Tag Archives: Bedford Hills Homes

Bedford Hills Homes

30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Hits Low for the Year | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving down further and following the decline in Treasury yields as the economic growth for the first quarter came in well below market expectations. At 4.21 percent, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is at its lowest since the week of November 7, 2013.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.21 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending May 8, 2014, down from last week when it averaged 4.29 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.42 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.32 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.38 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.61 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.05 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.58 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.43 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.45 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.53 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 the Regional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Mortgage rates continued moving down following the decline in 10-year Treasury yields after a dismal report on real GDP growth in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the economy added 288,000 jobs in April, the largest since January 2012, and followed an upward revision of 36,000 jobs for the prior two months. Also, the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent.”

Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Today Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing. Additional information is available at FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac’s blog FreddieMac.com/blog.

 

 

 

 

 

Should Uncle Sam really be subsidizing the American Dream? | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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It may sound like heresy to some in the industry, but Catherine Rampell has a point in the Washington Post today – a home is not a good investment.

Calm down. That comes with a caveat – it’s not a good investment as an investment.

Catherine even quotes the highly regarded economist Robert Shiller:

The fact that Americans still financially fetishize homeownership baffles me. Never mind that so many people lost their shirts (among other possessions) in the recent housing bust. Over an even longer horizon, owning a home has not proved to be a terribly lucrative investment either. Don’t take my word for it; ask Robert Shiller , winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in economics who previously became a household name for identifying the housing bubble.

“People forget that housing deteriorates over time. It goes out of style. There are new innovations that people want, different layouts of rooms,” he told me. “And technological progress keeps bringing the cost of construction down.” Meaning your worn, old-fashioned home is competing with new, relatively inexpensive ones.

Over the past century, housing prices have grown at a compound annual rate of just 0.3 percent once one adjusts for inflation, according to my calculations using Shiller’s historical housing data. Over the same period, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has had comparable annual returns of about 6.5%.

Yet Americans still think it’s financially savvy to dump all their savings into a single, large, highly illiquid asset.

So yes, a home is a lousy investment in terms of returns next to other types of investments.

Rampell fails to mention, though, that if someone isn’t paying a mortgage, that same amount of money – or even more since renting is now more expensive than buying – is thrown away on rent regardless, unless you plan to live in a van down by the river.

But Rampell does have a point – the constant drumbeat of the voices that housing prices should, in perpetuity – continue to rise and at a rate faster than inflation is irrational on the face of it.

Homeownership makes sense because it makes sense, with a few markets being the exception. It’s value is self-evident not as an investment vehicle, but because 1) you won’t live long without shelter and 2) because unless you expect to be extremely transient, you build equity.

 

 

read more…

http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/29764-should-uncle-sam-really-be-subsidizing-the-american-dream

Earth Day in the Town of Bedford | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Dear Neighbors and Friends,

 

Today is Earth Day which the Town of Bedford is celebrating in several ways.

Please see the Bedford 2020 website. It’s filled with useful information.  We encourage you to use it as a resource. Among the positive actions we all can take is to reduce, reuse and recycle.  You can recycle through your carter and also at the Town’s Recycling Center
We also will be marking this special day with a tree planting ceremony on Saturday, April 26th at 9:00am at the Bedford Hills  Memorial Park.  All are invited.

We wish you a Happy Earth Day.  Please plant a tree, recycle, turn off the lights and remember that Earth Day is everyday, not just today.

 

Chris Burdick

Supervisor

We do not inherit  the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our  children.– Native  American Proverb
April 22nd Earth Day

Did you refinance your mortgage? Here’s a tax break | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Refinancing tax deduction basics

You are generally allowed to immediately deduct refinancing points to take out additional mortgage debt used to finance improvements to your principal residence. However, points paid to refinance the remaining balance of the old loan must be amortized over the new loan’s life.

Example 1: Say your old mortgage was $200,000, and you refinanced by taking out a new 15-year $300,000 mortgage. You spent the additional $100,000 of debt to pay for a new den, a kitchen remodel, new landscaping, and assorted other home improvements. You paid 1-1/2 points ($4,500) to get the new loan.

You can immediately deduct one-third ($100,000/$300,000) of the refinancing points, or $1,500, on your 2013 return as long as you paid at least that amount out of your own pocket to get the new loan.

You can claim amortization deductions for the remaining two-thirds ($200,000/$300,000) of the refinancing points, or $3,000, over the new loan’s 15-year term (180 months). So you can deduct $16.67 ($3,000 divided by 180 months) for each month the new loan was outstanding during 2013. In 2014 and beyond, continue claiming amortization deductions of $16.67 a month for as long as the new loan remains outstanding.

Note: If you rolled all the refinancing costs, including the points, into the balance of the new loan, you must amortize the entire amount of the points over the term of the new loan (no immediate deduction in this case).

Example 2: Say you simply refinanced your old mortgage last year without taking on any additional debt. In this case, you can amortize the points over the life of the new loan. For example, if on July 1, 2013 you paid $4,500 in points for a new 15-year mortgage (180 months) with the same principal balance as your old loan, your 2013 amortization deduction is $150 ($4,500 divided by 180 months times 6 months). Your amortization write-offs will continue in 2014 and beyond, at the rate of $25 a month ($300 a year), for as long as the new loan remains outstanding.

Deduct unamortized balance of points from earlier refinancing

Serial refinancers take note: If you had previously refinanced your mortgage and paid points, you probably have a good-sized unamortized (not-yet-deducted) balance for those points. You can deduct that entire unamortized amount when you refinance again.

 

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/did-you-refinance-your-mortgage-heres-a-tax-break-2014-04-08?siteid=yhoof2

Mortgage Resets Are Beginning, and Things Could Get Ugly | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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The Home Affordable Modification Program was a godsend to many troubled homeowners after the financial crisis, allowing tens of thousands of mortgage holders to reduce their monthly payments to no more than 31% of their gross monthly income, often through interest rate reductions.

But, all good things must end, and HAMP – which helped many avoid foreclosure – was only a five-year, temporary fix. Now, modifications that began in February 2009 are maturing out of the program, and into a gradual increase in interest rates. For most, this means a final monthly payment increase of $196; for some, it could be as high as $1,724, depending upon where the average rate for a 30-year loan sat at the time of the modification.

 

 

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/05/mortgage-resets-are-beginning-and-things-could-get.aspx

 

Almost 90% of HAMP loans will see increases According to the latest report from the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, 88% of the nearly 900,000 active HAMP loans will see their payments rise between now and 2021. With many borrowers having their rate reduced to as little as 2%, a 1% per year rise will likely be painful. Some will see their rates reset up to 5.4% over the next few years — more painful still.

Obviously, the redefault risk is pretty high. As SIGTARP notes, those in the HAMP program the longest default at the highest rate – nearly 50%. Almost half of homeowners with HAMP modifications received them from 2009 to 2010. The overall default rate at the end of last year was 28%.

Which institutions hold these loans? Of the 10 major servicers involved with HAMP, Bank of America Corp.  (NYSE: BAC ) , JPMorgan Chase & Co.  (NYSE: JPM )  and Wells Fargo  (NYSE: WFC )  are in the top five. At the end of 2013, redefaults for each bank associated with HAMP loans was 31% for B of A, 23% for JPMorgan, and 24% for Wells. Ocwen Loan Servicing and Nationstar Mortgage, the other two servicers in the top five, each had redefault rates of 30% and 26%, respectively. Can they expect a whole lot more in the next few years? It certainly seems like it.

 

 

 

Abandoned NY Island Has Lighthouse, B&B + Ghostly Rumors | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Execution%20Rocks.jpg [Photo via Scouting NY.]

Nick Carr, film location scout extraordinaire, was exploring islands in New York’s waterways when he spotted a lighthouse and its adjacent brick house (for the keeper) perched atop a rocky outcropping. Upon further digging, he learned that the lighthouse on Execution Rocks, located in the Long Island Sound between New Rochelle and the North Shore, was built in 1849 and had a quirky history (and roster of keepers) until it was automated in 1979. After a federal call for help in 2007, a Philadelphia couple stepped up and formed a nonprofit to maintain and restore the petite island’s structures. On the long road to raising $1.2 million, they’re banking on New Yorkers’ sense of adventure and penchant for history, creating three no-frills double rooms and charging guests $150 per person per night to stay there

 

 

 

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/01/abandoned_ny_island_has_lighthouse_bb_ghostly_rumors.php

Pending home sales decline again, is weather to blame? | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Harsh winter conditions have largely taken the blame for the recent stagnation in the housing market nationwide, but experts say the genesis of downturn goes all the way back to the warm months of 2013.

The National Association of Realtors released February’s pending home sales numbers this week, revealing an eighth consecutive month of decline in the market.

The South and Northeast saw the biggest decreases, offsetting gains in the West and Midwest.

The pending home sales index dipped 0.8 percent to 93.9, down from 94.7 in January and down 10.5 percent from February 2013.

While harsh weather may not have been the originator of the downturn, it may have stalled the stabilization that seems to be taking hold along with the warmer weather.

“Contract signings for the past three months have been little changed, implying the market appears to be stabilizing,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Moreover, buyer traffic information from our monthly Realtor survey shows a modest turnaround, and some weather delayed transactions should close this spring.”

 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/blog/2014/03/pending-home-sales-warming-up.html

Why the property market could be in trouble after the 2015 election | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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If there was one winner from the Budget,  it seems to have been property.

Chancellor George Osborne has extended part of the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme all the way until 2020.

No wonder. He wants to be as sure as he can that the current property bubble (or recovery, depending on which part of the UK you’re in) lasts until the general election in May.

But I wouldn’t rush out to stick all your newly-freed pension money into buy-to-let.

You see, ‘Help to Buy’ comes in two parts, and the extension does not apply to the most aggressive part of the scheme.

On top of that, Osborne also announced a sting in the tail that could hit central London property hard…

Help to Buy – a scheme of two halves

It easy to forget that the Help to Buy scheme is divided into two parts.

Both allow a buyer to secure a mortgage with as little as a 5% deposit. But they operate in very different ways.

The first part targets only those who want to buy a new-build house. In this case the government gives them a 20% home equity loan, which is interest-free for the first five years.

Effectively, the government owns a chunk of your house. So if you sell up, or want to buy back the government’s stake, the price will reflect the value of the house at that point.

In other words, if you bought a house at £200,000 with a £40,000 loan from the government, and the price rose to £300,000, you would have to pay £60,000 to get full ownership.

We don’t think it’s a good idea for the government to be putting taxpayers’ money on the line in the housing market. But at least this only applies to new builds. And at least the taxpayer is exposed to the upside too.

In contrast, the second part of Help to Buy is much more dangerous.

 

http://moneyweek.com/uk-property-market-could-be-in-trouble-after-the-2015-election/