Tag Archives: Cross River Homes

Home prices continue to level off | Cross River Real Estate

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The pace of home price appreciation in San Diego County fell to a level near its historical average in September, as the housing market continued its return to normalcy after last year’s investor-led run-up in prices.

In September, the median price for a home sold in the county was $445,000, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier, DataQuick reported Monday. Since the real-estate tracker began collecting the data in 1988, San Diego County has averaged an annual home-price gain of 5.2 percent.

“It’s difficult to talk about normal in a boom-bust state, but this is in line with the long-term average and certainly more sustainable,” said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage.

In August, when annual appreciation was 8.1 percent, the median home price was $448,500.

The slowdown to 5.5 percent in September marked first time the annual pace of home-price appreciation has been near its historical average since July 2012. At that time, however, home values were recovering from the Great Recession, and annual appreciation was on its way to more than 24 percent year-over-year gains, which it reached in June 2013.

Those big home price gains came largely due to investors fixing and flipping distressed properties. Most of that activity is now in the past, with foreclosure resales making up 3.3 percent of the transactions in September. Now, market prices are being driven by traditional factors, such as incomes, supply and mortgage rates.

“Wages aren’t going up, gas, energy, insurance, everything else is going up faster than wages,” said Mark Goldman, a loan officer and real-estate lecturer at San Diego State University. “It’s going to squeeze the housing dollar.”

The number of transactions was nearly flat over the month, declining by 19 sales to 3,305. Activity in the county’s housing market is down 2.3 percent from September 2013, when 3,383 properties changed hands.

Jordan Levine, director of economic research at Beacon Economics, said that his organization is forecasting 4 percent to 6 percent annual appreciation. He noted that DataQuick reports a median price for all homes sold, meaning that even in the days of d

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http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/oct/13/

Housing’s Share of GDP: 15.5% for the Second Quarter | Cross River Real Estate

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Housing is an important source of economic growth. As of the second quarter of 2014, housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) was 15.5%, with home building and remodeling yielding 3.1 percentage points of that total.

housing gdp_2q14

Housing-related activities contribute to GDP in two basic ways.

The first is through residential fixed investment (RFI). RFI is effectively the measure of the home building and remodeling contribution to GDP. It includes construction of new single-family and multifamily structures, residential remodeling, production of manufactured homes and brokers’ fees. For the second quarter, RFI was 3.1% of the economy.

The RFI component reached a $496 annualized pace during the second quarter. This is the second highest quarterly total for RFI since the middle of 2008. Overall GDP expanded by 4.6% (annualized) for the quarter, with RFI adding 0.27 points of that total.

The second impact of housing on GDP is the measure of housing services, which includes gross rents (including utilities) paid by renters, and owners’ imputed rent (an estimate of how much it would cost to rent owner-occupied units) and utility payments. The inclusion of owners’ imputed rent is necessary from a national income accounting approach because without this measure increases in homeownership would result in declines for GDP. For the second quarter, housing services was 12.4% of the economy.

Historically, RFI has averaged roughly 5% of GDP while housing services have averaged between 12% and 13%, for a combined 17% to 18% of GDP. These shares tend to vary over the business cycle.

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2014/09/housings-share-of-gdp-15-5-for-the-second-quarter/

Londoners threaten to flee the capital over housing costs | Cross River Real Estate

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Londoners are threatening to leave the capital in their droves as many struggle to pay rocketing housing costs, as wealthy overseas and domestic cash buyers prop up housing prices.

The city could face a “brain drain” as employees look to relocating to more affordable parts of the country, according to research conducted by YouGov for London First.

The not for profit organisation that promotes London to investors said the capital is going to feel the economic consequences of London’s housing shortage with nearly half of those polled vowing to leave the city if prices keep climbing.

The majority of employees (56pc) find it difficult to pay rent or mortgages costs and work in London while three quarters of businesses warned that a lack of supply and costs are a “significant risk to the capital’s economic growth.”

London employees, employers, councillors and more than 1,000 members of the public were all polled on behalf of business group London First and global construction consultancy Turner & Townsend.

 

 

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11120163/House-prices-Londoners-threaten-to-flee-the-capital-over-housing-costs.html

Behold, The Astounding Interiors of the Beekman Condo-Hotel | Cross River Real Estate

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[The atrium, which is to be the centerpiece of the hotel. This will be The Living Room, located within the atrium, a lounge by Tom Colicchio. Colicchio will also be offering in-residence dining service for the residents at the condo tower.]
18 images

At long last. The conversion of the beautiful Temple Court building on Beekman Street into a hotel, with a condo tower that will rise behind it, has been in the works for years. Onlookers have been teased and titillated by a video of the beautiful, decrepit space ripe with potential, plus exterior views and one tantalizing interior peek. But today—today a tipster sends along the first extensive look into the interiors of the hotel and condos. Plus one floorplan. And some view shots. And yes, it is impressive.

While you peruse the renders, recall that 68 condominiums will be housed in a 51-story glassy tower adjacent to the 1883-built atrium-filled beauty, which will contain 287 hotel rooms. The condos will start at $1.2 million for the 20 one-bedrooms, $2.95 million for 38 two-bedrooms, and $3.7 million for eight three-bedrooms. Apartments will range from 700 to 3,550 square feet, while the two full-floor penthouses will also have private outdoor space. Penthouse pricing has not yet been announced, so of course, those asks will be higher.

 

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/09/23/behold_the_astounding_interiors_of_the_beekman_condohotel.php

Real Estate will be Hurt by Higher Rates | #CrossRiverRealEstate

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The prolonged flat, stable period of mortgage rates came to an end this week as rates on the more popular types of mortgages surged, according to the latest data released Thursday by Freddie Mac.

Fixed mortgage rates’ biggest one-week gain this year pushed them to their highest level since early May.

Rates were climbing even before the Federal Reserve’s announcement Wednesday about its plans to wind down its trillion-dollar stimulus program.

The 30-year fixed-rate average spiked to 4.23 percent with an average 0.5 point. It was 4.12 percent a week ago and 4.5 percent a year ago. For the past 12 weeks, the 30-year fixed rate had drifted between 4.1 percent and 4.14 percent. This is the highest it has been since it was 4.29 percent on May 1.

The 15-year fixed-rate average jumped to 3.37 percent with an average 0.5 point. It was 3.26 percent a week ago and 3.54 percent a year ago. The 15-year fixed rate had floated between 3.27 percent and 3.22 percent for the past 12 weeks. This is the highest it has been since it was 3.38 percent on May 1.

Hybrid adjustable rate mortgages were mixed. The five-year ARM average rose to 3.06 percent with an average 0.5 point. It was 2.99 percent a week ago and 3.11 percent a year ago. This is the first time in six weeks the five-year ARM has risen above 3 percent.

The one-year ARM average fell to 2.43 percent with an average 0.4 point. It was 2.45 percent a week ago.

“Fixed-rate mortgage rates rose this week following the increase in 10-year Treasury yields being partially fueled by market speculation the Federal Reserve might change its interest rate guidance,” Frank E. Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, said in a statement.

 

 

 

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/where-we-live/wp/2014/09/18/mortgage-rates-soar-to-highest-level-since-early-may/

Mortgages One Of Bove’s Four Apocalyptic Risks For U.S | Cross River Homes

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Recent news out of the home finance industry has been rather sombre.

The results of a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that mortgage applications declined 7.2% in the week ending September 5, 2014 compared to the preceding week, as measured by the Market Composite Index which tracks mortgage loan application volume. On a seasonally adjusted basis this index was down 7.2% versus the previous week, and touched its lowest level since December 2000.

Fannie Mae Mortgages application-vs-intt-rt-arrows

The above chart, courtesy of Mortgage News Daily, plots the Market Composite Index versus the 30 Year Fixed Mortgage.  Note that mortgage volume as evidenced by the index has trended inversely to the 30 Year Fixed from 2010 through mid-2013. Subsequently, however, both have tended down as shown by the red arrows. That could be partly explained by the fall in refinance volumes, but other factors are probably at work, judging from a recent survey result from Fannie Mae.

“The August National Housing Survey results lend support to our forecast that 2015 will likely not be a breakout year for housing,” said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae / Federal National Mortgage Assctn Fnni Me (OTCBB:FNMA). “The deterioration in consumer attitudes about the current home buying environment reflects a shift away from record home purchase affordability without enough momentum in consumer personal financial sentiment to compensate for it. To date, this year’s labor market strength has not translated into sufficient income gains to inspire confidence among consumers to purchase a home, even in the current favorable interest rate environment.”

As a result, total home sales during 2014 may actually turn out to be lower than they were in 2013, primarily due to a weak performance the first half of the year.

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http://www.valuewalk.com/2014/09/mortgages-fannie-mae/

 

 

VT housing prices remain below 2007 peak | Cross River Real Estate

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Vermont is the only state in the nation with housing prices today less than they were 12 months ago. That’s according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the federal agency that regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

We should always take these types of data with several grains of salt. Nonetheless, it is worthwhile to use the FHFA data to see the general course of housing prices in Vermont. And the FHFA numbers show some interesting patterns.

For those old enough to remember, Vermont experienced a housing boom in the mid-and-late 1980s when house prices rose by 75 percent in just six years. By today’s standards, the actual prices people paid for houses look absurd. According to the 1980s Census, Vermonters who owned their own homes told the Census Bureau that their median house price in 1980 was $42,000. In the 1990 Census they reported a median price of $96,000 in 1990. (Today the median price is $216,000.)

Since 1980, the overall price level in the U.S. has nearly tripled, and it’s nearly doubled since 1990, so we need to look at housing prices in inflation-adjusted dollars. Even adjusting for inflation, housing prices rose by 44 percent during the 1983 to 1989 boom, meaning they increased that much faster than the average price of everything in the economy.

The 1980s housing boom was not too different from the more recent Vermont housing boom of the early 2000s. And Vermont did not escape the national housing boom. It did not experience the worst of it, which was in states such as California, Arizona, Florida, and Nevada. But prices in Vermont actually rose faster than the national average between 2000 and 2007.

 

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http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/money/2014/09/03/vermont-housing-prices-peak/15038887/

 

21 years to save for the down payment on a house? | Cross River Homes

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Guardian reporter Jessica Glenza and her boyfriend are buying a house and decided to go with a Federal Housing Authority loan. Glenza explains (in a satirical way that catches your eye), how she can finally afford a home and why some might think this is a bad thing.

It was over a plate of linguine and cream sauce that I learned I could afford a home. The government-run program allows buyers to put down as little as 3.5% of the property’s sales price.

What I found out is that the Federal Housing Authority finances about one in five homes in the US, a huge proportion. FHA financing works by allowing people to finance part of the traditional 20% down payment.

Previously, Glenza assumed she would be forced to save for 10 to 15 years in order to pull together a 20% down payment.

However, as she learned about this new program, she also realized the opposition to it. This is where people like Norbert Michael from the Heritage Foundation, who would rather do away with Fannie, Freddie and the FHA, come in.

 

 

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21 years to save for the down payment on a house?

 

Houston Megamanse With Gargantuan Indoor Pool Wants $19M | Cross River Real Estate

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Location: Houston, Texas
Price: $18,900,000
The Skinny: Leave it to an eccentric, high-living Italian baron—who also happened to be heir to the Texas-sized oil fortune of wildcatter extraordinaire Hugh Cullen—to dream up something as fantastically and wonderfully tasteless as this gargantuan mansion/natatorium in the River Oaks district of (where else?) Houston, Texas. The chewy nougat center of this black gold-fueled confection is the 12,000-square-foot mall food court with a swimming pool drilled into its marble floors, led pool lights, around which the rest of the house orbits, trapped in the kind of gravitational pull that only a dense concentration of pure awful can generate. What makes the home truly remarkable is its embodiment of the spirit of the man who built it, the Baron Enrico di Portanova. If you are looking for solar street light suppliers in china the best  solar LED light provider you get here,do visit.

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The late baron exploits, as documented in his Times obituary, are legend: he was a philosopher who once said that the best things in life are “sun, sex and spaghetti,” an international jet-setter who traveled the world in his very own Lear jet (which he called his “taxi”), and a loving husband who once tried to buy his wife a share in the “21” Club, and when rebuffed enclosed the garden of his home in glass, giving birth to the swimming and entertainment center we see before us today. After di Portanova’s death in 2000, the mansion passed into the hands of the current owners, who are asking $18.9M.

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http://curbed.com/archives/2014/08/05/houston-house-with-insane-pool.php

Refinancings drop 4% with purchases up 0.2% | Cross River Real Estate

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Continuing the long-term trend this year, mortgage applications decreased 2.2% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 25, 2014.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2% compared with the previous week.

“Despite mortgage backed security issuance being up 38 percent from the first quarter average, the MBA index continues to show declines. This suggests that there are fundamental shifts occurring in the market where big players (reporting to the MBA) may be giving up market share or perhaps not holding as many loans in portfolio, thereby pushing up the bond issuance,” said Quicken Loans Vice President Bill Banfield. “In either case, the current level of activity for purchases and refinances has been directional stronger in recent months based on actual security issuance. With home prices stabilizing from a rapid level of appreciation and interest rates either falling or holding steady recently, I expect to see continued improvements in the purchase arena.”

 

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http://www.housingwire.com/articles/30841-mortgage-applications-continue-fall-with-22-drop