South Florida’s housing market continued to cool down in December, with prices
still rising, but at a slower pace than earlier in the year.
Broward County’s median price for existing homes was $268,950, 17 percent higher than a year ago, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors said Thursday. It was the first time since November 2012 that the median didn’t increase on an annual basis by more than 20 percent.
The brokerbabble for this listing begins, “Magical Hook Pond Properties are being offered together for the first time since 1968.” No arguments there—they’re lovely. One has been recently tastefully renovated and the other is “ready for an update.” The newer cottage is four bedrooms and four baths on about one acre; the older one is three bedrooms and three baths on about one acre, “with endless expansion possibilities.” Location is right on Hook Pond, with a large beach parking lot right next door! Oops. The price is going to have to come down, we think, to attract a buyer. For about the same price, you could get oceanfront. · Immediate Ocean Access on Hook Pond [Sotheby’s]
North Castle’s police chief is accusing a lieutenant of corruption and the town administrator of attempting to soil his reputation, according to LoHud.com.
Chief Geoffrey Harisch filed a complaint that claims Lt. William Fisher attempted to falsely claim overtime and that he told Town Administrator Joan Goldberg about the attempted time theft during a secret meeting in 2012, LoHud.com reported.
http://armonk.dailyvoice.com/news/north-castle-police-chief-accuses-lieutenant-corruption
Tuesday’s report from the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors painted a positive picture for the year and the fourth quarter in Westchester real estate.
Sales of single family houses jumped 21.7 percent for the year in Westchester, with a 3.9 percent jump in the median sale price. For the fourth quarter, sales of single family homes in Westchester rose 17.9 percent and the median sale price rose 2.4 percent.
“Everything is looking up,’’ said Diane Cummins, the HGAR President. “There’s a rosy picture and it’s only getting better.”
“We’re in a full-blown recovery,” said Phil Faranda, the Hudson Gateway MLS president. “I think consumer confidence has returned. We’re getting a new new normal that is more hopeful and a little less dire.”
Cummins said sales for the fourth quarter were particularly encouraging. With holidays, weather-related issues and usually fewer owners and buyers active in the market, the quarter can often be slow.
“You never know what’s going to happen,’’ Cummins said. “Many Realtors think December comes in, and I have to start all over again. It makes us feel better about the start of the new year. Unless we get clobbered with bad weather, we may have an early spring start.”
“We hit the ground running for the first quarter,” said Faranda, who closed the sale of six homes in the final week of December. “I expect this will be the strongest spring since 2006.”
The accelerating sales volumes over the past two years have reduced the inventory of properties for sales. There were a total of 4,309 units – including single-family homes, condominiums, cooperatives and 2-4 family residences) on the market at the end of 2013. That is a 10.6 percent decrease from 2012. While inventory is tighter, it has not had an impact on the market, the report said.
The other Westchester numbers included a 15 percent rise for the year in the sale of condominiums, a 22 percent rise in the sale of cooperatives and a 22.9 percent rise in the sale of 2-4 Family homes. The median sale price for 2-4 family homes rose 12.1 percent in 2013 in Westchester. Co-ops rose 1 percent and condominiums rose 3.9 percent.
In the fourth quarter, 2-4 family home sales rose 27.4 percent over the same period in 2012 and prices rose 3.0. The sale of condos fell 7.3 percent from 2012, while co-ops improved 11.5 percent. The median sale price for condos (3.2 percent) and co-ops (0.7 percent) also rose in the fourth quarter.
The report said steady and affordable mortgage rates and a decrease in the unemployment rate have helped spur the real estate growth in Westchester. The mortgage rates leveled off at around 4.6 percent after approaching 5 percent earlier in the year. The unemployment rate in Westchester dipped to 5.5 percent at the end of the year, down from 6.8 percent at the end of 2012.
“I don’t think this is a glitch,’’ Cummins said. “This is now the market and it’s moving onward and upward. We’ve hit our bottom and we are starting to move up.”
Richard Haggerty, CEO of HGAR commented during his Real Estate Update on Monday to a meeting of the Empire Westchester Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors, that this has been the best year since 2007 with a significant increase in the number of transactions.
He also stated that he looks forward to a good year ahead, barring some obstacles including uncertainty in Washington D.C., the tightening regulatory landscape and “irrational exuberance” within the real estate market.
(Cathleen Stack contributed to this report).
Attached: (4thqtr2013finalreport.pdf)
Rain is back in the forecast for Westchester County.
The latest forecast from the National Weather Service calls for a 90 percent chance of rain on Tuesday, with as much as a quarter of an inch possible.
The bulk of the rain is expected before 3 p.m. Tuesday’s high temperature will be between 46 and 48 degress.
There could be more precipitation on Wednesday and Thursday.
There is a slight chance on snow showers after 9 a.m. Wednesday, then a chance of rain showers in the early evening and a chance of a wintry mix between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. It should be a mostly cloudy day with highs between 44 and 46 degrees.
Thursday should be colder with a high only between 35 and 37 degrees with a chance of snow showers before 2 p.m. and rain showers through 5 p.m.
http://armonk.dailyvoice.com/news/rain-expected-return-westchester-tuesday
The modern economy has a lot of individuals curious about making money from real estate. The sad truth is that most people have no clue about where to get started. If you’ve been wondering what you can do to invest in the real estate market the right way, you should know a couple of things first. Continue on to discover more.
You must develop a good feel for local property values. The cost of mortgages and rent in the neighborhood is a better indicator than financial statements when providing a picture of the house value. If you view the property from a basic level, you can better make the right decision.
Learn from like-minded people. Lots of people want to get involved in real estate investments. There are many groups focusing solely on real estate investing. Or you can also find many online as well. Join these groups and learn all that you can.
Invest as much time in learning the business as you do working the business. This means you might need to quit some of your hobbies so that you can just concentrate on this for a while. Let go of some of your recreational time and invest it in your property.
Find your comfort zone and stick with it. You can have much more success at real estate investing if you stay focused within your market niche. It doesn’t matter if you’re flipping properties of building them from the ground up; you should master what you’re doing.
As an investor, you have to think realistically about how you are going to divide up your available time. Problems with tenants can waste a lot of time. Get a management company to do the dirty work for you.
Not all property values rise. It’s dangerous to think this for the market or for a single piece of property. The safest thing to do would be to invest in real estate that will net you profits right away. If the property value increases, that will be an added benefit.
When determining a potential investment property, try choosing one that will appreciate. A lot by water or right in a business district, for example, will most likely mean more to you in the future. Consider the long-term costs and think about the possibilities.
Learn all you can about real estate investments prior to spending any money buying properties. You are playing with large amounts of money, and mistakes can cause you a huge setback. Get someone to train you on the real estate market before you jump in.
Make sure that you do a background check on your tenants, you can preform an online background check on www.crbdirect.org.uk. The person should pay the rent for the first month and a deposit without a problem. If they cannot come up with the money, they are likely to have problems paying rent too. You must then seek out a different person for the rental agreement.
Consider rental values as you determine how much any given property is worth. In the right area, you can earn thousands of dollars a year in rental income. Eventually, you can sell the property for even more money overall.
Exercise plenty of patience in the beginning. Getting the first deal done can take longer than expected. Maybe the market conditions are not good, or the purchase terms are not favorable. Do not start to worry prematurely or rush into poor decisions. It’s really a bad move for your money. Bide your time until an outstanding opportunity arises.
http://www.athomerealestate.co/2014/01/want-to-make-money-investing-in-real-estate-try-these-ideas/
