Category Archives: Bedford

In Tight Housing Market Baby Boomers Block Young Buyers | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Baby Boomer homeowners are cornering the housing market while potential young buyers are increasingly locked out. BBVA Compass research reveals recovering home values are boosting the equity of older homeowners, allowing them to buy new or second homes — many times with cash — while younger adults are faced with higher housing prices that exceed their buying power.

“For these prospective homebuyers, home prices have risen faster than their incomes during the recovery,” BBVA Compass economist Jason Frederick says in his 2014 housing outlook. “Currently, home prices are now on the high end of a historical relationship between median home prices and median family income, and young families will need to see faster income growth and save additional money to make a larger down payment.”

The report says that builders are more frequently targeting buyers age 55 and up due to their rising home equity and net worth, a factor that is likely contributing to the increase of all-cash transactions. About 42% of residential sales in December 2013 were all-cash purchases, up from just 18% in December 2012.

“Older homeowners are increasingly able to purchase a new residence with cash only after they sell their current home,” Frederick says. “One factor holding back the growth of owner-occupied homes has been weak purchase demand from young families and households. Many early-career professionals are saddled with high student debt burdens that constrain their capacity to borrow.”

But Frederick believes that late-career professionals and older homeowners will help sustain sales. Overall, he has a positive outlook for the housing market in 2014 as the economy slowly recovers; noting that home prices rose in all 50 states last year, delinquency rates have declined sharply, and the pace of foreclosures is slowing. His analysis projects…

 

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/real-estate/tight-housing-market-baby-boomers-block-young-buyers

How to Encourage Google+ Fans to Share Your Content | Bedford NY Realtor

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Are you using Google+ to promote your brand or content?

Do you want to find Google+ fans who love what you do and will share it with others?

When people share your stories, campaigns or products with their friends, they’re giving it their stamp of approval and their friends take notice.

This word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable, but how do you find these super-fans?

In this article, I’ll show you how to use Google+ to find the evangelists who want to tell the world about you.

How Do You Find Your Best Fans?

As a marketer, you want to find people who engage with your message and amplify it, spreading it on to others. These loyal fans, your brand evangelists, fall in love with your company and tell the world.

Google+ can help you find and engage with your evangelists, and lead you to a wider pool of potential clients. The process includes finding potential candidates, seeing which of those actually engage with your campaigns, and finally, those who share your campaigns with others (your true evangelists).

Prepare for Your Search

Before you start your search, create three empty Google+ circles to help you keep track of your evangelist candidates.

  • Potential candidates
  • People who engage
  • My 100 brand evangelists

 

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/encourage-google-fans-share-content/

January metro home sales down, but prices are up | Bedford NY Real Estate

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January’s chilly weather put a bit of a freeze on the Twin Cities housing market, as the number of pending and closed sales dropped with the temperature.

But while the volume of sales was lower, sellers still were able to command higher prices. Median prices were up 12.4 percent compared with January 2013, with the median in the 13-county area now at $179,900.

The Twin Cities real estate market typically slows down in December and January, as prospective house hunters are hunkered down and enjoying the holidays. That trend was apparent this year, as pending sales were down 16 percent in January and closed sales were down 12.8 percent. The sales data was included in a report released Wednesday by the Minneapolis and St. Paul Associations of Realtors.

The uptick in median housing prices in January included a 14.4 percent bump in Ramsey County, from $138,000 a year ago to $157,900 last month. In Hennepin County, the median rose to $189,000 from $167,500.

New residential home construction did pick up last year in the Twin Cities, and is expected to carry over into 2014. More than 10,000 residential units were permitted for construction in 2013, the first time that level’s been reached since 2006, according to the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. About half of the permits were issued for multi-family dwellings, such as townhouses.

In December, Minneapolis led the way among area cities with 371 units permitted for construction. Edina was second with 253, followed by Maple Grove with 38 and Woodbury with 31.

 

http://www.twincities.com/business/ci_25123028/january-metro-home-sales-down-but-prices-are

 

CoreLogic Projects January Prices up 10.2 Percent | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Prices in the new year will pick up almost where last year left off, registering a 10.2 percent increase in January over a year ago according to CoreLogic.   However, the double digit increase is a slight decline from December’s 11 percent.  Is it a sign of softer prices to come?

Rising foreclosure and short sale prices helped December record the 22nd consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices nationally, according to CoreLogic’s December CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI®) report.

The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that January 2014 home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to increase 10.2 percent year over year from January 2013. On a month-over-month basis, home prices are expected to dip 0.8 percent from December 2013 to January 2014.  Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 9.9 percent in December 2013 compared to December 2012 and 0.2 percent month over month compared to November 2013. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

Excluding distressed sales, January 2014 home prices are poised to rise 9.7 percent year over year from January 2013 and 0.2 percent month over month from December 2013. The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measures price changes for the most recent month.

“Last year, home prices rose 11 percent, the highest rate of annual increase since 2005, and ten states and the District of Columbia reached new all-time price peaks,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “We expect the rising prices to attract more sellers, unlocking this pent-up supply, which will have a moderating effect on prices in 2014.”

 

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/02/corelogic-projects-january-prices-up-10-2-percent/

 

Young professionals hold the key to London’s property market | Bedford NY Homes

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Young professionals make up a significant proportion of the capital’s workforce and where they’re living is shaping London’s housing market.

According to recent figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), 60% of inner London’s working age population are graduates. This is more than twice the number in the North East (29%) of England and considerably higher than both Wales (33%) and Scotland (41%).

Young professionals make up a significant proportion of the capital’s workforce and where they choose to live is helping shape London’s housing market. While proximity to work and amenities play an important part in determining where they live, house prices and rental costs are considerable drivers too. The pattern is a familiar one. As an area becomes established, so prices rise, forcing would-be incomers into cheaper, neighbouring postcode districts. And so the cycle begins again.

Research not only illustrates the point, but shows just how marked an influence young professionals have had – and continue to have – on defining London’s housing market.

Looking at the age profile across all London boroughs there are six that stand out. These are boroughs where over 50% of residents are aged between 20 and 44 – the London average is 43%. In ascending order they are Hackney, Lambeth, Islington, Hammersmith & Fulham, Wandsworth and Tower Hamlets.

 

http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/07/young-professionals-hold-the-key-to-londons-property-market-4290527/

Mortgage rates plummet following stock market plunge | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Mortgage rates fell to lows not seen since November, in response to yesterday’s stock market plunge. As the S&P 500 got shellacked, mortgage rates fell about 0.06 percent yesterday, and the most highly-qualified borrowers could be looking at 30-year fixed mortgage rates of 4.25 percent.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate, however, is still at about 4.375 percent, according to Mortgage News Daily. The monthly U.S. employment situation report, which is due Friday, will also have a big influence on rates , according to the website.

 

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/02/04/mortgage-rates-plummet-following-stock-market-plunge/

 

Housing boom price peak not a useful reference point | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Since home price appreciation is set to cool to a historically normal rate, conversations about the housing market should drop the housing boom price peak as a reference point, particularly since prices aren’t likely to surpass peak levels until 2021, according to Clear Capital, HousingWire reports.

 

Source: HousingWire

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/housing-boom-price-peak-not-a-useful-reference-point/?utm_source=20140203&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinespm#sthash.NGmdkHqb.dpuf