Category Archives: Bedford

BANKS TO BERNANKE: Farmland Looks Bubbly | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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Ben Bernanke

REUTERS/Larry Downing

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke

In February, Bloomberg reported that members of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC) – made up of high-level executives at Wall Street’s biggest investment banks and asset managers – warned in a quarterly TBAC meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that farmland, junk bonds, and mortgage real estate investment trusts were looking bubbly. 

Via a Freedom of Information Act request, Bloomberg obtained the minutes to that meeting and has revealed some more information about what was said at the meeting in a new report.

According to the minutes, Bloomberg reporters Craig Torres and Joshua Zumbrun write that the TBAC opposed the Fed’s third round of quantitative easing – this time open-ended, unlike the previous two iterations – when it was announced in September:

The advisory council opposed continued Fed accommodation on Sept. 14, a day after the conclusion of the FOMC’s two-day meeting Sept. 12-13. The Fed after that gathering announced a third round of bond buying with purchases of $40 billion per month of mortgage-backed securities.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-streets-biggest-banks-opposed-qe3-2013-5#ixzz2SnR5xmHD

Alabama coach Nick Saban lists house for $11 million | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

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The home, however, was not lived in by Saban himself. If you buy this house, not only are you buying a wonderful estate, but you’re buying an estate that’s located near Nick Saban’s vacation home. That’s right, you’ll be neighbors with Nick Saban, writes CBS Sports.

“My family and I own another home on the lake, which we have enjoyed for 12 years, so I was excited when this very special lot came available to develop with Jim [Suddes],” Saban told the Atlanta Business Chronicle. “Lake Burton is our favorite getaway. It’s a beautiful, hidden gem, where we find great peace and seclusion.”

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/fastnews

Mortgage market of the past may hold some clues for the future | Bedford NY Real Estate

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James Hagerty of the Wall Street Journal hosted a session on the future of America’s mortgage market this week at the MBA Secondary Conference in New York.

The title of the session and the majority of the discussion assumes in some way that the mortgage market needs to be different than it is today. This leads me to wonder: Does the mortgage market need to be fixed and if so what still needs to be fixed?

We are all well aware of the extent to which GSEs and FHA currently provide liquidity to the U.S. mortgage market. I suspect consensus on this development is that it is far from ideal. Private, not public, capital should be supporting the mortgage market at least more than it does today.

But how much more?

Think back to before the mortgage crisis: Public capital played a very significant role, and had historically done so in the U.S. mortgage market.

The GSEs also brought something else to the market: standardization.

Is this a role that the private sector is qualified or prepared to play going forward?

Is the goal to achieve a level of private capital that is higher than before the crisis?  One highly oversimplified argument against this is that the private-label RMBS market was a a major contributor to the financial crisis.

Yes, regulators have put in place new rules to reign in many of the bad practices of the past, but a new privately built market structured would be untried.

What if rather than creating a whole new market structure, as some have proposed, what if we went back to the way it was before with a few important improvements?

The first improvement would be to develop private-label RMBS standards. Just as the GSEs issue standardized MBS, there could be a standard template for private label RMBS.

For example, there would be standards for the types of loans in the security, the type and amount of due diligence performed on the loans, and for the contract terms.

This is part of what was missing in the private-label RMBS market of old. Second, go back to the conforming loan limits of old which will reduce the market share of the GSEs.

Moving forward loan limits can be used to adjust the share of public versus private capital in the mortgage market over time.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/rewired

Survey of Economists Finds Fears of New Bubble | Bedford Corners NY Real Estate

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More than 100 forecasters in a national survey said they expect the home values to reach an average of 5.4 percent year-over-year and that current Federal Reserve policies post some risk of re-inflating the housing bubble.

In the survey of 105 economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists, panelists said they expected median U.S. home values to rise to $165,280, on average, by the end of 2013. At the end of 2012, the U.S. Zillow Home Value Index stood at $156,800.  The survey was sponsored by Zillow and is conducted quarterly by Pulsenomics LLC.

In the survey conducted in late February and early March, respondents said they expected average home value growth of just 4.6 percent in 2013. Looking forward, respondents predicted average home value appreciation of 4.4 percent in 2014, up from prior expectations of 4.2 percent.

While panelists were more bullish on near-term home value appreciation this year and into 2014, their expectations for nationwide home value growth in 2015, 2016 and 2017 were slightly more pessimistic than in prior surveys. On average, panelists said they expect annual home value growth between 3.5 percent and 3.7 percent from 2015 through 2017, down modestly from previously expressed expectations in the 3.6 percent to 3.8 percent range. Cumulatively, survey respondents predicted home values to rise 22.3 percent, on average, through 2017.

Cicadas set to overrun Hudson Valley | Bedford Hills NY Homes

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Billions of cicadas lurking underground in the Hudson Valley and along the East Coast are awaiting their cue: when ground temperature reaches exactly 64 degrees.

Only then will the inch-long creatures crawl out of the burrows they have lived in for 17 years, climb trees and begin several weeks of riotous mating calls, sex, parenthood and finally death. Then the insects’ offspring will crawl underground to begin the cycle over again.

In the Hudson Valley, showtime could come within days as the air temperature climbs and the earth warms.

Scientists say the cicadas with bulging red eyes will outnumber people from North Carolina to Connecticut by about 600-to-1 and that the males’ mating calls will be as loud as a rock concert.

In 2004, Gene Kritsky, an entomologist at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, measured cicadas at 94 decibels, saying it was so loud “you don’t hear planes flying overhead.”

Cicadas come out every year in different regions around the world, but the variety about to make their entrance along the East Coast are different. They’re called magicicadas — as in magic — and are red-eyed. Magicicadas are found exclusively in the eastern half of the United States.

There are 15 U.S. broods that emerge every 13 or 17 years, so that nearly every year some place is overrun. Last year it was a small area, mostly around the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. Next year, two places get hit: Iowa into Illinois and Missouri; and Louisiana and Mississippi. Still, it’s possible to live in these locations and actually never see them.

This year’s invasion is one of the bigger ones. Several experts say that they really don’t have a handle on how many cicadas are lurking underground but that 30 billion seems like a good estimate. At the Smithsonian Institution, researcher Gary Hevel thinks it may be more like 1 trillion.

Even if it’s merely 30 billion, if they were lined up head to tail, they’d reach the moon and back.

This year’s invasion, dubbed Brood II by scientists, is expected to cover large swaths of the Hudson Valley, according to Daniel Gilrein, an entomologist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County. Nature lovers, he said, should plan expeditions in late May and early June to see the insects at work.

 

http://newyork.newsday.com/news

 

Hot Seattle residential real estate called ‘surge market’ | Bedford NY Real Estate

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When Dolly Lenz, called the queen of U.S. real estate, speaks, people listen. And that’s what a select group of John L. Scott Real Estate high-end luxury real estate agents did when Lenz and real estate appraiser and consultant Alan Pope ofAlan L. Pope and Associates spoke at a recent breakfast put on by John L. Scott for their top sellers.

As vice chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman in New York City, Lenz has sold more than $7 billion in real estate, more than double the next top agent in the country. This was her first time in Seattle. She loved it and spoke of increasing opportunities in the real estate market.

Pope says the market in our metro area is up 15 percent and that he is seeing the same kind of buying frenzy that he saw six years ago.

“Yes, it has been a fabulous recovery in the housing market,” says Lennox Scott, chairman and CEO of John L .Scott Real Estate. “I saw it formulating 18 months ago. The confidence of local homebuyers has come back strong,” he says.

Scott says sales for his company are up 25 percent in the last 18 months and called the sales activity “a strong to surge market. The last four months has definitely been a surge,” he says, “fueled by the fact that there is such a strong economy with historically low interest rates.”

The Seattle area is one of the top markets in the nation, with strong job growth. Scott points to a shortage of housing inventory on both the West and East coasts. “And in our area there’s a one- to two-month supply of homes available. A healthy market is 5-6 months of inventory.”

 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle

New problem loans drop to lowest level in 6 years | Bedford Corners NY Homes

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As the market continues to march towards a recovery, the rate of loans that were at least 60 days late but current six months ago fell in March to its lowest level in six years, according to a report released by Lender Processing Services (LPS).

At 0.84 percent, the rate of “new problem loans” dropped below 1 percent for the first time since May of 2007, edging closer to pre-crisis levels, like those of 2004 and 2005, when rates averaged around 0.55 percent.

The report also found that the number of homeowners who are underwater has dropped dramatically since the depths of the housing crisis. In January of this year, 9 million people had negative equity in their homes, down from a peak of 17 million in January of 2011, LPS said.

On an annual basis, the number of loans with negative equity had plummeted by 41 percent as of January, LPS said.

www.inman.com/wire

Drought Tolerant Perennials | Chappaqua Real Estate

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In my neck of the woods precipitation comes one of two ways; either all at once or not at all. Spring sees ample showers, but as soon as the calendar turns to June the rain dries up. Unless there is an unusual weather pattern in play I can count on Arkansas’ summers to be hot and dry.

Rather than rely 100 percent on irrigation to carry the garden through, I choose drought tolerant plants that I know will survive extended periods without rain. By selecting the right plants for my dry climate I use less water and I don’t have to work as hard to keep the garden looking good during the dog days of summer.

To make things even easier I use a lot of drought tolerant perennials. Perennials will come back year after year without replanting and most are pretty low maintenance. Throw in drought tolerance and you’ve got something you can pretty much plant and forget.

Unlike annuals, many perennials bloom for a specific amount of time. Gardeners can create season-long interest by selecting spring, summer and fall flowering perennials and showy foliage plants.

Here’s a short list of drought tolerant perennials categorized by season.

Spring Flowering Drought Tolerant Perennials

Alyssum (Alyssum montanum)

Alyssum will form a dense mat of attractive foliage and spring blooms. Try River of Gold™ for its bright yellow flowers.

Zones 4 – 8; full sun; 6 to 8 inches tall with a 10-inch spread.

Proven Winners River of Gold Alyssum

Dead Nettle (Lamium maculatum)

Lamium is a low growing groundcover for either sun or shade. The variety Pink Chablis® has charming pale pink flower and frosty green and white variegated leaves.

 

Zones 4 – 8; full sun or shade; 8 – 12 inches tall with a 24-inch spread.

Proven Winners Pink Chablis Lamium

False Indigo (Baptisia hybrid)

Baptisia is a North American native plant that produces sweetpea-like blooms. Try one of the hybrids in theDecadence™ series for compact plant form and saturated color. Available cultivars include ‘Cherries Jubilee’ (maroon and yellow), ‘Blueberry Sundae’ (vibrant blue), ‘Dutch Chocolate’ (dark plum), and ‘Lemon Meringue’ (yellow).

Zones 4 – 9; full sun to partial shade; 30 – 26 inches tall.

Proven Winners Decadence Baptisia

Summer Flowering Drought Tolerant Perennials

Evening Primrose (Oenothera)

Oenothera has a loose, wildflower appearance that makes it right at home in cottage-style gardens. The cultivar Lemon Drop® produces fragrant, yellow blooms all summer. It is both drought tolerant and adaptable to poor soils. Because Lemon Drop® does not set seeds like some of its freewheeling cousins, it will stay put rather than pop up around the garden.

Zones 5 – 11, full sun; 8 – 12 inches tall.

Proven Winners Lemon Drop Oenothera

Perennial Sunflower (Heliopsis)

The bright yellow, daisy-like flowers of this North American native plant brighten the garden. The improved cultivar ‘Tuscan Sun’ boasts an extended blooming season and stays a manageable size.

Zones 3 – 9; full sun to partial shade; 12 – 20 inches tall.

Proven Winners Tuscan Sun Heliopsis

Butterfly Flower (Gaura lindheimeri)

This is one of my favorite “see through” plants. I like to position Gaura in the middle of a flower border so that the loose stems create a veil through which the background plants are seen. This creates a little mystery and added dimension. Stratosphere™ Pink Picotee and Stratosphere™ White will bloom May through September.

Zones 6 – 11; full sun; 12 – 24 inches tall.

Proven Winners Stratosphere Gaura

Fall Flowering Drought Tolerant Perennials

Sedum sp.

Sedums are a classic choice for low water gardens. There are both spreading and upright forms. The upright cultivar ‘Maestro’ puts on a spectacular autumn show with abundant bright purple bloom stalks and pink flowers.

Zones 3 – 9; full sun; 24 – 30 inches tall.

Proven Winners Maestro Sedum

Aster sp.

What would the fall garden be without asters? I’m particularly fond of the blue and purple varieties because the colors complement the red, orange and yellow of the season. ‘Sapphire Mist’ produces an abundance of large, lilac blooms on compact plants from late summer through fall.

Zones 4 – 8; full sun; 12 – 16 inches tall.

Proven Winners Sapphire Mist Aster

Bluebeard (Caryopteris sp.)

Caryopteris blooms are a splash of cool blue at the end of summer. Sunshine Blue® Caryopteris incana is one I grow. I love the color combination of the neon yellow foliage and periwinkle flowers.

Zones 5 – 11; full sun; 36 – 48 inches tall.

Proven Winners Sunshine Blue Caryopteris

Drought Tolerant Perennials Prized for their Foliage

Ornamental Grasses

Pair ornamental grasses with bold blooms or fleshy leaves to create an interesting texture combination. ‘Cheyenne Sky’ Red Switch Grass (Panicum) is part of my Proven Winners® Platinum Collection. It’s a chameleon that changes from blue-green to wine red over the course of the summer.

Zones 4 – 9; full sun; 30 – 36 inches tall.

Proven Winners Cheyenne Sky Switch Grass

Heuchera sp.

You’ll be amazed at the variety of color and pattern available with such an easy care plant. I’m a huge fan of the varieties in the Proven Winners® Dolce® Series, which range in color from chartreuse to almost black.

 

Zones 4 – 9; full sun to partial shade; 8 – 16 inches tall.

Proven Winners Dolce Heuchera

Wood Spurge (Euphorbia amygdaliodes)

This plant blooms in spring, but the foliage is its greatest asset. The cultivar ‘Helena’s Blush’ has variegated green and white leaves that develop bright pink highlights as the temperatures cool in autumn.

Zones 6 – 9; full sun; 16 – 20 inches tall and 20 inches wide.

Proven Winners Helena's Blush Euphorbia

Good to Know

Even drought tolerant plants need water just after planting, water your newly planted drought tolerant perennials weekly the first growing season.

 

 

http://www.pallensmith.com/articles

Deer Resistant Plants? Fact or Fiction? by P Allen Smith | Armonk Homes

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Raise your hand if deer like to graze in your garden. How many different tactics have you tried to protect your plants? Have you tried hanging bars of soap from tree limbs, sprayed predator urine or scattered human hair around flower beds?

While these inventive measures may work temporarily, a long term solution requires a holistic approach. First, you have to give up the idea that you are ever going to deer proof your garden. Unless you build a 7-foot tall fence around your place, there’s not much you can do to keep them out. Next, make your garden less appealing to deer. Stop planting their favorites like tulips, roses and hostas and choose plants that deer are less inclined to eat. A few plant characteristics to look out for are fuzzy foliage, an antiseptic aroma and a bad taste.

Are there plants that are 100 percent deer resistant? No. The truth is that deer will eat anything when food is scarce, but if your garden is filled with plants that deer find unpleasant, there is a good chance they will move on to the delicacies in your neighbor’s yard.

 

 

http://www.pallensmith.com/blog

Positive Equity is Driving Down Defaults | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Homeowners with positive equity in their homes have fewer problem loans and are outperforming the national average for defaults. Their default rates are close to pre-crisis norms.

The latest data from Lender Processing Servicers shows that the overall equity trend has been a very positive one. “LPS’ latest data shows that the share of loans with LTVs greater than 100 percent has fallen 41 percent from a year ago. In total, there were approximately 9 million such loans, or about 18 percent of active mortgages. Some states, including the so-called ’sand states’ (Arizona, Florida, Nevada and California), are still well above the national level, at an average 28 percent, but they, too, have seen improvement over the last year, with negative equity dropping over 40 percent across those four states since January 2012, said LPS Applied Analytics Senior Vice President Herb Blecher.

However, March data also showed that the further underwater a borrower gets, the higher those problem rates rise. Borrowers with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios of just 100-110 percent are actually defaulting at more than twice the national average. For those 50 percent or more underwater, we see new problem rates of 4 percent.

“There has always been a clear correlation between higher levels of negative equity and new problem loan rates,” Blecher said.

LPS reported foreclosure starts were down 8.2 percent month over month, while foreclosure sales rose 10.1 percent. LPS looked more specifically at that situation in California, where the recent passage of the Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBoR) appears to have slowed down the foreclosure sale process considerably. In Q1 2013, foreclosure sales nationally (excluding California) increased 13 percent from Q4 2012, whereas in California they fell 35 percent during that same period.

However, the HBoR does not seem to have had a similar effect on the state’s foreclosure starts which, while down significantly from 2012 levels, are in line with the rest of the nation’s decline in referral activity following the attorneys general mortgage settlement and FHA modification initiatives.

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/05