Category Archives: Westchester NY

Mortgage Rates Up Again | North Salem Real Estate

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Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving higher amid a strong employment report. Regardless, fixed-rate mortgages rates still remain near their May 23, 2013 lows.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.76 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending February 19, 2015, up from last week when it averaged 3.69 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.33 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.05 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.99 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.35 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.97 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.08 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.45 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.42 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.57 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates rose for the second consecutive week as 10-year Treasury yields surged. Housing starts declined 2 percent to a seasonally adjusted pace of 1.065 million units and housing permits dipped 0.7 percent in January. However, homebuilders remain confident about new home sales although slightly tempered from last month as the NAHB Housing Market Index slipped 2 points to 55 in February.”

Sweet Little Cape with Its Own Sandy Beach | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Technically, this property is in Noyack, but the address is Sag Harbor, and the views are of Sag Harbor Cove. If a buyer is looking for an easy to manage weekend house, this place would fit the bill. It’s small (just 750sf) but nice, with an updated kitchen and bathroom, cozy living room with fireplace, and two bedrooms. Outside, the plot is a petite 0.18 acre, but you get your own sandy beach and a there’s an existing permit for a dock. Price isn’t bad; another house just down the street sold for $2.05M last year, but that was larger with slightly more land.

 

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http://hamptons.curbed.com/archives/2015/02/18/

Mortgage Rates Move Higher on Strong Jobs Report | North Salem Real Estate

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Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving higher amid a strong employment report. Regardless, fixed-rate mortgages rates still remain near their May 23, 2013 lows.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.69 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending February 12, 2015, up from last week when it averaged 3.59 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.28 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 2.99 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.92 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.33 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.97 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.82 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.05 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.42 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.39 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.55 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates rose this week following strong economic data. The economy added 257,000 new jobs in January after robust increases of 329,000 in December and 423,000 in November. The unemployment rate edged up to 5.7 percent last month from 5.6 percent in December. Average hourly earnings rose 0.5 percent, following a 0.2 percent decline in December.

Jobs Gains Will Support Housing Demand | Waccabuc Real Estate

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The end of 2014 saw an acceleration of job creation that compared favorably with the poor start to the year. Combined with the ongoing expansion of consumer confidence, these trends will help support housing demand and residential construction during 2015.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that payroll employment expanded by 257,000 in January, with an additional 147,000 jobs reported in November and December after data revisions. The unemployment rate inched up to 5.7% in January from 5.6% in December, which is in fact a positive development as this change was due to more individuals seeking work. In January, home builders and remodelers added 20,100 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis. Over the last 12 months, the industry has created 162,000 jobs.

The separate BLS JOLTS survey of job openings and turnover suggests additional hiring ahead. For the overall economy, the job opening rate (number of unfilled jobs as a percent of total employment) reached 3.5% in December, the highest rate for the post-recession period.

The number of open construction sector jobs for December (on a seasonally adjusted basis) rose to 147,000. The December level marks the third-highest monthly measure of unfilled jobs in construction during the post-recession period. Quits surged in the construction sector for the month, along with a moderate increase in hiring, which may reflect some worker churn among employers.

The good news on the employment front has helped consumer confidence. The January 2015 University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment soared to its highest level since January 2004. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index also increased sharply, reaching its highest level since August 2007.

With respect to the broadest measure of the economy, the advance estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis indicates that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at a 2.6% annual rate. This was below expectations, which were generally around 3%.

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/02/eye-on-the-economy-jobs-gains-will-support-housing-demand/

Old Riverdale Home Yearns for the Countryside | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Although it was constructed in 1901 as a carriage house, this Riverdale building now acts as a 5BR, 3.5BA modern-day Bronx estate. Okay, “estate” might be too strong of a descriptor, but the home at 5450 Palisades Avenue sits on a half-acre lot and has a rather bucolic past; that is, well before it was picked up by a former Deputy Commissioner of Counter-Terrorism of the NYPD in 2006 for $2.3 million. Now asking $2.43 million, the home still shows traces of its former life as a carriage house through its high, beamed ceilings and three street-facing garage doors.

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/02/09/114yearold_riverdale_home_yearns_for_the_countryside.php

Fed Provides Deeper Look at Lending Standards on Residential Mortgages | Armonk Real Estate

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The Federal Reserve Board recently released its survey of senior bank loan officers. The January 2015 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices (SLOOS) addressed changes in the standards and terms on, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households over the fourth quarter of 2014.

The January 2015 iteration of the survey featured revised and expanded categories of residential real estate loans to reflect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) qualified mortgage (QM) rules and provide more detailed information on the mortgage market. According to the survey lending standards over the fourth quarter of 2014 declined, on net, across most CFPB-defined residential mortgage categories*.

The figure below depicts the net percentage of senior bank officers reporting that lending standards at their bank had eased over the fourth quarter of 2014. The net change is calculated by subtracting the share of banks reporting tighter lending standards from the proportion reporting easier standards. According to the figure lending standards for GSE-eligible residential mortgages eased the most, 12.5%, on net.

Presentation1

While not to the degree of GSE-eligible residential mortgages, lending standards on those residential mortgages that are considered a qualifying mortgage eased more than similar residential mortgages that do not qualify. For example, lending standards on qualifying jumbo residential mortgages eased more, on net, 7.7%, then lending standards for non-qualifying jumbo residential mortgages, 3.5%. Similarly, lending standards on qualifying non-jumbo, but non-GSE eligible, residential mortgages eased more, on net, 3.4%, than lending standards on non-qualifying, non-jumbo residential mortgages. Moreover, lending standards on non-qualifying, non-jumbo residential mortgages were unchanged over the fourth quarter of 2014, similar to the lending standards on subprime residential mortgages.

In addition, lending standards on jumbo mortgages eased more, on net, than similarly-situated non-jumbo mortgages. For example, lending standards on qualifying jumbo mortgages eased more, on net, 7.7%, than lending standards on qualifying non-jumbo and non-GSE-eligible residential mortgages, 3.4%. Similarly, net lending standards on non-qualifying jumbo residential mortgages eased more, 3.5% than non-qualifying non-jumbo residential mortgages, 0.0%. Despite the greater change toward easier lending standards amongst jumbo residential mortgages relative to similarly situated non-jumbo mortgages over the fourth quarter of 2014, a previous post illustrated that lending standards on “non-conforming” residential mortgages are considered tighter, on net relative to the midpoint of the range of standards between 2005 and the second quarter of 2014, than “conforming” residential mortgages.

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/02/fed-provides-deeper-look-at-lending-standards-on-residential-mortgages/

Exploring New York City’s Irresistibly Eerie Abandoned Places | Cross River Real Estate

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Abandoned%20NYC_Will%20Ellis_Curbed-7.jpg[Harlem’s P.S. 186 in 2012. It has been abandoned for nearly four decades, but there areplans to turn it into affordable housing. All photos by Will Ellis.]

Photographer Will Ellis made a name for himself capturing New York’s amazing decrepit spaces on his blog Abandoned NYC, and now his work is the subject of a new book, out this week. The book features 16 derelict locations (mostly) within city limits, including brand new photos of five locations never released online (hello, sunken Coney Island submarine). Ellis’s love of abandoned buildings is as deeply tied to a curiosity for the ghoulish as it is to an intense connection with the history behind New York City’s many stories. His blog covers NYC abandonments more extensively and prosaically than nearly any other print or online source, and his photos capture the beauty of what many shrug off as eyesores and urban blight. Ellis talked with Curbed contributor Hannah Frishberg about the book and shared 18 photos of a few of his favorite sites.

How did you get into urban exploration?

It wasn’t something that I set out to do at all, I was just out one day with my camera in Red Hook, just kind of looking around, looking for inspiration, and I came across this huge warehouse, 160 Imlay Street [ed. note: This building is now being converted into condos]. I’ve always been drawn to creepy stuff: ghosts, monsters, stuff like that. Halloween was my favorite holiday growing up. So that’s kind of what drew me to it, initially. I was also reading a lot of these old gothic fiction and horror stories at the time, H.P. Lovecraft and stuff like that. A lot of those stories are about creating that sense of atmosphere, and more often than not they’re set in these decrepit estates. So I was able to find those places I was drawn to in these books, but to find them in real life, in my own backyard. I still don’t think of myself as a daredevil. I never used to break the law much, I played by the rules. I’m scared of heights. But I saw you could just walk into the building, and I went for it that day. From that point on, I was hooked. That sensation of discovery, the thrill and adrenaline of it. Especially in the first two months I was doing this. For several months I was going out every chance I got. I’ve slowed down a bit since then.

 

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/29/exploring_new_york_citys_irresistibly_eerie_abandoned_places.php

Townhouse on One of NY’s Most Exclusive Gardens | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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The 95-year-old Jones Wood Garden, located between Lexington and Third Avenues and 65th and 66th Streets, is accessible only via one of the 12 townhouses that surround it, and now one of those townhouses is for sale, asking $12.3 million. Forget Gramercy Park (that place is on Google Maps, for crying out loud)—this is the real super-exclusive stuff. So what if it’s mostly paved and looks a little dreary in the sole photograph?* Only 12 keys! Plus, there’s a fountain. And it was named after the family of Edith Wharton, who had previous owned the land. The townhouse itself isn’t too shabby, either.

* In an old Streetscapes from 1997, Christopher Gray writes that when the garden was first designed, “The Times said the garden foliage ‘will look best in winter.'” Hmm.

 

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/23/townhouse_on_one_of_nys_most_exclusive_gardens_asks_12m.php

Spend the Summer Relaxing in This Charming Village Cottage | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Nothing to do but move your furniture in and start enjoying your weekends in this adorable shingled house. It’s been recently renovated—the 3.5 bathroomsare especially nice—and although the plot is fairly small at 0.22 acre, as is usual for the area, there’s a lawn, a gunite pool, separate garage, and a variance to build a pool house. The house itself isn’t huge at 2000sf, but there’s everything you need, with three bedrooms, separate dining room, and eat-in kitchen. And the in-town location means you can walk to shops, restaurants, the movies, whatever. Price is $2.35M, which is reasonable; the place last sold for $2.225M in 2007.

 

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http://hamptons.curbed.com/archives/2015/01/23/spend_the_summer_relaxing_in_this_charming_village_cottage.php

South Florida Market Reports: Year End Close Out | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Douglas Elliman just published their 4Q 2014 Real Estate Market Reportscovering Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach. After a long hiatus from the pages of Curbed MIami, report author Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, lover of charts and graphs, is back to break down the Miami market for us.

4qMCMCHART.png

The five 4Q 2014 market studies my firm Miller Samuel prepares for Douglas Elliman were published today. To drill down into each of the market areas and see the trends shaped by the 8,205 transactions that were analyzed in the fourth quarter, you can click on the following Elliman Report series links, or read on for some top level observations from each market, after the jump:

Miami Coastal Mainland
Miami Beach/Barrier Island
Boca Raton
Fort Lauderdale
Palm Beach

Here are some top level observations for each market:

4q14MCMMATRIX.png

Miami Coastal Mainland – One of the best performing markets measured by sale and price trends:

– Overall housing prices continued to rise
– Sales increased sharply from a year ago but inventory rising as well
– Despite inventory rising faster than sales, the absorption period remained low
– Condo price gains outpaced single family price gains
– Distressed condo sales fell sharply