Tag Archives: Chappaqua Real Estate for Sale

Pending home sales plunge 9.2% in April | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Pending home sales for the month of April plummeted 9.2% compared to April 2013, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

Contracts signed to buy existing homes increased 0.4% in April compared to March 2014, but that’s coming off three months of flat sales blamed on cold weather.

The expectation had been for at least a 2% gain month-over-month.

Optimistic economists expected that there was a swathe of pent-up demand that would flood the market at the start of the spring buying season. That didn’t happen.

“Higher inventory levels are giving buyers more choices, and a slight decline in mortgage interest rates this spring is raising prospective homebuyers’ confidence,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR. “An uptrend in closed sales is expected, although some months will encounter a modest setback.”

Sales have arrested despite mortgage rates now being at a near nine-month low after five straight weeks of steady declines. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage this week was 4.12%. Even refinancings have dropped to 37% of all mortgage activity, meaning borrowers are staying away despite historic lows.

Which means it could get worse, as Yun projects the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to trend up and average 5.5% next year.

“The extent to which higher mortgage interest rates will impact housing affordability and sales depends on income growth, ongoing improvement in the labor market and any change to mortgage underwriting conditions,” he said.

This comes as the economy is looking at more bad news.

The nation’s domestic economic output for the first quarter was revised downward Thursday, posting a contraction of -1.0% from a meager positive 0.1% initially reported.

 

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http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30140-pending-home-sales-plunge-92-in-april

Where Can You Really Afford to Buy a Home? | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Owning a home has long been associated with success, stability, and work ethic. An investment in your future, purchasing a home is one of your more significant financial decisions. It’s a decision two out of every three Americans have made in recent years.

Interest rates, housing markets, community and school ratings, and crime statistics are only a few of the factors that may weigh into the decision to buy a home. This week, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 4.33 percent, and next week this rate will likely change.

While finding the right home that will earn you a decent return on your investment is essential, perhaps even more critical is the need to find a home you can afford. HSH recently published a report on the annual salary required to purchase a home in 27 different metropolitan areas. Based on this report and other supplemental data, let’s see where you can afford to buy at the median home price.

Read more: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/personal-finance/where-can-you-really-afford-to-buy-a-home.html/?a=viewall#ixzz32Mv4rOsv

 

Housing recovery divided | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Monday Morning Cup of Coffee takes a look at stories across the HousingWire news desk, with more coverage to come on bigger issues.

As the first-quarter earnings season starts to come to a close, a new trend started to unfold in CEO letters to shareholders, according to an article in CNBC.

CEOs usually send the letters along with the company’s proxy statement in the spring because proxy statements are due within four months of every company’s fiscal year ending.

The article explained that most CEOs have a tendency to take this time to boast about their accomplishments.

But this year was a little different, with some CEOs taking the opportunity to rmark on recent, not-so-grand events. A full list of CEOs telling it like it is is available in the original USA Today article.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon dealt with a year filled billions of dollars of settlements, mostly related to mortgage securities.

“The bad news was bad,” he wrote. “The most painful, difficult and nerve-wracking experience that I have ever dealt with professionally was trying to resolve the legal issues we had this past year.”

However, Dimon stressed that despite all of the negative, JP Morgan came out strengthened. And, despite the loss, Dimon’s 2013 compensation package was raised to $20 million.

Thousands of homeowners will open their mailboxes to a pleasant surprise as Everbank Financial is prepared to write $1,050 checks to 25,389 of its customers, even though no errors were found in reviews of their foreclosure files, an article in The Washington Post explained.

 

 

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http://www.housingwire.com/blogs/1-rewired/post/29896-monday-morning-cup-of-coffee-jpmorgan-ceo-tells-all-housing-recovery-divided-across-nation

Out with housing recovery, in with unaffordability? | Chappaqua Homes

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Not only have home prices been on the rise for the ninth straight quarter, but they are starting to creep closer to being more expensive than ever.

According to the latest Zillow Home Value Forecast, home values grew 5.7% year-over-year in the first quarter, with declines experienced in the recession almost gone or close to being erased in almost 20% of metro housing markets nationwide.

Home values nationwide grew .5% from the fourth quarter of 2013, and are expected to increase another 3.3% through the first quarter of 2015.

“The lows of the housing recession are becoming an increasingly distant memory as home values reach new highs and homes become more expensive than ever in many areas. This is a remarkable milestone coming only two and a half years after the end of the worst housing recession since the Great Depression, and is a testament to just how robust this housing recovery has been,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries.

Across the U.S., home values are 13.5% below their 2007 peak after falling 22.6% during the recession before bottoming in 2011.

However, the market is almost past this.

So far, 1,080 of the more than 8,700 cities and towns covered by Zillow, with home values already at or expected to reach pre-recession levels in the next year, including in many hard-hit areas.

 

 

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http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29738-out-with-housing-recovery-in-with-unaffordability

Average fixed mortgage rates rising slightly from last week | Chappaqua 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 rising slightly from last week following positive news for housing starts and building permits.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.47 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending December 19, 2013, up from last week when it averaged 4.42 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.37 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.51 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.43 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.65 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.96 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.94 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.71 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.57 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.51 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.52 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 rose slightly leading up to the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement. The statement indicated that the central bank would begin to trim its bond buying program. The Fed noted that the economy expanded at a modest pace, but the unemployment rate remains elevated. In addition, housing starts in November rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,091,000, the highest rate since February 2008. Permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,007,000 in November, 7.9 percent higher than in November 2012.”

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. For more information please visit www.FreddieMac.com and Twitter: @FreddieMac.

Inside the Absurdly Lavish $114M Upper East Side Mansion | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Onyx-clad bathrooms, an indoor swimming pool, a movie theater with a balcony, a dressing area that doubles as a panic room, a 2,000-square-foot rooftop deck—these are just a few of extravagant features in the 40-foot wide mansion at 12 East 69th Street, currently on the market for a mindboggling $114,077,000. The Times announced the listing on Friday, and it’s now live on Corcoran’s website. Renovated by Vincent and Teresa Viola (the owner of the Florida Panthers NHL team and the president of Maida Vale Designs, respectively), the 19-room house is a case study in grandeur and the mega-rich, and needless to say, if it sells for anything close to the asking price, it will shatter previously held price records— and yet, it’s not even the most expensive thing on the market.

The brokerbabble is nothing impressive, but Friday’s Times article more than makes up for. Click through for the best lines. ·: Listing: 12 East 69th Street [Corcoran via StreetEasy] · East 69th Street Mansion Wants An Eye-Popping $114 Million [Curbed]

Homes That Might Be Trying to Tell You Something | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Remember the Virgin Mary in the grilled cheese? Or Mother Teresa in a cinnamon bun? And wasn’t there a Cheeto that looked like Abraham Lincoln? Or was that a McNugget? Anyway, humans see faces everywhere. It’s a phenomenon called pareidolia: interpreting a random stimulus as being more significant than it really is.

Food visions aside, architecture is rife with face-like imagery. The abundant shapes and symmetry can easily form what looks like two eyes, a mouth and sometimes a nose.
The funny thing is, once you notice these faces, it’s impossible to ever look at a house the same way again. Just look at the smirk on this window’s face. Shameful!
Nooooo! Come back! You’ve left me naked and stone cold out here!
Hey, you, somebody, anybody. I’d kill for a glass of that scotch over there.
Come in, dear. Don’t you look ravishing. Let my Bette Davis eyes watch over you while you do your toilette.
Did you say you’re here to reclaim my reclaimed barn wood?
What’s happening over there? No, not another turkey, please. It’s too big. Help!

Art Dealer’s Mott Schmidt Georgian Manor Asks $9.8M | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Location: Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. Price: $9,800,000 The Skinny: Built in 1929 for New York banker William S. Lambie, this Georgian manor was designed by architect-to-the-moneyed Mott Schmidt, whose work came into vogue when the tastes of the rich swung from Gilded Age opulence to something (relatively) more restrained. Despite its lack of garish flourishes, with eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms spread out over 13,242 square feet the property still manages to announce the original owner’s wealth very effectively. Located on a 16-acre wooded lot not far from the Hudson River, it’s adjacent to the Sleepy Hollow Country Club, and actually sits on the road that inspired Washington Irving’s tale of the headless horseman. Schmidt, whose client list reads like a list of Who’s Who in early 20th-century New York, also designed homes in the town and country for the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, and the Astors. This home is currently owned by the art dealer Warren Adelson and asking $9.8M, a slight drop from the original $10.9M it asked was listed earlier this year.

· 842 Sleepy Hollow Road [Zillow] · 842 Sleepy Hollow Road [Coldwell Banker]