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Armonk NY Homes

Mortgage Loan Rates Rise Slightly, Home Purchases Fall to 1995 Level | Armonk Real Estate

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a decrease of 8.5% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index. That followed a drop of 4.1% for the previous week. Mortgage loan rates rose slightly on all by adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) loans.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 4% from the prior week’s report. On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 7% week-over-week. The unadjusted purchase index increased by a slight 0.1% for the week and is 15% lower year-over-year.

ARM loans account for 8% of all applications, unchanged from a week ago.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 11%, after declining by 3% in the previous week. The share of refinancings fell by three points to 58% of all applications, the lowest level since last September.

The average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 4.50% to 4.53%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.45% to 4.47%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.55% to 3.56%.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mortgage-loan-rates-rise-slightly-122511434.html

Checking In On The East Side Access Project’s Massive Caverns | Armonk Real Estate

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exc1.jpg [All photos by Rehema Trimiew for MTA Capital Construction via Gizmodo]

Last we heard of the plagued East Side Access Project, the tunnel extending the LIRR to Grand Central station was not due to be completed until 2023 at a cost of $10.8 billion, a decade later and $6.5 billion more than anticipated. Now, checking in with the project via a series of photos Gizmodo brought to our attention, we’re almost willing to forgive the delay and massive overdraft. The project is indeed moving forward, and doing so on a scale so massive that it’s almost too large for a picture to capture. The photos, on the Grand Central Terminal side of the project, show what will become a new subterranean station for the LIRR. Gizmodo notes that the tunnel’s yellow walls won’t stay that way forever, as the coatings are just geotextiles that will get covered over with some drab concrete. Nevertheless, these photos of the cavernous excavations taking place below our very feet are certainly humbling (and reassuring that progress is indeed being made.)

 

 

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/21/checking_in_on_the_east_side_access_projects_massive_caverns.php

 

Home Prices May Not Get Back to Peaks Until 2021 | Armonk NY Homes

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Despite the recent breakneck clip of home appreciation in some parts of the country, national home prices are on pace to rise just 3 percent to 5 percent annually, according to a new report by real estate analytics firm Clear Capital.

The report finds that national market has finally recovered from housing bust, with home prices have been increasing within 2 percent of their inflation-adjusted long-run average levels. That doesn’t mean prices are anywhere near their peaks at the height of the bubble; at the current pace of appreciation, they won’t reach those levels until 2021.

“With the majority of metro markets still so far below peak prices, it’s time for conversations surrounding price trends to shift away from the 2006 peak as a point of reference, and  back to current trends an forecasts,” Alex Villacorta, Clear Capital vice president of research and analytics said in a statement.

“While there are certainly investors and homeowners holding real estate assets tat will be underwater for seven years or more, the current housing market is positioned to behave very sillier or even below historical norms.”

In real terms, inflation-adjusted home prices are below their 2003 levels in 92 percent of markets, and half of markets are still below their 2000 levels. Honolulu is the only city in the top 50 markets to be near its peak level.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/home-prices-may-not-back-175500422.html

 

 

Cold causes dip in November home prices | Armonk NY Real Estate

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US home prices fell slightly in November as colder weather slowed buying, ending nine straight months of price gains.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index slipped 0.1 percent from October to November, partly reversing the previous monthly increase of 0.2 percent. But the index is not adjusted for seasonal variations, so the monthly decline partly reflects slower buying in the late fall as temperatures drop.

“November was a good month for home prices,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P Dow Jones index committee. “Prices typically weaken as we move closer to the winter.”

Despite the overall decline, home values have continued to rise in many Sun Belt cities. Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix have registered 20 straight months of rising prices.

But home prices surged for much of 2013, driven by big gains earlier in the year. Prices have risen 13.7 percent over the past 12 months.

Dallas enjoyed its strongest annual gain since 2000. And Chicago home prices climbed at their strongest annual clip since December 1988. Among the cities in the index, only Detroit prices remain below their 2000 level.

 

 

http://www.thecalifornian.com/viewart/20140131/LIFESTYLE/301310010/Cold-causes-dip-November-home-prices

Westchester Real Estate Shows Strong Quarterly, Yearly Growth | Armonk NY Homes

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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)