Category Archives: Bedford

US home prices rose at solid pace in January | Bedford Real Estate

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U.S. home prices rose in January after three months of declines as a tight supply of properties likely supported prices despite slower sales.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday that prices rose 0.9 percent in January after dipping 0.1 percent in December. Over the past 12 months, home prices have risen 12 percent, the biggest year-over-year gain in more than eight years.

Such outsize price gains might not continue much longer, however. Paul Diggle, an economist at Capital Economics, notes that January’s price gains reflect conditions several months ago, when buyers first made offers. The supply of available homes was smaller than it is now, and it helped lift prices. The sales were completed in January.

Since then, more homes have come on the market while sales have slowed. That trend has modestly boosted the supply of homes and “points to a slowdown in price gains later this year,” Diggle said.

Diggle, like most other economists, foresees year-over-year price gains of below 10 percent in the coming months.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-home-prices-rose-solid-pace-january-133450485–finance.html

Something is out of whack for housing | Bedford Real Estate

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It is hard to look at the falling snow across much of the mid-Atlantic on Monday and not blame the weather for sluggish home sales this winter. For anyone east of Nevada, this has seemed like one of the coldest and snowiest winters in a very long time, and it is. While Americans hunker down in their homes, the prospect of house hunting is less enticing.

Home sales numbers so far back that up, but some claim the lackluster sales are not due to the weather but to the seasons, or specifically, seasonal adjustments that are out of whack.

The housing market has been abnormal in many respects over the past few years. Analysts at Goldman Sachs point to an elevated level of distressed sales, the first-time homebuyer tax credit in 2009 and 2010, and significant investor activity in 2012 and 2013.

“Now that the housing market is normalizing with fewer distressed sales and less investor activity, applying these unusual seasonal factors may distort housing indicators,” the analysts wrote in a report.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101460942?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101460942%7CWhat%20is%20out%20of%20whack%20with

Buying your own home? Read this first | Bedford NY Real Estate

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It seems nothing can stop Americans from wanting to buy their own homes. It’s almost as if the credit crisis didn’t happen, even though not too long ago we were bombarded daily with stories about crashing prices, underwater mortgages and home foreclosures. It was an American nightmare, not the American Dream.

But if you think about the emotional and economic reasons people want to buy instead of rent, it’s not so hard to understand. As a financial advisor, I meet many potential first-time homebuyers who cite these reasons for wanting to buy: —”Why should I pay a landlord when I can put the money toward building equity in something myself?”

—”Paying rent is like throwing money away.” —”I don’t trust the stock market. I’d rather put money in real estate.” —”Renting feels like a temporary situation. I want to put down roots and nest.” —”I want to be able to remodel my home in any way I want, with no restrictions from landlords.” What I usually do at this point in the conversation is a back-of-the-envelope analysis of what it would look like for my client to buy a home. The key components of the analysis involve money saved and money earned. (Read more: Roth IRA a better way to pay for college?)

Home sales are at the lowest level in two years. CNBC’s Diana Olick explains what role the “unusually disruptive weather” played in the slumping numbers.

Comprehend your costs How much is saved for the down payment, closing costs and cash reserves? The best scenario involves putting 20 percent down. With 20 percent down, the borrower can receive gifts of up to 100 percent of the down payment with no private mortgage insurance (PMI). PMI can add several hundred dollars to the monthly payment. However, many first-time homebuyers are cash-constrained. Some may qualify for a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan, which requires only 3.5 percent down. Many end up putting 10 percent down, which requires PMI and only 5 percent of the down payment can be a gift. Closing costs are approximately 2 percent of the purchase price and include title insurance, escrow fees and appraisal fees. There may be a local transfer tax due on the purchase.

 

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/buying-your-own-home–read-this-first-185149044.html

Bedford Could Get Snow Showers Thursday, Major Storm Sunday | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Winter’s firm grip on Westchester County will be as strong as ever through next week.

Thursday will be marked by a frigid wind chills with gusts as high as 30 to 32 miles per hour and a high temperature between 28 and 30 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. There is a chance of afternoon snow showers.

Frigid cold will then set in with overnight lows near zero and wind chills between 10 and 12 degrees below zero.

After a sunny and cold day Friday with a high between 18-20, there is a chance of snow showers Saturday and the potential exists for a major winter storm from Sunday evening into Monday evening.

While it is too early to predict the storm’s impact, Accuweather.com has projected a possible accumulation of up to 6 inches.

The long-range forecast shows temperatures struggling to top the freezing mark through the end of next week.

 

 

http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/news/westchester-could-get-snow-showers-thursday-major-storm-sunday

Monthly Home Prices Are On the Rise | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul

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Are higher monthly mortgage payments a good or bad trend for the economy?

It’s probably bad, but either way, rising home payments are increasingly a fact of life for new homeowners, as house payments for U.S. homebuyers rose by 21% in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The hike in monthly payments is forged from two separate real estate trends — rising median prices and higher interest rates, reports RealtyTrac, the Irvine, Calif., housing data provider.

The firm says that, in the last quarter of 2013, median home prices rose by 10% and interest rates rose by 33%, on average, in 325 counties.

The monthly payment hike covers the full gamut of homeownership expenses for an average three-bedroom home — data reached by combining mortgage, insurance, taxes and maintenance and by subtracting the estimated income tax benefit, RealtyTrac reports.

So that 21% figure is surprisingly high, especially as higher home prices significantly outpace household incomes, which are virtually stagnant.

“A potent combination of rapidly rising home prices and the often-overlooked but significant uptick in interest rates in the second half of 2013 caused the monthly cost of owning a home using traditional financing to jump substantially in many markets over the last year,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

“The monthly cost of owning a home is still less than renting in the majority of markets, but the cost of financed homeownership is becoming dangerously disconnected with still-stagnant median incomes, driven not by shoddy underwriting practices this time around but by investors and other cash buyers who are not tethered to the typical affordability constraints,” he adds.

 

 

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/real-estate/buying/monthly-home-prices-are-rise?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO