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Tag Archives: Chappaqua Luxury Real Estate
FHFA: Home prices continue climbing in first quarter | Chappaqua Real Estate
Home prices rose during each month of the first quarter, continuing a climb that began in the early part of this decade, a new report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed.
The FHFA’s House Price Index for March, which is the most recent data available, showed that seasonally adjusted monthly index for March was up 0.6% from February.
Overall, house prices rose 1.4% during the first quarter of 2017, the FHFA report showed. On a year-over-year basis, house prices rose 6% from the first quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017.
“The steep, multi-year rise in U.S. home prices continued in the first quarter,” FHFA Deputy Chief Economist Andrew Leventis said.
“Mortgage rates during the quarter remained slightly elevated relative to most of last year, but demand for homes remained very strong,” Leventis added. “With housing inventories still languishing at extremely low levels, the strong demand led to another exceptionally large quarterly price increase.”
Low inventory is also a concern of the National Association of Realtors, as its latest existing home sales report showed that home sales fell in April and homes flew off the market at a rate not seen since 2011.
The FHFA report also showed that home prices rose in 48 states and the District of Columbia between the first quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.
(Click the image to enlarge. Image courtesy of the FHFA.)
According to the FHFA report, the top five areas in annual appreciation were: District of Columbia at 13.9% Colorado at 10.7%; Idaho at 10.3%; Washington at 10.2%; and New Hampshire at 9.5%.
The FHFA report also showed that among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S., the annual price increase in Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan was the highest in the nation, at 13.7%.
Prices were weakest in San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, California, where prices fell by 2.5%.
Of the nine census divisions, the Pacific division showed the strongest increase in the first quarter, with a 2% quarterly increase and a 7.7% increase since the first quarter of 2016, the FHFA report showed.
read more…
NAR: Existing home sales will see best year since 2006 | Chappaqua Real Estate
Single-family existing home sales are set to see their best year since 2006, driven by robust job gains and improving household confidence, according to the forecast from the National Association of Realtors.
While existing home sales are increasing, low levels of supply and rising affordability concerns are creating headwinds for sales and threatening the low homeownership rate.
The first quarter came in with the best sales pace for existing homes in a decade; NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun expects that pace to continue, finishing off 2017 with 5.62 million sales, the best pace since 2006. This would represent an increase of 3.5% from 2016.
And home sales aren’t the only thing predicted to rise. NAR also forecasts an increase of 5% in existing home prices in 2017.
However, starter home shortage continue to plague the housing market and discourage would-be first time homebuyers.
“We have been under the 50-year average of single-family housing starts for 10 years now,” Yun said. “Limited lots, labor shortages, tight construction lending and higher lumber costs are impeding the building industry’s ability to produce more single-family homes.”
“There’s little doubt first-time buyer participation would improve and the homeownership rate would rise if there was simply more inventory,” he said.
Yun predicted new home starts will rise 8.4% to 1.27 million in 2017. While an increase from the current pace, this is still 1.5 million homes below the amount needed to make up for insufficient building in recent years. New home sales are also expected to rise 8.4% from last year to 620,000 sales.
Jonathan Spader, Joint Center for Housing Studies senior research associate at Harvard University, joined Yun at the 2017 Realtors Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo to discuss the 2017 forecast. He explained the homeownership rate will hover between 61% and 65.1% as it faces headwinds such as an aging population, changes in family type and increasing diversity by race and ethnicity.
“Stagnant household incomes, rising rental costs, student loan debt and limited supply have all contributed to slower purchasing activity,” Spader said. “When the homeownership rate stabilizes, there will be an increase in homeowner households. Young and minority households’ ability to reach the market will play a big role in how much the actual rate can rise in coming years.”
But while home sales continue to rise to decade highs, economic growth is at its slowest since World War II. Mark Calabria, chief economist and assistant to Vice President Mike Pence, explained at the conference the housing market cannot be strong without a solid economic foundation.
“A strong labor market will drive a strong housing market, but you can’t have a strong housing market without a strong economic foundation,” Calabria said. “The recovery has been uneven with roughly 70 counties making up roughly half of all job growth.”
And while the first quarter gross domestic product did come in at a disappointing 0.7% growth, the second quarter will see an increase to about 2.2%, Yun said.
Yun predicts two more rate hikes this year to bring mortgage rates to an average 4.3% by the end of 2017, and climbing towards 5% in 2018.
“There was a lot of uncertainty at the start of the year, but a very strong first quarter sets the stage for a modest sales increase compared to last year,” Yun said. “However, prices are still rising too fast in many areas and are outpacing incomes.”
read more…
Top empty nester cities | Chappaqua Real Estate
Zillow, an online marketplace, conducted a study to show the top 10 housing markets for empty nesters in the U.S.
As it turns out, the pricey markets and places with weak labor markets have the highest concentrations of empty nests, the report, which is based on the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data from 2015, shows.
And the lowest densities of empty nesters are found in booming cities with strong job markets, retirement communities and new family-oriented areas.
In other words, this study by Ellie Mae which shows where Millennials flock will be the last places you might find empty nesters. And you can count metros in Florida and California off the list as well.
Empty nests are homes where the heads of the household are 55 years or older, own the home and have lived in it 10 or more years; there are no children of any age living in the home. These homes are gaining ground as the Baby Boomers age, rising to 15.5% of all households in 2015.
Here are the top 10 metros with the highest percentage of empty nesters:
10. Baltimore, Maryland – 17%
9. Louisville, Kentucky – 17.2%
8. Virginia Beach, Virginia – 17.4%
7. Detroit, Michigan – 17.9%
6. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 18.2%
5. Birmingham, Alabama – 18.3%
4. Richmond, Virginia – 18.6%
3. Cleveland, Ohio – 19.4%
2. Buffalo, New York – 20.1%
1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – 20.2%
read more…
Mortgage rates average 4.23% | Chappaqua Real Estate
Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average mortgage rates dropping after two consecutive weeks of increases.
News Facts
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.23 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending March 23, 2017, down from last week when it averaged 4.30 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.71 percent.
- 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.44 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.50 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.96 percent.
- 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.24 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.28 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.89 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 link for the Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.
Quote
Attributed to Sean Becketti, chief economist, Freddie Mac.
“The 10-year Treasury yield fell about 10 basis points this week. The 30-year mortgage rate moved with Treasury yields and dropped 7 basis points to 4.23 percent. This marks the greatest week-over-week decline for the 30-year mortgage rate in over two months, a stark contrast from last week’s jump following the FOMC announcement.”
High-end house flipping | Chappaqua Real Estate
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Last June, Dana Rice, a real estate agent and house flipper, was deep in the throes of a massive remodeling project.
She had bought a 1938 home in an upscale neighborhood of Bethesda, Maryland, for $600,000 and intended to flip it for a hefty profit. Four months and $400,000 in construction costs later, Rice put the home on the market last weekend for $1,469,000. A million dollars of her money is at stake.
“Getting into the project is a risk because of the amount of money that you’re putting in, but overall at the end of the day, the ratio is the same,” Rice said as she put out candles and fliers for the first open house.
Rice added significant square footage, along with high-end finishes throughout. The so-called industrial cottage-style home is now 2,650 square feet with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. There is a small back patio, but the yard was sacrificed to make the home larger.
Rice says it is the opposite of the McMansion trend — not a tiny home for sure, but a ‘not-so-big’ home with top-of-the-line appliances, lighting, flooring, fixtures and systems.
“There is always a market for high-end because you’re differentiating your product from, let’s say, the masses,” said Rice. “In this particular area, for this particular house, I’m very confident because I feel as though the product we delivered — we really sweated the details on it, and I’m already getting great response from people who are looking at fixtures, textures colors, and it’s not what they see in the general renovation flip.”
Not only is house flipping on the rise in today’s increasingly competitive market, but average gross profits are now the highest since 2000, or since ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate sales and analytics firm, began tracking flips.
House flippers in the second quarter of this year saw an average gross profit of $62,000, up from $57,900 in the second quarter of 2015. That gross profit represented an average 48.8 percent return on the original purchase price, up from a 47.5 percent a year ago.
“Home flipping is becoming more accessible for smaller operators thanks to an increasingly competitive lending environment with more loan options for real estate investors, who are also benefiting from the historically low mortgage interest rates,” said Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions. “That favorable lending environment for flippers has helped to fuel the recent flipping frenzy we’ve seen over the past five quarters.”
A total of 51,434 sales of single family homes and condos were completed flips in the second quarter, up 14 percent from the previous quarter and up 3 percent from a year ago to the highest level in six years. [ATTOM defines a flip as a property sold in an arms-length sale for the second time within a 12-month period based on publicly recorded sales deed data.]
“It’s so fast and it’s so hot, you really have to be careful about who’s doing the work, because you’re going to pay that premium just to get that flip, but you need to look behind the curtain to see how they did it,” Rice cautioned.
Close to 40,000 investors, both individuals and institutions, completed at least one home flip in the second quarter of this year, the highest number in nine years. Home flipping peaked about 10 years ago, during the height of the housing boom, when mortgages were easier to pick up than a quart of milk. That is not the case today.
“While an increasing number of flippers are financing their purchases, more than two-thirds are still using cash to purchase compared to about one-third using cash to purchase back in 2006,” said Blomquist.
With so many new flippers in the market, the concern is in the craft. Rice actually spent more than a year remodeling her house, her fourth flip. That is longer than usual, but at her price, the house had to match the high-end market.
“The market is pretty strong for fixtures, finishes — everybody watches the TV shows. They have an expectation, and we want to meet it,” said Rice.
There were also a few bumps along the way.
read more…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-million-bet-anatomy-high-123425218.html
Low Mortgage Rates Sustain Improving Housing Markets | Chappaqua Real Estate
Freddie Mac released its Multi-Indicator Market Index® (MiMi®), showing two additional metro areas — Indianapolis, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio — entering their historic benchmark levels of housing activity.
The national MiMi value stands at 85.1, largely unchanged from last month, indicating a housing market that’s on the outer range of its historic benchmark level of housing activity with a +0.14 percent improvement from June to July and a three-month improvement of +1.24 percent. On a year-over-year basis, the national MiMi value improved +4.70 percent. Since its all-time low in October 2010, the national MiMi has rebounded 43 percent, but remains significantly off its high of 121.7.
News Facts:
- Thirty-eight of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia have MiMi values within range of their benchmark averages, with Utah (97.5), Hawaii (96.6), Montana (96.5), Colorado (96) and Oregon (95.8) ranking in the top five with scores closest to their historical benchmark index levels of 100.
- Seventy-nine of the 100 metro areas have MiMi values within range, with Los Angeles, CA (99.5), Salt Lake City, UT (100.6), Provo, UT (98.9), Honolulu, HI (98.7) and Nashville, TN (101.6) ranking in the top five with scores closest to their historical benchmark index levels of 100.
- The most improving states month over month were Illinois (+1.72%), Nevada (+1.36%), Florida (+1.20%), Alabama (+1.14%) and South Carolina (+1.00%). On a year-over-year basis, the most improving states were Florida (+10.03%), Oregon (+9.49%), Colorado (+9.09%), New Jersey (+8.64%) and Tennessee (+8.54%).
- The most improving metro areas month over month were Lakeland, FL (+2.13%), Youngstown, OH (+1.92%), Chicago, IL (+1.73%), Orlando, FL (+1.63%) and Las Vegas, NV (+1.61%). On a year-over-year basis, the most improving metro areas were Orlando, FL (+16.20%), Tampa, FL (+13.03%), Lakeland, FL (+13.02%), Chattanooga, TN (+12.89%) and Palm Bay, FL (+12.47).
- In July, 32 of the 50 states and 75 of the top 100 metros were showing an improving three-month trend. The same time last year, all 50 states and the top 100 metro areas were showing an improving three-month trend.
Quote attributable to Freddie Mac Deputy Chief Economist Len Kiefer:
“Nationally, MiMi in July was largely unchanged for the third consecutive month at 85.1, yet marking a 4.7 percent year-over-year increase. Despite rising house prices, the majority of housing markets have sustained their momentum due in large part to low mortgage rates. For example, purchase applications, as measured by MiMi, were up more than 17 percent year over year in July and remaining at their highest level since December 2007.”
The 2016 MiMi release calendar is available online.
MiMi monitors and measures the stability of the nation’s housing market, as well as the housing markets of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the top 100 metro markets. MiMi combines proprietary Freddie Mac data with current local market data to assess where each single-family housing market is relative to its own long-term stable range by looking at home purchase applications, payment-to-income ratios (changes in home purchasing power based on house prices, mortgage rates and household income), proportion of on-time mortgage payments in each market, and the local employment picture. The four indicators are combined to create a composite MiMi value for each market. Monthly, MiMi uses this data to show, at a glance, where each market stands relative to its own stable range of housing activity. MiMi also indicates how each market is trending, whether it is moving closer to, or further away from, its stable range. A market can fall outside its stable range by being too weak to generate enough demand for a well-balanced housing market or by overheating to an unsustainable level of activity.
Clintons buy adjacent Chappaqua property | Chappaqua Real Estate
While on the campaign trail in hopes of re-occupying the White House come January, Hillary and Bill Clinton have more than doubled the size of their Chappaqua sprawl with the recent $1.16 million purchase of a home adjacent to their current 15 Old House Lane compound.
The 1.51-acre, three-bedroom, four-bath, ranch-style property at 33 Old House Lane shares the end of a cul-de-sac with the couple’s original 1.1-acre spread, which they acquired for $1.7 million back in 1999 (and which recently housed the Democratic presidential nominee during her much-discussed bought with pneumonia).
Coincidentally or not, the New Castle Town Board has since designated the stretch of road leading up to said cul-de-sac a local-traffic-only street, according to Statesman Journal. Shortly after, the Clintons’ secret service reportedly barricaded the street and began screening cars, though town administrator Jill Shapiro stated that the police chief had received a request for security reasons.
The Douglas Elliman listing (which is, naturally, now closed) boasted of the address’s “open floor plan, pecan wood floors throughout, [and] modern chef’s kitchen,” which “opens to an eating area with fireplace and the family room all with built-in cabinetry.”
read more…
http://www.westchestermagazine.com/Clintons-Buy-Second-Westchester-Home/
Homebuilders gaining confidence | Chappaqua Real Estate
Homebuilder confidence increased in August as new construction and new home sales increase, according to the Housing Market Index by the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.
Builder confidence in the market of newly constructed single-family homes in August rose two points to 60, up from July’s downwardly revised reading of 58, according to the index.
“New construction and new home sales are on the rise in most areas of the country, and this is helping to boost builder sentiment,” said NAHB Chairman Ed Brady, a homebuilder and developer from Bloomington, Ill.
Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 30 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI categorizes builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as good, fair or poor.
The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as high to very high, average or low to very low. Scores for each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.
“Builder confidence remains solid in the aftermath of weak GDP reports that were offset by positive job growth in July,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “Historically low mortgage rates, increased household formations and a firming labor market will help keep housing on an upward path during the rest of the year.”
In the second quarter of 2016, real gross domestic product, the value of everything a nation produces, grew at a rate of only 1.2% from last year, according to the estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
On the other hand, total non-farm payroll employment increased by 255,000 in July, far above what experts predicted.
read more…
Private Residential Construction Spending Stalls in April | Chappaqua Real Estate
NAHB analysis of Census Construction Spending data shows that total private residential construction spending for April dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $439.7 billion, down by 1.5% over the March upwardly revised estimate. Private nonresidential construction spending was also down 1.5%, the first decline in 2016.
Within private residential construction, spending on multifamily and improvements both declined in April. Multifamily spending decreased to $60.0 billion after two consecutive months of strong gains. Despite this monthly decline, multifamily spending was 21.4% higher than in April 2015. Private construction spending on home improvements fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $142.2 billion, down by 3.2% since last month. Compared to 2015 April estimates, spending on home improvements decreased 3.5%. Single-family spending stood at $237.5 billion, virtually unchanged since March but up by 12.9% year over year.
The NAHB construction spending index, which is shown in the graph below (the base is January 2000), illustrates the strong growth in new multifamily construction since 2010, while new single-family construction and home improvements spending have drifted upward at a more modest pace. NAHB anticipates accelerating growth for new single-family spending over the rest of 2016.
The pace of private nonresidential construction spending retreated after three consecutive monthly increases. It fell 1.5% on a monthly basis, but was 3.4% higher than the April 2015 estimate. The largest contribution to this year-over-year nonresidential spending gain was made by the class of lodging (25.3% increase), followed by office (24.4% increase) and amusement and recreation religious (11.9% increase).
read more…
http://eyeonhousing.org/2016/06/private-residential-construction-spending-stalls-in-april/