond that it’s the documentation piece,” said Craig Strent, CEO of Maryland-based Apex Home Loans. “It’s not hard to qualify, it’s hard to get through the process because of the massive amounts of additional documentation that is now required.”

Foreclosure bank owned house

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Borrowers, however, still complain that it is not just the process, but the level of creditworthiness that is keeping them out of the homebuying market; even the Federal Reserve chair, readying to raise interest rates, says credit is too tight.

“Demand for housing is still being restrained by limited availability of mortgage loans to many potential homebuyers,” said the central bank’s chair, Janet Yellen, in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday.

Tight credit is also blamed for a shift in the lending landscape. Large bank lenders are moving out, and independent, nonbank lenders are moving in. Nonbanks now make up 43 percent of mortgage lending today, up from just 10 percent in 2009, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, an industry publication.

“Banks consolidated massively. The big four are so well-diversified that revenue stream from mortgages is not part of their headline strategy,” said Anthony Hsieh, chairman and CEO of California-based loanDepot, a nonbank lender that has grown dramatically in just the past year.

Private sector investors have not returned to the mortgage market. Loans backed by government entities Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA make up more than 90 percent of all new loans today, a historically high share. During the housing boom they were barely one-third of the market.

“I think Dodd-Frank, not only does it add complexity, but it adds a lot of confusion,” said Hsieh.

It also adds significant costs in time and labor. Lenders like Apex Home Loans have had to hire dozens of additional staff just to comply with new rules.

 

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http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/16/how-dodd-frank-changed-housing-for-good-and-bad.html