The Definition of a Buyer Persona [in Under 100 Words] | Bedford Hills Realtor
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What The Home-Price Slowdown Really Looks Like | Bedford Hills Real Estate
The current slowdown of home prices has been sharpest in markets that crashed during the bust and bounced back last year. And although asking-price gains have been slowing since last spring, price increases remain high by historical standards.
The Trulia Price Monitor and the Trulia Rent Monitor are the earliest leading indicators of how asking prices and rents are trending nationally and locally. They adjust for the changing mix of listed homes and therefore show what’s really happening to asking prices and rents. Because asking prices lead sales prices by approximately two or more months, the Monitors reveal trends before other price indexes do. With that, here’s the scoop on where prices and rents are headed.
Asking-Price Gains Have Been Slowing Down Since April 2013 Nationally, asking home prices rose 10.4% year-over-year in February 2014, down slightly after peaking in November 2013. But the year-over-year change is an average of the past twelve months and therefore obscures the most recent trends in prices. Looking at quarter-over-quarter changes instead, it’s clear that price gains have been slowing for most of the last year: asking home prices rose just 1.9% in February – a rate similar to those recorded in January and December – compared with increases near 2.5% from July 2013 to November 2013 and over 3% from April 2013 to June 2013. The quarter-over-quarter change in asking prices topped out at 3.5% in April 2013 and now, at 1.9%, the increase is just over half of that peak.
But even with this slowdown in gains, prices are still rising much faster than the historical norm. The quarter-over-quarter increase in February of 1.9% implies an annualized rate of almost 8% – which is well above the long-term average.
Can You Afford to Buy a House? | Bedford Hills Real Estate
With the help of low interest rates and intervention from policymakers, the housing market has been one of the most improved areas of the economy. However, a combination of higher rates, rising home prices, and stagnant wages is building affordability issues.
The cost of homeownership is on the rise across the nation. The estimated monthly house payment for a median-priced, three bedroom home purchased in the fourth-quarter of 2013 surged 21 percent to $865, compared to $714 from a year earlier, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac. The firm analyzed 325 U.S. counties and included other factors such as insurance, taxes, maintenance, and tax deductions. Among the 15 most populated counties analyzed, the estimated monthly house payment jumped an average of 34 percent from a year ago.
“A potent combination of rapidly rising home prices and the often-overlooked but significant uptick in interest rates in the second half of 2013 caused the monthly cost of owning a home using traditional financing to jump substantially in many markets over the last year,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, in a press release. “The monthly cost of owning a home is still less than renting in the majority of markets, but the cost of financed homeownership is becoming dangerously disconnected with still-stagnant median incomes, driven not by shoddy underwriting practices this time around but by investors and other cash buyers who are not tethered to the typical affordability constraints.”
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/politics/economy/can-you-afford-to-buy-a-house.html/?ref=YF
Housing construction permits soared 71% | Bedford Hills Real Estate
The number of residential unit construction permits issued by the city last year exceeded the previous year’s total by a whopping 71%. As good as that sounds, a New York Building Congress report released Monday noted the jump still puts permits at half the number set during the boom years that between 2005 and 2008.
The city Department of Buildings issued permits for 18,095 residential units in 1,383 buildings in 2013, a huge step up from the 10,599 units in 1,011 buildings seen the year before. And while high-profile luxury developments in Manhattan are making the headlines, the report noted that the increase came in all five boroughs—for the first time since 2008.
“This is encouraging,” Building Congress President Richard Anderson said. “Things continue to look very positive for the overall construction market in the city.”
Red-hot Brooklyn boasted the greatest number of permits, swamping Manhattan’s total by over 1,000 units. Meanwhile, in percentage terms Queens saw the biggest gain. Bolstered by two developments in the mammoth Hunter’s Point South project in Long Island City, permits soared 107% in the borough last year.
Citywide, 2013’s figure is still shy of the 20,000 units the congress estimates developers need to build annually simply to keep up with the growth of the number of households, to replace outdated buildings and to provide housing options for New Yorkers across the income spectrum. However, on average that needed level of construction was met over the last decade, the report noted, courtesy largely of the boom years between 2005 and 2008, when DOB issued an average of 30,000 permits annually.
And while last year’s hefty surge in residential permits bodes well for construction companies, for New York apartment dwellers, the news may not be quite as promising, as the increasing amount of foreign capital flowing into Manhattan’s skyline means that many of the newly built units will likely be snapped up by overseas buyers and renters, rather than lower income families dealing with record-low inventory
Why Renting with Kids is Our New American Dream | Bedford Hills NY Homes
Director Oliver Stone lists West Village home for $2.9M | Bedford Hills Homes
Apartment at 1 Morton Square
Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone has put his West Village pad on the market for $2.9 million.
Paul Anand of the Corcoran Group has the listing for the two-bedroom condominium at 1 Morton Square, according to the Wall Street Journal. Stone bought the 1,750-square-foot space in 2010 for $2.2 million to live in while directing “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”
The 14-story mixed-use doorman building, built by J.D. Carlisle Development in 2004, gives residents access to a children’s playroom, a gym and a garage, according to property records.
Stone is reportedly looking to move into a space bigger than 2,000 square feet. Given the neighborhood’s low inventory, Anand expects to receive offers by early next week, the Journal reported.
http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/02/28/oliver-stone-lists-west-village-home-for-2-9m/
Home prices slowing down: Case-Shiller | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate
U.S. home prices slowed down at the end of 2013, but posted the fastest calendar-year growth in eight years, according to data released Tuesday.
U.S. home prices ticked down 0.1% in December, declining for a second month, with 11 of 20 tracked cities posting drops, according to S&P/Case-Shiller’s composite index. After seasonal adjustments, home prices in December rose 0.8%, down a bit from 0.9% in November.
“Gains are slowing from month-to-month and the strongest part of the recovery in home values may be over,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “The seasonally adjusted data also exhibit some softness and loss of momentum.”
On a year-over-year basis, home prices rose 13.4% in December, the fastest calendar-year growth since 2005, supported by a low inventory of homes available for sale. However, December’s year-over-year growth is down from a recent peak of 13.7% hit in November.
Bloomberg
A home for sale in Princeton, Illinois, on Jan. 22, 2014.
Going forward prices may continue to slow down if inventories rise as more sellers become willing and able to place their homes on the market. Also, climbing mortgage rates could curb some demand, economists say.
But slower price growth isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Prices that run too high too quickly for an extended period would keep many would-be buyers from purchasing a home.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-slowing-down-case-shiller-2014-02-25?siteid=yhoof2
Notice to potential homebuyers: Mortgage rates keep ticking up | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate
Average fixed mortgage rates up slightly for the second week in a row, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
“Mortgage rates crept up further following the uptick in the 10-year Treasury yield as minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting indicated little possibility of a pause in the central bank’s reduction of bond purchases,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.
“Housing starts in January fell 16% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 888,000 units, below consensus forecast,” Nothaft added. “Permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000 in January, also below consensus.”
30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.33% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending February 20, 2014, up from last week when it averaged 4.28%.
A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.56%.
15-year FRM this week averaged 3.35% with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.33%. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.77%.
5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.08% this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.05%. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.64%.
Bet you can’t guess which presidential street name has the highest home values | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate
New home? Tips for getting to know the garden | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate
Americans are a restless bunch. They change locations with a frequency that would tire a migrating songbird.
But there is more to moving day than unpacking boxes; there’s also learning to care for that garden inherited with the new home.
If you were thinking ahead, you asked for an inventory of the plants and accessories that came with the house.
“There’s no problem with asking owners for a list of landscape items and for an explanation about the plantings,” said Shirley French, an agent with the Woodstock, Va., office of Funkhouser Real Estate Group. “Usually, the owners are more than happy to give you a list. In fact, if they know the purchasers are interested, that will make for good feelings on both sides.”
Gardening priorities are determined mostly by the seasons. You won’t be mowing the lawn in February, although you might be combing the seed catalogs.
But where to start with a newly purchased property?
Michael Becker, president of Estate Gardeners Inc. in Omaha, Neb., suggests that putting safety first.
“Check out the dangers,” said Becker, a spokesman for Planet, the Professional Landcare Network that certifies green industry professionals. “Are the retaining walls stable? Are any trees leaning or diseased with dead branches?
http://news.yahoo.com/home-tips-getting-know-garden-144102428.html