Monthly Archives: October 2015

US Mortgage Apps surge 25% | Katonah Real Estate

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Applications for U.S. house mortgages surged 25.5 percent in the week ended October 2nd, 2015, rebounding from a 6.7 percent fall in the previous period and posting the highest gain since-mid January as many applications were filled prior to the TILA-RESPA regulation took effect on October 3rd, introducing changes to the mortgage process. In addition, fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 3.99 percent, the lowest in five months. Refinancing applications soared 24.2 percent and purchase applications went up 27.4 percent. Mortgage Applications in the United States averaged 0.54 percent from 2007 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 49.10 percent in January of 2015 and a record low of -38.80 percent in January of 2009. Mortgage Applications in the United States is reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.

 

ActualPreviousHighestLowestDatesUnitFrequency
25.50-6.7049.10-38.802007 – 2015percentWeekly
SA
Mortgage Applications measure the change in the number of new applications for mortgages backed by the Mortgage Bankers Association during the reported week. Mortgage applications include both refinancing and home purchasing. This page provides – United States MBA Mortgage Applications – actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. Content for – United States MBA Mortgage Applications – was last refreshed on Wednesday, October 7, 2015.
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http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/mortgage-applications

Fast Track to Marketing and Selling a Home

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Ready to put up another listing?

Your listing has been wonderful to your seller all these years. You’ve seen everything that’s great about it and want others to see it too.

So, how do you get a home noticed?

If this is your first time selling a home, you probably think one of the best ways to hook in a buyer is to lower the asking price.

While this does hold some truth, there are alternate options to increase views and offers on a property.
It all starts with some good marketing and a little creativity on your part.

Set a good price

set a good real estate price
Research homes in the area that are similar to the one you’re selling. It’s a great place to start so you’ll stay in the ballpark. You have the access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), so use it! Or check out this guide to see if your price is too high.

With the MLS as a reference, you’ll have a good idea of what homes in the area are going for. You’ll also learn the market history for the area, and can narrow down your options.

Has your seller made significant changes to the home to increase its value?

Was a patio installed?

Did they finish the basement?

Was the kitchen renovated?

All of these things can be counted toward the asking price because your seller would certainly like a return on investment on these kind of projects.

The appraisal will help a lot, too.

Coming up with the right price is no easy task. A price set too high will scare buyers away, leaving the home on the market for weeks, or months.

In the same sense, you wouldn’t want to lowball the price and have the buyer lose their hard earned dollars that they put into making the place awesome.

Consider putting yourself in the shoes of a buyer. From an outside point, is the value of the home truly worth the asking price? Use your best judgment and experience. After all, you are the expert here.

Be unique

unique real estate property

Does your seller live in a cookie-cutter neighborhood?

As potential buyers drive through the neighborhood and see that most homes look the same, they’ll be less likely to fork out extra cash for your listing. Because, what’s the difference? You need to give buyers a reason as to why they should pay more money for your home.

It can be hard to make a home stand out among properties that are essentially the same. Any unique quality you can suggest to the seller to differentiate it from the others will draw a buyer’s eye.

This doesn’t always mean spending thousands of dollars on renovations. Suggest smaller projects that make a big difference (like a new roof or a fresh coat of paint). Your seller may have to roll up those sleeves and do some landscaping here and there, but it will definitely enhance the curb appeal.

First impressions are key.

Get behind the lens

 

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Fast Track to Marketing and Selling a Home

The Truth about Lending Standards | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Perhaps you have heard that it’s getting easier to get approved for a mortgage to buy a home. Yet the first-time buyers you work with don’t seem to be doing any better than they did six, 12 or even 24 months ago.

The news reports you’ve been reading are misleading.  They may accurately trends for refi mortgages or mortgages as a whole but not for purchase loans—mortgages to buy houses–which is the focus of most of the public concern about standards.

What’s going on?

Six months ago I published an article titled “Why Lending Standards Won’t Get Better”. ‘’Today’s lending standards were written to protect lenders and federal budgeters, not to help renters become homeowners.  Despite pressure from the public, lending standards probably won’t change much more in the foreseeable future than they already have,’ I wrote at the time.

I’m sorry to say, it looks like I was right.  We are deep into the best market for home sales in nearly a decade and the latest hard data shows that it is just as difficult to qualify for a purchase mortgage in July as it was last March–or even in March 2012.

Reports of that looser standards are making it easier to get a mortgage are of two types:

Some are simply surveys of lenders or experts, like the Federal Reserve’s quarterly Survey of Senior Loan Officers or Pulsenomic’s survey of real estate economists and experts.  Both made headlines in recent months by announcing access to credit has eased, or is easing.  Both are based on perceptions, expectations and attitudes, not on hard data.

Others, like the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index, combine purchase loans with refis to provide a picture of credit accessibility that’s virtually useless for a discussion of home purchases and the barriers facing first-time buyers.  The fact is that standards for refis are indeed significantly lower while standards for purchase loans have been virtually frozen for years. For example, median FICOs for conventional closed refis in July were 727, for conventional closed purchase loans 757—a 30 point difference.  Combining data on the two different uses hides what is really going on to purchases loans.

Standards for refis have loosened much more for refis than for purchase loans. A good way to measure the difference between standards used to make lending decisions is to review and compare the real-life results of those decisions.  Below is an update of a table I included in my May article expanded to include July 2015 and refi data, for comparison purposes. It includes data on closed loans for the two most popular categories of mortgages for home buyers, FHA and conventional loans.  The data come from Ellie Mae, the industry-leading mortgage processing platform which processed approximately 3.7 million loan applications in 2014.

 

 

How Lending Standards Differ for Conventional and FHA Refi and Purchase Loans

March 2012-July 2015

  Loan Type/Standard March 2012 March 2015 July 2015 Percentage improvement, March 2012-July 2015
Conventional Purchase Loans
FICO7647557571%
LTV7981801%
Back end DTI*3334342.9%
Conventional Refi Loans
FICO7717427276%
LTV6570708%
Back end DTI*32374025%
FHA Purchase Loans
FICO7016856891.7%
LTV9695960
Back end DTI*4141410
FHA Refi Loans
FICO7246856608.8%
LTV8885826,8%
Back end DTI*3941415.1%

Average FICO scores, loan-to-value ratios, and debt-to-income ratios from Ellie Mae Origination Insight Reports

Over the past 16 months, the three critical metrics used to show the impact of lending standards—FICO scores, loan-to-value ratios and debt-to-income ratios have barely while refis have indeed become measurably more accessible to borrowers.

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/09/the-truth-about-lending-standards/

More homes are losing value | Bedford Real Estate

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The number of homes nationwide losing value on a monthly basis has more than tripled over the past year while the number of appreciating homes has fallen more than 12 percent, Allan Weiss, CEO of Weiss Residential Research reported today.

Depreciating homes increased from 7.60 percent to 23.40 percent while the number of appreciating homes has fallen from 65.20 to 56.80 percent, according to an analysis of July data from “canary homes” that are indicators of price trends in Weiss Residential Research’s databases of nearly 100 million homes.

“While a majority of homes nationwide is still gaining value, the national trend is clearly downward.  With the decline in year over year prices in the existing home sales report released today by the National Association of Realtors, even the national median price reports are picking up on the trend, reflecting the growing of numbers homes that are changing from appreciation to depreciation.  In this environment buyers and investors should be careful to avoid buying properties that are losing value by reviewing metro and Zip code maps on Owners.com that show hyper-local trends in changing value,” Weiss said.

Even seven of the top ten Metro markets with the highest levels of appreciation in July saw a year over year decline in the percentage of homes gaining more than 1.5 percent. Reno, Nevada leads the nation in appreciating properties in July, with more than 91.4 percent gaining value on a monthly bases, though 93.7 percent were appreciating a year ago. Western and West Coast markets dominate the list of markets with the highest percentages of appreciating properties.

Best Metros by Rising more than 1.5%

2014

2015

Reno, NV

97.3%

91.4%

Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO

96.9%

90.0%

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

95.5%

86.8%

Fort Collins, CO

96.0%

86.5%

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO

46.1%

85.7%

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

93.6%

81.1%

Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

68.7%

80.7%

Port St. Lucie, FL

92.5%

78.7%

Stockton-Lodi, CA

92.7%

77.6%

Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN

86.0%

77.5%

Fayetteville, NC tops the list of the nation’s ten worst metros in terms of the percentage of properties gaining value on a monthly basis in July.  Its percentage of appreciating homes fell from 22.9 percent in July 2014 to 18 percent in July 2015.

Worst Metros by Rising more than 1.5%

2014

2015

Fayetteville, NC

22.9%

18.0%

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

30.1%

20.4%

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

31.8%

30.1%

Toledo, OH

36.2%

32.9%

Lancaster, PA

42.5%

39.4%

Greensboro-High Point, NC

43.6%

40.9%

Chico, CA

61.9%

41.5%

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT

29.4%

41.5%

Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC

40.2%

41.6%

Peoria, IL

26.5%

41.7%

 

Consumer seeking information about their homes and neighborhoods can see how values have changed and are forecasted to change in the next 12 months within 5500 Zip codes and 100 metros on Owners.com http://www.owners.com/  or http://www.weissindex.com/.

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/09/more-homes-are-losing-value/

Is the Lack of Credit Crippling Local Housing Recoveries? | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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A new report from Pro Teck Valuation Services’ Home Value Forecast suggests that the availability of credit in local markers influences local housing recoveries and accounts for dramatic differences in home prices.

HVF looked at regular average sold prices versus total mortgage trends in San Francisco and Detroit and found that in San Francisco, buyers have averaged 20+% down over the last 14 years to create loan to value ratios between 67 and 82 percent.  In Detroit buyers have averaged LTVs between 86 and 101 percent.  Collateral Analytics, Pro Teck’s partner in Home Value Forecast, found that San Francisco home prices are at an all-time high while Detroit is still trying to return to pre-crash levels, suggesting a direct relationship between LTVs, one of the critical factors determining mortgage approvals, and higher prices.  Conversely, higher LTVs in Detroit may make it more difficult buyers to get financing.

2015-09-24_12-10-59

2015-09-24_12-11-49

 

The median LTV levels for closed mortgages in August was 80 for conventional purchase loans and 96 for FHA purchase loans, according to Ellie Mae.

The HVF authors also examined the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale CBSA and found that LTV levels vary from neighborhood to neighborhood within the metro area. The HVF update reported that in Scottsdale, average home prices have been rebounding steadily since 2011 and now are 20 percent below all-time highs after dropping 37.5 percent. Apache Junction, AZ, another city within the CBSA, is still 36 percent below its all-time high. At the height of the housing crisis, homes in Apache Junction lost more than half their value. The community also had more homeowners with high LTV loans foreclosed, leading to a steeper drop in home prices and a slower recovery.

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/09/is-the-lack-of-credit-crippling-local-housing-recoveries/

Boomers Creating Massive Boom in Retrofitting Homes | Chappaqua Real Estate

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With 78 million baby boomers entering or on the verge of retirement, a concerted national effort is required to adapt homes and communities for the 73 percent of seniors who prefer to age in place, according to a new report released yesterday by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC).

The preference to grow older in one’s own home and community stems from a desire among many seniors to remain close to family and friends and maintain the social connections that have enriched their lives. They appreciate the familiarity of their own homes as well as that of the local shopping center, the community library, and their place of worship. They want to remain close to doctors, nurses, social workers, and the other professional service providers upon whom they have come to rely, according to research by AARP

That’s bad news for the nation’s real estate and housing finance industries, who have been anticipating a flood of transactions from Boomers selling their long-time residences.  But its good news for remodelers eager to retrofit family homes to make them senior-safe.

 

2015-09-26_10-56-19

Source: Adapted from Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Housing America’s Older Adults: Meeting the Needs of an Aging Population.  JCHS tabulations of US Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2011

Many homes and communities are ill-equipped to accommodate this desire. Many of today’s homes were designed at an earlier time, before the demographic changes now transforming the country were even recognized. Most lack the necessary structural features that can make independent living into old age a viable, and communities so they are “senior friendly”. the BPC said.

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/09/boomers-creating-massive-boom-in-retrofitting-homes/

Move up Buyers Move the Housing Markets | Armonk Real Estate

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Purchases by current homeowners helped bolster home prices in August, according to results from the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.

“Current homeowner purchases are supporting the housing market,” said Tom Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys. “Metrics such as the sales-to-list price ratio show a strong housing market, particularly in western states. Nonetheless, forward-looking commentary from real estate agents may indicate some softening in the future.”

The market share for current homebuyers surged in the summer while the first-time homebuyer share declined. Current homeowners accounted for 49.3% of purchases in August, based on a three-month moving average after hitting a 12-month low of 44.9% in March.

The first-time homebuyer share was 38.3% in May – a level not seen since 2010. But higher home prices and seasonal patterns combined to push the first-time buyer share down to 36.4% in August. The investor share of home purchases has also fallen from 18.7% in March to 14.4% in August. NAR’s Realtor Confidence Index reported a 32 percent share for first-timers in August, up from 28 percent in July.

2015-09-25_10-10-31Source: NAR’s Realtor Confidence Report, August 2015

The sales-to-list price ratio for non-distressed properties declined modestly in August (to 98.3%) compared with the previous month (98.5%) but remained above the level seen in August 2014 (97.5%). All three states on the west coast maintained sales-to-list price ratios above 100% in August, led by California at 102.2%.

The median existing–home price for all housing types in August was $228,700, which is 4.7 percent above August 2014 ($218,400). August’s price increase marks the 42nd consecutive month of year–over–year gains.

The average time on market for non-distressed properties continued to decline in August, hitting 7.9 weeks compared with an average of 8.2 weeks the previous month and 8.6 weeks in August 2014. Non-distressed properties sold in the Pacific Northwest in August were on the market for an average of 4.5 weeks. NAR reported that properties typically stayed on the market for 47 days in August, an increase from 42 days in July but below the 53 days in August 2014. Forty percent of homes sold in August were on the market for less than a month.

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/09/move-up-buyers-move-the-housing-markets/

Home Affordability Improves | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Buying a home was at the most affordable level in two years in the first quarter of 2015, according to a recent report jointly released by RealtyTrac® and Clear Capital, which shows that home­buying is becoming more affordable, despite the average U.S. home price increasing at more than twice the pace of the average weekly wage nationwide over the past year.

“Although home prices continue to outpace wage growth in the majority of local markets, this analysis somewhat surprisingly shows that affordability is actually improving in most markets thanks to falling interest rates and slowing home price growth, which is allowing wage growth to catch up in some markets,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

“At the national level, buying an average­priced home in the first quarter of 2015 was the most affordable it’s been in two years and nearly twice as affordable as it was in the second quarter of 2006—when affordability was its worst in the past 10 years.

At the local level, we’re seeing several bellwether markets where wage growth matched or even outpaced home price growth over the past year.” For the report, RealtyTrac analyzed recently released Q1 2015 average weekly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and average prices for single­family homes and condos derived from publicly recorded sales deed data collected by RealtyTrac in 582 U.S. counties with sufficient home price data.

Average interest rates on a 30­year fixed rate mortgage came from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Clear Capital analyzed data from its Home Data Index to determine counties at highest risk and lowest risk based on affordability and potential for price growth.

Average home price appreciation outpaced average wage growth between the first quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015 in 397 out of 582 (68 percent) U.S. counties analyzed for the report. But during the same time period, the average interest rate on a 30­year fixed rate mortgage dropped 57 basis points (13 percent), from 4.34 percent in the first quarter of 2014 to 3.77 percent in the first quarter of 2015.

The drop in interest rates—along with wage growth outpacing home price appreciation in 32 percent of counties—meant buying a home in the first quarter of 2015 required a smaller share of the average wage compared to a year ago in 339 of the 582 counties (58 percent).

Counties where wage growth outpaced home price growth Major markets where wage growth outpaced home price growth in the first quarter— counter to the national trend—included Cook County, Ill., in the Chicago metro area; Orange County, Calif., in the Los Angeles metro area; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Fairfax County, Va., in the Washington, D.C., metro area; and Riverside County in Southern Calif., where the average weekly wage in the first quarter was up 10 percent from a year ago, double the 5 percent growth in average home prices during the same time period.

Buying a home 48 percent more affordable than during 2006 housing bubble Assuming a 3 percent down payment, monthly payments on an average­priced U.S. home —including property taxes, home insurance and private mortgage insurance (PMI)— required 36.5 percent of the average wage nationwide in the first quarter of 2015, down from 37.6 percent in the previous quarter and down from 37.4 percent in the first quarter of 2014 to the most affordable level since the first quarter of 2013, when affordability was 33.5 percent.

Buying a home nationwide was at the most affordable level in the last 10 years in the first quarter of 2012, when monthly house payments required 32 percent of average wages, while buying a home nationwide was at the least affordable level in the last 10 years in the second quarter of 2006, when monthly house payments required 70.7 percent of average wages.

Home price growth outpacing wage growth 3 to 1 during housing recovery Since bottoming out in the first quarter of 2012, the average U.S. home price has risen 24 percent while the average weekly wage nationwide has risen 7 percent during the same time period. The average interest rate on a 30­year fixed rate mortgage has dropped 5 percent.

 

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http://rismedia.com/2015-10-01/

 

Construction spending up | North Salem Real Estate

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United States Construction Spending 1964-2015 

Total construction activity in the United States increased by 0.7 percent month-over-month to $1,086.2 billion in August of 2015 from $1,079.1 billion in the previous month. It was the highest level since 2008, boosted by a surge in outlays for residential projects. Construction Spending in the United States averaged 0.45 percent from 1964 until 2015, reaching an all time high of 5.90 percent in April of 1978 and a record low of -4.80 percent in February of 1975. Construction Spending in the United States is reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.

United States Construction Spending

 

ActualPreviousHighestLowestDatesUnitFrequency
0.700.405.90-4.801964 – 2015percentMonthly
Current Prices, SA
Construction Spending refers to monthly estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done on new structures or improvements to existing structures for private and public sectors each month in the United States. This page provides the latest reported value for – United States Construction Spending – plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. Content for – United States Construction Spending – was last refreshed on Thursday, October 1, 2015.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/construction-spending

Mortgage rates average 3.85% | Cross River Real Estate

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Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMM®), showing average fixed mortgage rates largely unchanged despite ongoing global growth concerns putting downward pressure on Treasury yields.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.85 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending October 1, 2015, down from last week when it averaged 3.86 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.19 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.07 percent with an average 0.7 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.08 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.36 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.91 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.06 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.53 percent this week with an average 0.2 point, unchanged from last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.42 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.

“In contrast to the volatility in equity markets, the 10-year Treasury rate — a key driver of mortgage rates — varied just a little more than 10 basis points over the last week. As a result, the 30-year mortgage rate remained virtually unchanged, dropping 1 basis point to 3.85 percent. This marks the tenth consecutive week of a sub-4-percent mortgage rate. Despite persistently low mortgage rates, the pending home sales index dropped 1.4 percent in August, suggesting possible tempering in existing home sales in September.”