Category Archives: Lewisboro

New Home Sales Surge | Katonah Real Estate

Builders signed contracts on more homes in February 2015 than any time since early 2008 according to the Census Bureau and HUD. February seasonally-adjusted annual new home sales topped out at 539,000, up 7.8% from a healthy 500,000 in January. Sales increased a whopping 153% in the Northeast region but that was a make-up from an overabundance of snow in January that slowed the rate of sales to its lowest level in the 43 year history of the series. Sales were up 10.1% in the South to the highest level since early 2008. Sales were down 6% in the West but back to the level established in the fourth quarter of 2014. The Midwest saw a slight softening in sales (down 12.9% monthly and 3.6% annually) but still within the range of sales in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Inventories dropped slightly to 210,000, which with the increased sales rate, dropped the month’s supply to 4.7 months. Builders were able to sell an increased share of their homes from inventory in December and January. Along with the rise in sales suggests an improved starts picture in the future.

Prices rose 2.6% from last February to a median of $275,500. The shift is due to more sales at the upper end of the price spectrum as fewer first time buyers continue to push the only new sales more to the repeat buyer market. The share of homes sold for more than $500,000 increased from 11% in February 2014 to 15% in February 2015.

Housing starts see biggest collapse since January 2007 | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Privately-owned housing starts in February plummeted 17%, down to an annualized 897,000 from the revised January estimate of 1,081,000, with drops in the Northeast, Midwest and West leading the collapse.

Single-family housing starts in February were at a rate of 593,000; this is 14.9% below the revised January figure of 697,000.

Multi-family starts are the lowest since June 2014.

“Housing clearly remains under pressure. Increased volatility month to month has left permits and starts little changed from levels reached 12-24 months ago,” said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist for Sterne Agee. “With consumers struggling amid minimal wage growth, housing is unlikely to be a sizable contribution to headline growth in the near term.

“Nevertheless, the disappointment in this morning’s report only further exacerbates the downward trend in the economic data as of late. Needless to say, the Fed has plenty to discuss at this week’s policy meeting,” she said.

The collapse was dominated by the Northeast which saw a -56.5% drop and in the Midwest, which collapsed -37%.

“There’s no question that the harsh winter we had in the Midwest and Northeast was the culprit in February’s slowdown in new home construction,” said Quicken Loans Vice President Bill Banfield. “I wouldn’t look too much into February’s drop, as the overall housing picture shows homebuilder confidence growing and permits for new construction rising. Look for demand to increase in the coming months.”

The West region, where weather wasn’t a problem, saw starts drop 18.2%.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,092,000. This is 3% above the revised January rate of 1,060,000 and is 7.7% above the February 2014 estimate of 1,014,000.

Single-family authorizations in February were at a rate of 620,000; this is 6.2% below the revised January figure of 661,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 445,000 in February.

“The big drop in February housing starts was largely due to the severe weather up North. The effects were most severe in the Northeast: Starts fell 56% and completions dropped 29%, the largest declines of any region. There was brighter news around permits,” said Frank Nothaft, senior vice president and chief economist at CoreLogic. “Except for the snow-engulfed Northeast, permits were up in all other regions and for the U.S. as a whole, especially for multifamily, a good sign for spring construction.”

Privately-owned housing completions in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 850,000. This is 13.8% below the revised January estimate of 986,000 and is 1.8% below the February 2014 rate of 866,000.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/33260-housing-starts-see-biggest-collapse-since-january-2007

Hidden Buildings | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Architects have made a virtue out of the need to hide buildings. London-based dRMMM stuck to stringent planning guidelines for rural development, creating an award-winning design in the process. Their Sliding House in Suffolk replaced a bungalow and some outbuildings with a building based on a traditional timber-framed barn. Yet the structure is mobile: a 50-ton roof and wall enclosure glides along recessed tracks, revealing the house, annexe and garage. (Credit: Alex de Rijke/Ross Russell/DRMM)

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150316-buildings-hidden-from-the-world

WaterNest Floating Home | Katonah Real Estate

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Meet the WaterNest 100 floating home. Designed by architect Giancarlo Zema and developed by EcoFloLife after years of research, the WaterNest is intended for use on any calm body of water and is built from materials that are 98% recyclable.

The 1000-square-foot floating pod-shaped home measures 40 feet in diameter and 14 feet tall. Its curved body is constructed from recycled glued laminated timber atop a recycled aluminum hull. It is self=powered by a roof mounted, 600 square foot solar display that generates 4 kW of electricity. The solar panels are framed by generously sized skylights on either side. Large windows and balconies wrap around the unit to give users to unobstructed views of the water. The glazing also lets in plenty of sunshine to light the interior. If you want to use solar power for your home, you have options, taking advantage of clean energy doesn’t need be complicated. As a full-service electrical contractor and solar energy specialist, Artisan makes the entire process seamless and easy for you, for more about Artisan Electric. You may be able to buy or lease a system or sign a power purchase agreement. Your choice can affect how much you spend up front and over the life of the system, whether you get certain tax breaks or not, and your responsibilities when you sell your home. Evaluate the company, product, costs and your obligations before you make a commitment.

The developers created a “sophisticated system of internal natural micro-ventilation and air conditioning” to classify the building as a “low-consumption residential habitat.” The WaterNest 100 also features a flexible interior design that can be changed to suit different uses. If the owner doesn’t intend to use the unit as a home, the floating ecological pod could easily be reconfigured into an office space, lounge bar, restaurant, shop, or exhibition space.

On its website, EcoFloLife describes its mission as follows:

The world around us is becoming increasingly chaotic and conformist, requiring fully eco-friendly and recyclable housing units which allow us to live in complete independence and in harmony with nature while respecting and admiring it.

The ongoing climate changes and the resulting sea- and river-level rises force us to ponder on the eco-sustainability of our housing choices. EcoFloLife is committed on the topic of environmental sustainability with its floating and eco-friendly residential units.

The WaterNest 100 seems to embody that philosophy perfectly and is a truly inspired representation of what an environmentally friendly home of the future could look like.

http://greenbuildingelements.com/2015/03/16/

Mega-Treehouse is an Entire Apartment Building | Cross River Real Estate

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Whoever designed this delightful apartment complex in Turin, Italy, really must have loved building tree houses in their backyard as a kid. The housing development features a bold, tree-heavy design that turns the typical urban jungle into a unique-looking urban forest.

Called “25 Verde,” the site includes 150 mature trees, plus another 40 in the courtyard, and a roof garden on the building’s top floor. According to 25 Verde’s website, the trees aren’t there just for decoration: they clean the air of pollutants, muffle the city street noise, and help keep the apartments cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The 63-unit complex is designed to be as close to a living, breathing forest as possible. It even harvests rainwater to irrigate the trees.

Designed by Italian architect Luciano Pia, 25 Verde aims to “combine architectural innovation, environmental quality, and energy performance.” It’s described as “the houses children dream of.” It’s also the dream of anyone who wants to live in an environmentally-friendly forest environment without sacrificing the comforts and conveniences of the city.

https://www.yahoo.com/makers/mega-treehouse-is-an-entire-c1426187466613.html

Prepare Your Credit for a Mortgage | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Applying for a mortgage soon? Consider this: Improving your credit health could limit how much you’ll need to pay in interest and potentially save you thousands of dollars.

According to Zillow, the median home value in the United States is $178,500. Let’s pretend that two people each want a $178,500 30-year fixed mortgage and have the same amount saved up for a down payment. However, one has an excellent credit score of 760 while the other has a poor score of 620.

How much more do you think the person with the poor credit score will have to pay?

In most cases, poor credit could cost that consumer tens of thousands of dollars. Even the seemingly minuscule difference between a 3.5 percent interest rate and a 5 percent interest rate could tack on an extra $59,000 or more over the life of the mortgage, according to FICO’s loan savings calculator. (Keep in mind, interest rates and savings can vary and are ultimately up to the lender.)

It’s clear that your credit is important. Let’s discuss a few ways to prepare your credit in the months or years leading up to your mortgage application:

1. Monitor your credit score.

Your credit score will likely be one of the most important aspects of the approval process. Don’t go into the mortgage process blind. Instead, check your score ahead of time so you can estimate what kind of rates you may get and whether your credit is good enough to get you approved. Then, identify areas of your credit history that need work, make steps to improve and continually monitor your progress.

2. Pull your credit reports and dispute errors.

A 2013 Federal Trade Commission study found that 1 in 4 consumers identified errors on their credit reports that might affect their credit scores. The same study found that 5 percent had errors on one of their reports that could lead to them paying more for products such as auto loans and mortgages.

Don’t let errors on your credit reports cause you to pay more than you should. Before looking for a mortgage, be sure to pull all three of your credit reports and dispute any errors that could affect your score, such an incorrect account or the wrong credit limit. The dispute process may not be instantaneous, but the time and effort you put into ensuring your reports accurately represent your credit history will be worth it if it saves you money on interest.

3. Pay off outstanding delinquent accounts.

Like other lenders, mortgage underwriters want to ensure you’re a reliable borrower who will make payments on time, so having outstanding delinquent accounts on your credit report can drastically hurt your chance of being approved. Before you apply, consider paying off any delinquencies. Also try to lessen the impact late payments may have on your score by burying them with months or years of timely payments first.

http://news.yahoo.com/prepare-credit-mortgage-125500730.html

Manhattan Studios Rentals Set Record | Katonah Real Estate

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Manhattan’s smallest apartments are fueling big gains in rents.

The median rent in the borough jumped 8.9 percent last month to $3,375, according to a report Thursday by appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Costs for studio apartments climbed 10 percent to a median $2,351, while rents for one-bedrooms rose 9.4 percent to $3,400, both the highest in more than seven years of record-keeping.

New York’s smaller apartments are luring new tenants entering an improving job market in the city, as well as those who can’t afford bigger homes. Would-be buyers who have been shut out of owning because of high prices and tight credit are also lingering as renters of studio apartment options.

“The studio and one-bedroom market is the more common jumping-off point for first-time buyers,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel and a Bloomberg View contributor. Rents are rising “because of the logjam that has been created by people who have either been priced out of the purchase market or don’t qualify for a mortgage.”

Manhattan apartment prices jumped to the highest since their 2008 peak in the fourth quarter as buyers competed for a limited supply of homes. Demand was greatest for one-bedroom apartments, which accounted for 38 percent of all sales last quarter, Miller said.

A strengthening job market is also fueling housing demand. New York City’s private sector added 112,300 jobs in the 12 months through January, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.1 percent that month from 8.3 percent a year earlier, the New York State Labor Department said Tuesday.

More Affordable

While employment is improving, incomes aren’t rising as fast as Manhattan rents, leading tenants to seek affordability by finding smaller spaces, Gary Malin, president of brokerage Citi Habitats, said in an interview.

“Smaller apartments are drawing more attention because there’s more of an appetite for those price points if there’s only a certain amount of money you can afford to spend,” Malin said.

Citi Habitats, which also released a report today on the Manhattan rental market, said the average rent for a studio increased 5 percent in February from a year earlier to $2,150. Rents for one-bedroom units climbed 3 percent to $2,893.

Rents declined at the higher end of the market. Two-bedroom units fell 2 percent to $3,957, and three-bedrooms dropped 1 percent to $5,133, Citi Habitats said.

2014 Ended with 39 Percent of Housing Markets Fully Recovered | Waccabuc Real Estate

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As the year ended, 39 percent, or 117, of the nation’s largest 300 markets achieved full price recovery, up 30 percent from the end of 2013. Hundreds of other markets moved closer to full recovery; by December, the average rebound percentage of all 300 markets was 95.85 percent, which was slightly higher than 95.49 percent recorded in November.

Markets that lost the least value during the Great Recession have been the first to rebound. Of the markets with a peak-to-trough decline of less than 10 percent, 25 had an average rebound of 107 percent in December. Of the markets that lost 10 to 20 percent of value, the average rebound reached 99 percent of the prior peak price in December. In the markets that suffered the most severe price declines, the average rebound percentage was 81 percent.

In December, 42 of the top 100 markets measured continued to show a complete price recovery, increasing by two from November. Jackson, MS and NashvilleDavidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN were the new markets rebounding at 100.15 percent and 100.16 percent, respectively. Additionally, 75 midsize markets saw a rebound above 100 percent, up by four markets from November’s report.

“Great progress was made in the housing market during 2014. It put the real estate sector within striking distance of a majority of the nation’s 300 largest markets reaching full price recovery. As markets reach new price peaks, they are restoring equity to millions of homeowners, making it possible for them to refinance or sell,” said David Mele, president of Homes.com.

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/02/8482/

CoreLogic Kicks off 2015 in Style | #SouthSalem Real Estate

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CoreLogic reports shows that home prices nationwide increased 5.7 percent in January 2015 compared to January 2014. This change represents 35 months of consecutive year-over-year increases in home prices nationally.

On a month-over-month basis, home prices nationwide increased by 1.1 percent in January 2015 compared to December 2014*. Some 27 states and the District of Columbia are at or within 10 percent of their peak. Four states, New York (+5.6), Wyoming (+8.3 percent), Texas (+8.3 percent) and Colorado (+9.1 percent), reached new highs in the home price index since January 1976 when the index starts.

The CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices, including distressed sales, are projected to increase 0.4 percent month over month from January 2015 to February 2015 and, on a year-over-year basis, by 5.3 percent** from January 2015 to January 2016. Excluding distressed sales, home prices are expected to increase 0.3 percent month over month from January 2015 to February 2015 and by 4.9 percent** year over year from January 2015 to January 2016. The CoreLogic HPI Forecast is a monthly projection of home prices using the CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables. Values are derived from state-level forecasts by weighting indices according to the number of owner-occupied households for each state.

“House price appreciation has generally been stronger in the western half of the nation and weakest in the mid-Atlantic and northeast states,” said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. “In part, these trends reflect the strength of regional economies. Colorado and Texas have had stronger job creation and have seen 8 to 9 percent price gains over the past 12 months in our combined indexes. In contrast, values were flat or down in Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland in our overall index, including distressed sales.”

“We continue to see a strong and progressive uptick in home prices as we enter 2015. We project home prices will continue to rise throughout the year and into 2016,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “A dearth of supply in many parts of the country is a big factor driving up prices. Many homeowners have taken advantage of low rates to refinance their homes, and until we see sustained increases in income levels and employment they could be hunkered down so supplies may remain tight. Demand has picked up as low mortgage rates and the cut in the FHA annual insurance premium reduce monthly payments for prospective homebuyers.”

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/03/corelogic-kicks-off-2015-in-style/

1.8 Million Bubble-Era HELOCS Could Bust | Katonah Real Estate

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More than half, 56 percent, of the 3.3 million Home Equity Lines of Credit scheduled to reset over the next four years with fully amortizing monthly payments replacing interest-only payments are on properties that are seriously underwater, according to a new report from RealtyTrac.

With no equity remaining in the Bubble-era HRLOCs, the risk is high that the resets will trigger widespread foreclosures as owners struggle to meet the higher monthly payments.

A total of 3,262,036 HELOCs with an estimated total balance of $158 billion that originated during the housing price bubble between 2005 and 2008 are still open and scheduled to reset between 2015 and 2018. Of these, 1,834,588 (56 percent) are on residential properties that are seriously underwater, meaning the combined loan to value ratio of all outstanding loans secured by the property is 125 percent or higher.

“Homes purchased or refinanced near the peak of the housing bubble between 2005 and 2008 are much more likely to still be underwater despite the strong recovery in home prices over the last three years,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Furthermore, many homeowners with HELOCs who have positive equity likely already refinanced to mitigate the payment shock from a resetting HELOC — an option not readily available for homeowners still underwater.

“While these underwater homeowners experiencing payment shock from resetting HELOCs are at higher risk for default, the good news is that we’ve already seen a large wave of more than 700,000 resetting HELOCs in 2014 without a corresponding wave of defaults,” Blomquist noted. “The bad news is that a much lower 40 percent of those 2014 HELOC resets were on seriously underwater homes. We are entering a period of higher risk over the next four years when it comes to resetting bubble-era HELOCs — especially given slowing home price appreciation that offers underwater homeowners less hope of recovering their equity in the short term.”

States with most HELOC resets are California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and New Jersey

With 645,872 HELOCs scheduled to reset over the next four years, California led the way among the states in terms of sheer volume of resetting HELOCs. A total of 423,706 (66 percent) of those resetting HELOCs in California are on homes still seriously underwater, and the average monthly payment increase on HELOCs resetting in California over the next four years is $215.

Florida had the second highest number among all states of resetting HELOCs over the next four years, with 513,229, followed by Illinois with 158,199. In both Florida and Illinois, seriously underwater homes backed 71 percent of the resetting HELOCs over the next four years.

Texas had the fourth highest number of resetting HELOCs with 158,017 over the next four years — 36 percent of which were on seriously underwater homes, and New Jersey had the fifth highest number of resetting HELOCs with 145,312 over the next four years — 47 percent of which were on seriously underwater homes.

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2015/03/1-8-million-bubble-era-helocs-could-bust/

Buying Bedford Real Estate

Robert Paul Realtor buying Bedford real estate

Category Archives: Lewisboro

New Home Sales Surge | Katonah Real Estate

Housing starts see biggest collapse since January 2007 | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Hidden Buildings | Waccabuc Real Estate

WaterNest Floating Home | Katonah Real Estate

Mega-Treehouse is an Entire Apartment Building | Cross River Real Estate

Prepare Your Credit for a Mortgage | Waccabuc Real Estate

Manhattan Studios Rentals Set Record | Katonah Real Estate

More Affordable

2014 Ended with 39 Percent of Housing Markets Fully Recovered | Waccabuc Real Estate

CoreLogic Kicks off 2015 in Style | #SouthSalem Real Estate

1.8 Million Bubble-Era HELOCS Could Bust | Katonah Real Estate