Outlays for U.S. construction projects rose 0.1% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate $930.5 billion, led by private projects, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Monday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 0.4% increase in December. Private-construction spending rose 1% in December, with a 2.6% increase for residential projects and a 0.7% decline for nonresidential projects. Meanwhile, public-construction spending fell 2.3% in December.
When the $100 million contract on a 41-foot-wide, 20,500-square-foot mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side closes in April, New York City will have a new price record for a townhouse sale. Purchased by the Qatar government to house its New York City consulate, the building, located a block east of Central Park, had never changed hands before, according to the jet-setting agent brothers Oren and Tal Alexander of Douglas Elliman, who are ushering the deal to completion.
The townhouse’s pristine upkeep and “turnkey” status helped secure the record contract, the Alexander brothers told the New York Post.“Qatar plans to use the consulate as a place to showcase their own artists,” an unnamed source told the Post.
Source: New York Post – See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/100m-pending-nyc-townhouse-sale-scrapes-the-8-figure-ceiling/?utm_source=20140131&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.4UEsKAyh.dpuf
Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes in December, suggesting a slowdown in real estate. Pending home sales fell to the lowest point since October 2011.
The National Association of Realtors says its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index dropped 8.7 percent last month to 92.4. That’s the seventh straight monthly decline for the index, which previews upcoming sales. A one- to two-month lag usually exists between a signed contract and a completed sale.
Rising mortgage rates and price increases crimped sales in recent months. Cold weather in December also stalled home purchases.
The housing market benefited from historically low mortgage rates for much of last year. Sales of previously occupied homes totaled 5.1 million in 2013, the highest in seven years, the trade group said last week.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fewer-signed-contracts-to-buy-us-homes-in-december/
Almost 800,000 homeowners will see mortgage payments rise about $200 a month in the next few years as the benefits of their government loan modifications ease, a new government report says.
The first higher payments will hit more than 30,000 homeowners this year. They received the initial mortgage modifications in 2009 under the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), says the report from the office of the Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP).
The modifications were intended to help homeowners avoid foreclosure as housing prices sank and unemployment soared. About 95% of HAMP modifications included cuts to interest rates, some to as low as 2%, SIGTARP says.
But the “permanent” modifications only last five years, after which interest rates can reset no more than 1 percentage point per year until they get back to the prevailing rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan at the time of the modification.
Between now and 2021, 782,748 HAMP homeowners will get increases, SIGTARP says, including almost 300,000 next year.
The increased costs “could be a problem for some people,” says Keith Gumbinger, mortgage expert with HSH.com.
[Inside Penthouse One, photo via NY YIMBY]
As expected, the penthouse of Chelsea’s highly-acclaimed Walker Tower sold for more than $50 million, setting a new record for the most expensive home ever sold in Downtown Manhattan. The Journal reports that the all-cash deal closed for $50.9 million, and, evidently, the unnamed buyer was in the space “less than five minutes” before stating “I’ll take it.” Because $50M spur-of-the-moment decisions are never a bad idea.
The full-floor, nearly 6,000-square-foot unit was listed last September for $55 million, and by the end of October, the Times reported that it entered contract for “slightly less than ask.” Can $4 million be defined as “slightly”? No matter, the sale takes the title away from the penthouse of 18 Gramercy Park, which sold for $42 million to the owner of the Houston Rockets in 2012.
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/01/27/walker_tower_ph_sells_for_509m_sets_downtown_record.php
Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino still hasn’t made a firm decision about running for Governor this year, but made a strong indication that he would during a radio interview on Wednesday, Jan. 14, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
During the interview, Astorino divulged that he is “leaning toward” challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo. This marks a change from last week, when the county executive claimed he was “50/50” on a gubernatorial run, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.