Monthly Archives: July 2015

Rotterdam to consider trialling plastic roads | Cross River Real Estate

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Dutch city could be first to pave its streets with recycled plastic bottles, a surface claimed to be greener, quicker to lay and more reliable than asphalt

Plans unveiled for recycled plastic roads are being considered by Rotterdam city council.
Plans unveiled for recycled plastic roads are being considered by Rotterdam city council. 

 

The Netherlands could become the first country to pave its streetswith plastic bottles after Rotterdam city council said it was considering piloting a new type of road surface touted by its creators as a greener alternative to asphalt.

The construction firm VolkerWessels unveiled plans on Friday for a surface made entirely from recycled plastic, which it said required less maintenance than asphalt and could withstand greater extremes of temperature– between -40C and 80C. Roads could be laid in a matter of weeks rather than months and last about three times as long, it claimed.

The company said the environmental argument was also strong as asphalt is responsible for 1.6m tons of CO2 emissions a year globally – 2% of all road transport emissions.

Rolf Mars, the director of VolkerWessels’ roads subdivision, KWS Infra, said: “Plastic offers all kinds of advantages compared to current road construction, both in laying the roads and maintenance.”

The plastic roads are lighter, reducing the load on the ground, and hollow, making it easier to install cables and utility pipelines below the surface.

Sections can be prefabricated in a factory and transported to where they are needed, reducing on-site construction, while the shorter construction time and low maintenance will mean less congestion caused by roadworks. Lighter materials can also be transported more efficiently.

Mars said the PlasticRoad project was still at the conceptual stage, but the company hopes to be able to put down the first fully recycled thoroughfare within three years. Rotterdam, a keen supporter of sustainable technology, has already signalled its interest in running a trial.

Jaap Peters, from the city council’s engineering bureau, said: “We’re very positive towards the developments around PlasticRoad. Rotterdam is a city that is open to experiments and innovative adaptations in practice. We have a ‘street lab’ available where innovations like this can be tested.”

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/10/rotterdam-plastic-roads-trial-netherlands

First-time Buyers are Younger and Less Sophisticated | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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A working paper just released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) attempts to determine the reasons why mortgages given to first-time homebuyers perform more poorly than those given to repeat buyers.  The Marginal Effect of First-Time Homebuyer Status on Mortgage Default and Prepayment was written by Saty Patrabansh of FHFA’s Office of Policy Analysis and Research.

Given that homeownership is generally considered a societal benefit and that many government policies focus on incentivizing first-time buyers the author says it is important to understand whether first-time buyers as a group are likely to default at higher rates than repeat buyers both in order to anticipate that an increase in the rate of first-time homeownership could lead to increased foreclosures and negatively affect communities and because, if they do not default at higher rates it is important they not be treated as more risky buyers.

Earlier studies that touched on various aspects of first time homeownership and loan performance have generally used data from FHA guaranteed loans and were not designed specifically to study first-time buyers.  The FHFA study developed a modeling approach specifically to discuss first-time buyer loan performance based on data on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) originated mortgages.  The study sought answers to two questions:  (1) do first-time homebuyer mortgages perform worse than those of repeat homebuyers? And (2) do any differences persist when borrower, loan, and property characteristics known at the time of origination are held constant?

 

 

Differences in overall loan performance between first-time and repeat homebuyers could be driven by differences in borrower, loan or property factors.  Each of these can be refined into sub-factors.   Borrower factors can be further classified as sophistication, endurance, and intentions. A sophisticated or experienced borrower may find ways to keep mortgages current when faced with trigger events such as going “underwater” on a loan while a less sophisticated buyer make lack that ability.  Likewise an experienced borrower may have a greater tendency to default strategically when events appear to warrant it.  To the extent first-time buyers are less experienced or sophisticated than repeat buyers they can be expected to default at a higher rate and prepay at a lower rate.

Borrower financial endurance can determine the borrowers’ capacity to withstand a trigger event such as by refinancing.  Borrower intentions may determine if homeowners default strategically without a trigger event or fail to refinance even with the capacity to do so.

Loan factors can further classified as those of the product or the institution, Subprime and non-traditionalproducts could default at a higher rate; mortgages with prepayment penalties are less likely to be refinanced.  Loan institutions such as guarantors and services affect performance by their programs and policies.

Property characteristics can have sub-factors such as property quality (properties in poorer condition can tax borrower financial strength) and property location (economic conditions may affect one location more than others.) To the extent that first-time homebuyers chose certain loan products, property quality, or location to a greater degree than repeat buyers may impact their loan performance as a group.

First-time homebuyers are younger as a group than repeat homebuyers and the difference in median age between the two groups steadily increased from 6 years in 1996 to 10 years in 2012.  First-timers are more likely to borrower as individuals, perhaps because they are unmarried, and earn a median monthly income that was lower by about $700 compared to repeat buyers in 1996 and by around $2,000 less in 2012.  Their median credit scores and the loan-to-value (LTV) ratios of their loans were lower as well.  Their payment to income ratios averaged 2 to 4 points higher than repeat buyers but their debt-to-income (DTI) ratios were comparable.

 

read more…

 

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/07102015

Most U.S. housing markets are undervalued | Bedford Real Estate

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U.S. homes are by in large undervalued, even as national price measures show a modest overvaluation due to skewing effects from a few large markets, according to new research from Goldman Sachs.

Homes in the Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego metropolitan areas, for example, are about 20% above fair value. Meanwhile, prices elsewhere are still falling, and homes in areas such as Buffalo and St. Louis are undervalued, the analysts wrote.

“The broad national indexes are skewed by high prices in a small number of large markets,” Goldman Sachs economists Zach Pandl and Hui Shan wrote. “While there appears to be some evidence of regional froth, in our view the broader national picture is one of leaders and laggards, with strong rebounds in some markets but still-soft prices in many others.”
In the first quarter, most metropolitan statistical areas tracked by Goldman had undervalued properties. There were 202 housing markets that were undervalued by at least 1%, compared with 140 markets that were overvalued by at least 1%.

“Large cities drag up the national indexes, even if real estate markets in many smaller [metropolitan areas] have yet to fully recover,” Goldman analysts wrote.

Analysts looked at valuation in several ways. They compared home prices to gauges of consumer inflation, rent, income and population.

 

Most metropolitan statistical areas tracked by Goldman have undervalued homes.
Interest among would-be borrowers in buying a home recently hit a two-year high. Even as home prices have grown, a strengthening U.S. jobs market and still-low interest rates are supporting sales. In hot markets, low inventory is driving prices higher.

 

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-most-us-housing-markets-are-undervalued-even-as-prices-climb-2015-07-10

Price Increases Bring Buyers Into the Market | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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In ordinary markets, when prices are volatile, market players tend to shy away. This is one of the reasons why even the stock markets are very sensitive to price changes. In a report from businessinsider.com, the reverse is true in the housing market, as price volatility is actually an invitation to investors to join the party.

In a study conducted by James P. Smith, Zoe Oldfield, Richard Blundell and James Banks on the relative volatility of specific housing markets in the UK and the US, they surmised two major conclusions. The first being, individuals are more likely to purchase a home earlier in life in places that have high volatility in prices. The second being, people would move to a larger home in places that have high volatility in prices.

While this seems to go against common sense, the group said in their paper, “Typically, risk averse individuals will avoid risky assets as volatility increases. In this paper, we show that owner-occupied housing is an exception to that rule.”

The researchers discovered that people intuitively dive into the large waves price volatility creates in the housing market. In a report from sciencedaily.com, the willingness of these buyers to risk their money not only creates the fluctuations but also is directly related to the price volatility in the housing market.

According to research conducted by fellows from the University of Kansas, namely Associate Professor for Economics Shu Wu and fellow authors Joseph Fairchild of Bank of America and Jun Ma from the University of Alabama, the risk taking in a market place triggers the volatility.

 

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http://www.realtytoday.com/articles/20081/20150713/

Exterior Home Improvements That Increase Value | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Yesterday on Housecall, we discussed ways to increase your home value with indoor décor. Today, we’re focusing on what you can do outside the home to give it an added monetary boost.

Curb appeal is everything when it comes to selling your home, and that means your home’s exterior needs to be in optimal condition. In fact, 71 percent of prospective home buyers say that a home’s curb appeal is an important factor in their buying decision. This infographic fromLawnStarter shows seven exterior home improvements that can increase resale value and help sell your home even faster:

LawnStarterIG

Replace Your Front Door

Believe it or not, a front door says a lot about you and your home. A quality front door can be a huge asset for your home’s value, and how secure your home feels upon entrance. Kelly Fallis of Remote Stylist says, “It’s the first thing a buyer walks through. Repaint or replace; their first impression rests on it.” According to House Logic, a standard 20-gauge steel door can cost around $1,230, but that investment can more than pay for itself with the amount of value it adds to your home. A quality front door replacement can bring you a return of around 102 percent, which makes it a great bang for your buck.

Updated Landscaping

Over 92 percent of prospective home buyers use the Internet at some point during their search process, meaning a lot of eyes are going to be looking for pictures of your home. You want to be able to showcase your property in the best light possible to drive interested parties in for a closer look. According to Bankrate, a quality landscaping job has the potential to net you a whopping 252 percent return in increased home value. John Harris, a landscape economist, has stated that updated landscaping can increase a home’s value by 28 percent and have it sold 10-15 percent quicker.

New Paint

Most prospective homeowners tend to look at what they need to update or work on in the homes that they look at. Repainting your home can cause less stress on the buyer since they know that the job is fresh and adds to the look of the home. That being said, don’t go overboard with color choices. Choose warm and inviting colors, such as taupe, tan or white. “Individuals too often minimize the impact of a first impression,” says James Alisch, managing director of WOW 1 DAY PAINTING. “The exterior paint job of a home greatly impacts how potential buyers feel about a place.” You want to make sure that potential buyers can envision themselves inside your home, and having a neutral exterior color is appealing to a larger pool of buyers. If you do feel the need to add some brighter colors, make sure that they aren’t overpowering and can work well with the neutral base. It’s best to consult your local home improvement store to discuss your options and budget.

 

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7 Exterior Home Improvements That Increase Resale Value

30 Year #Mortgage Rate 4.04% | #Chappaqua Real Estate

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Freddie Mac  today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing an investor flight to safety for U.S. Treasuries is pushing average fixed mortgage rates lower and helping to keep buyer activity strong toward the close of the spring homebuying season.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.04 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending July 9, 2015, down from last week when it averaged 4.08 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.15 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.20 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.24 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.24 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.93 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.99 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.99 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.50 percent this week with an average 0.3 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.52 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.40 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quote
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Yields on Treasury securities declined this week in response to investor concerns about events in Greece and China. Mortgage rates fell as well, although not by as much as government bond yields. The rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell 4 basis points to 4.04 percent.”

“Overseas volatility is likely to persist for some time, providing some restraint on potential U.S. rate increases. In addition, the minutes of the June meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee suggest the Federal Reserve will proceed cautiously — monitoring events both overseas and in the U.S. to ascertain the appropriate moment to begin raising short-term interest rates. As a result, mortgage rates may remain in the neighborhood of 4 percent for a while.”

Cash Sales Fall to Six Year Low; Distressed Sales Plummet | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Only one out of four single family home and condo sales in May–24.6 percent–were all-cash purchases, down from 30.4 percent a year ago to the lowest level since November 2009. Distress sales also fell to a new low of 10.5 percent of all sales in May, down from 18.3 percent a year ago to the lowest level since January 2011, according to RealtyTrac.

The cash sales share in May was close to its long-term average going back to January 2000 of 24.8 percent and well below its recent peak of 42.2 percent in February 2011. The top five metro areas with a population of at least 200,000 with the highest share of cash buyers were all in Florida: Naples-Marco Island (56.0 percent), Sarasota-Bradenton, (54.0 percent), Miami (53.4 percent), Ocala (49.9 percent), and Cape Coral-Fort Myers (49.7 percent).

 

RT Cash sales

Meanwhile, the median sales price of a distressed residential property was 43 percent below the median sales price of a non-distressed residential property in May, the biggest distressed discount since January 2006 when RealtyTrac first began tracking this metric.

The median sales price of distressed residential properties — those that were in some stage of foreclosure or bank-owned — that sold in May was $116,192, up less than 1 percent from the previous month but down 2 percent from a year ago. May was the first month with a year-over-year decrease in distressed median sale prices following 13 consecutive months with year-over-year increases.

“Distressed sales in May represented a significantly smaller share of a growing home sales pie as an increasing number of non-distressed sellers continued to cash out on the equity they’ve gained over the last three years of rising home prices,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “But those distressed sales are still acting as a drag on home prices, selling at a median price that is 43 percent below the median price of a non-distressed sale — the biggest gap we’ve seen since we began tracking that distressed discount in January 2006.

Metro areas with a population of at least 200,000 with the highest share of distressed sales were Flint, Michigan (26.0 percent), Tallahassee, Florida (24.2 percent), Memphis, Tennessee (24.1 percent), Pensacola, Florida (23.0 percent), and Ocala, Florida (21.7 percent).

Markets with highest share of cash sales and institutional investor sales

The share of institutional investors — entities purchasing at least 10 properties in a calendar year — dropped to 2.4 percent of single family home sales in May, a record low going back to January 2000, the earliest month with data available.

The top five metro areas with a population of at least 200,000 with the highest share of cash buyers were all in Florida: Naples-Marco Island (56.0 percent), Sarasota-Bradenton, (54.0 percent), Miami (53.4 percent), Ocala (49.9 percent), and Cape Coral-Fort Myers (49.7 percent).

The top five metro areas with a population of at least 200,000 with the highest share of institutional investor purchases were Rockford, Illinois (13.4 percent), Tulsa, Oklahoma (12.6 percent), Roanoke, Virginia (12.6 percent), Memphis, Tennessee (10.2 percent), and San Antonio, Texas (8.4 percent).

Bank-owned sales

Bank-owned sales accounted for 3.9 percent of all residential property sales in May, down from 6.9 percent the previous month and down from 9.0 percent a year ago to the lowest level since January 2011.

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/07/

 

CoreLogic: May home prices rose 6.3% nationally | North Salem Real Estate

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May home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 6.3% in May 2015 compared with May 2014, according to the home price report from CoreLogic(CLGX).

This change represents 39 months of consecutive year-over-year increases in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased by 1.7% in May 2015 compared with April 2015.

“Mortgage rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans remained below 4% through May, helping to fuel home-purchase activity,” said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Our homes-for-sale listing data shows that markets with high demand and limited supply, such as San Francisco, are recording double-digit appreciation rates over the past year.”

Including distressed sales, 33 states and the District of Columbia were at or within 10% of their peak prices in May 2015.

Ten states and the District of Columbia reached new price peaks not experienced since January 1976 when the CoreLogic HPI started. These states include Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont.

Click to enlarge

(Source: CoreLogic)

Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased by 6.3% in May 2015 compared with May 2014 and increased by 1.4% month over month compared with April 2015. Excluding distressed sales, only Massachusetts (-2%) and Louisiana (-0.2%) showed year-over-year depreciation in May. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate-owned transactions.

The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to increase by 0.9% month over month from May 2015 to June 2015 and by 5.1% on a year-over-year basis from May 2015 to May 2016. Excluding distressed sales, home prices are projected to increase by 0.8% month over month from May 2015 to June 2015 and by 4.7% year over year from May 2015 to May 2016.

The CoreLogic HPI Forecast is a projection of home prices using the CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables. Values are derived from state-level forecasts by weighting indices according to the number of owner-occupied households for each state.

“The rate of home price appreciation ticked up in May with gains being fairly widely distributed across the country. Importantly, higher home prices over the past couple of years have spurred increases in new single-family construction,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Sales of newly built homes during the first five months of 2015 were up 23% from a year ago, and as rising values build equity for homeowners, we expect to see more existing homes offered for sale in the coming year.”

 

read more…

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/34393

Cleaning Up Armonk | Armonk Real Estate

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To The Residents of North Castle…………………….

 

            On July 3, 2015 I wrote a letter to the Town Board (see below). The issue at hand relates to the irresponsible and hazardous stockpiling of asphalt millings or RAP (Recycled Asphalt Pavement) within the Highway Department’s property off Bedford Road and within its yard on Middle Patent Road.  There is great concern that the stockpiling of asphalt millings can cause serious human health and environmental problems.  Dust particles containing high concentration of pollutants can be wind swept into the air off of stockpiles and rainfall can cause these same pollutants to leach out into the soil and eventually find their way into our water supply.

 

I am very concerned that the Town maybe stockpiling this material without the proper permits required from the New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) nor are they abiding by the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act or SEQR.  To read more information about the SEQR process visit the NYS DEC website atwww.dec.gov.ny/permits/357.html

 

Last April I fought with the Town unsuccessfully to have stockpiles of asphalt millings removed from the Town yard at Middle Patent Road, an area which is in close proximity to State regulated wetlands. The Middle Patent yard is boarded by the Mianus River watercourse which has tributaries that lead into the Mianus Gorge, which in turn provides drinking water to certain areas of Connecticut.  Also, the yard is located in close proximity to the wells that provide drinking water to the residents of Windmill. Is our town acting environmentally responsible? Does it fully understand the potential problems we face as taxpayers without going through the SEQR process?

 

I plan on attending tomorrow night’s Town Board meeting to discuss these issues.  The meeting will be held at the North White Plains Community Center, 10 Clove Road, North White Plains, New York 10603 at 7:30 pm.


Sincerely,


Michael Fareri

 

 

July 3, 2015

 

Supervisor Michael J. Schiliro & Members of the Town Board

Town of North Castle

Town Hall

15 Bedford Road

Armonk, New York 10504

 

Re: Town Dump

 

Dear Supervisor Schiliro & Members of the Town Board:

It is with great displeasure that once again I have to report to you the foolish and irresponsible actions undertaken by the Town Administrator and the Towns Highway General Forman. After all the weeks of aggravation I was put through last April in an effort to have the stockpile of asphalt millings removed from the Towns property across from my office building at 333 Main Street, approximately 4000 cubic yards of milling were once again delivered to the Towns property and stockpiled.
I spoke to the Town Attorney and the Town Engineer and they assured me that they knew nothing about this situation and I believe them because surely, they would not allow the Town to be exposed to such a potentially damaging liability.  As I stated on numerous occasions in the past, not only is this aesthetically unpleasing where located, the stockpiling of asphalt millings has the potential to pose human health and environmental concerns (see links & photos below).  Asphalt millings, also known as RAP (Recycled Asphalt Paving) contain a high concentration of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydocarbons (PAHs) which are compounds specified as pollutants by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).  When rainfall or wind infiltrate these stockpiles, especially in the condition they are in which is one without any form of protection whatsoever, they will leach off contaminates into the soil and from there a potential migration of contaminates into our water supply.
 Has everyone already forgotten Westwood and the $500,000 cost to the taxpayer? Trust me, the stockpiling of these millings could bring about even greater environmental problems.  That is why I am demanding that you have these millings removed from Town property immediately.  If they are not removed immediately I will take whatever legal action necessary to see that it is done while holding this Town Board, the Highway Department and the Town Administrator responsible and accountable. 

 Sincerely,

 

 

Michael E. Fareri

Click on the link below, or copy and paste the URL link into your web browser address box

 

All About Armonk – Read Michelle Boyle’s article regarding Fareri’s letter and the stockpiling of millings

http://allaboutarmonk.com/ 

 

Leaching Characteristics of Asphalt Road Waste by Timothy G Townsend, June 1998

http://www.beyondroads.com/visual_assets/RAP_Leachability_Study.PDF

 

Asphalt Pavements and the Environment by Dr. Gerhard J.A. Kennepohl, P.Eng.

http://asphalt.org/downloads/2008-Pavt-Environment-GJAK.pdf

 

Life Cycle Environmental and Economic Assessment of Using Recycled Materials for Asphalt Pavements by Arpad Horvath

http://www.uctc.net/papers/683.pdf

 

 Recycled Asphalt Pavement and Asphalt Millings (RAP) Reuse Guide by NJDEP

http://www.nj.gov/dep/dshw/rrtp/asphaltguidance.pdf

Middle Patent Yard
Mianus Watercourse
Highway Dept. Property