Tag Archives: Katonah Real Estate for Sale

Mortgages Rise in 2014, Should Increase Further in 2015 | Katonah Real Estate

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According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Household Debt and Credit Report, total household debt outstanding rose by $306 billion, 2.7%, between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the fourth quarter of 2014.

At the end of 2014 there was $11.8 trillion in house debt outstanding. By virtue of its size, the increase in mortgage debt outstanding over the year, $121 billion, accounted for much of the increase in total household credit outstanding. Auto loans, $92 billion, student loans, $77 billion, credit cards, $17 billion, and other consumer debt, $18 billion, also contributed to increase in total household debt outstanding over the 2014. The outstanding amount of home equity lines of credit fell by $19 billion. However, in year-over-year percentage growth terms, auto loans, 10.7%, and student loans, 7.1%, led the way. Outstanding credit card debt rose by 2.5% and mortgage debt increased by 1.5%. The amount of home equity lines of credit outstanding fell by 3.6%.

Although the year-over-year growth in mortgage credit outstanding, 1.5%, was below the 2.7% growth in total household debt outstanding, it represents acceleration from the rate of growth recorded over the year of 2013. As Figure 1 below illustrates, following four successive years of declines, 2014 marks the second consecutive year of growth. The rate of growth in 2014 was 1.3 percentage points greater than the rate recorded in 2013 and is similar to the rate recorded in 2008, the last year that mortgage debt outstanding registered annual growth.

Presentation1

Despite the presence of some risks, mortgage debt outstanding should expand further in 2015. Part of the reason that mortgage debt outstanding should rise in 2015 is because the serious mortgage delinquency rate is returning to its pre-recession level. At the same time, mortgage originators expect their mortgage business to grow. According to Fannie Mae’s Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey, and as illustrated in Figure 2 below, 88% of respondents expect to grow their mortgage origination volume going forward, while 12% expect to maintain their mortgage origination volume. No respondent expects to either downsize their mortgage origination volume or exit the mortgage origination industry.

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/02/mortgages-rise-in-2014-should-increase-further-in-2015/

Hip Hillside Spec Home | Katonah Real Estate

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Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Price: $1,849,000
One of a pair of “brother and sister residences” designed by Fung + Blatt architects and developed by Ground Up is on the market for the first time. But is this terraced spec home the brother or the sister?

This one’s called the Jem Residence, and the other is the Scout Residence. Which doesn’t really bring us any closer to answering the question, because to the extent that those words can be considered human names, neither is very gendered. Update: A commenter who advises me to “read a book” sometime says that these are characters from Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which I haven’t read. Jem is the brother and Scout is the sister. And here I thought Scout Willis was the only noteworthy Scout.

Anyway, this 2,170-square-foot three-bedroom home was built with “careful recognition and nod to the masters of mid-century and modernist architecture,” with large balconies and a very chic and chicly decorated interior, with folding glass doors a few raw concrete-block walls. The asking price is $1,849,000.

 

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http://curbed.com/archives/2015/01/20/fung-blatt-jem-residence-for-sale.php

What Housing Policies are in the Tax Extenders Legislation? | #Katonah Real Estate

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On December 16th, the Senate approved a one-year extension of the set of tax policies known as “tax extenders.” With the House of Representatives having previously adopted this extension, the legislation (H.R. 5771, which contains the “Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014″) is now headed to the President, who is expected to sign the bill into law.

It is important to note that for most items in the bill, this one-year extension is for 2014.  The extenders then sunset again at the end of the year, and will be part of the tax policy debate in 2015.

A number of housing-focused policies are in the bill, including many items supported by NAHB. Homeowners, home builders, developers, remodelers, and other housing stakeholders are advised to review this list and consider which items may benefit their (or their clients’) taxes for the coming filing season.

All of the following items were extended for 2014 and then sunset at the end of the year:

  • Section 45L Tax Credit for Energy Efficient New Homes. Provides builders a $2,000 tax credit for exceeding energy standards by 50%. The base energy code is the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code plus supplements. Section 45L is expected to save home builders $267 million in taxes for 2014 construction activity.
  • Fixed Credit Rate for 9% Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects. The bill will renew the 9% LIHTC fixed rate, but only for 2014 allocations.
  • Section 25C Tax Credit for Qualified Energy Efficiency Improvements. This is a credit worth up to $500 (subject to a $500 lifetime cap), with lower caps for certain products like windows, for consumers to install qualified energy-efficient upgrades. Remodelers often leverage 25C tax credits when working with clients. Section 25C is expected to save home owners who remodel $832 million in taxes for 2014 improvements.
  • Section 179D Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction. Provides a deduction up to $1.80 per square foot for commercial buildings, including multifamily buildings built under the commercial code, that exceed specific energy efficiency minimums.
  • Section 163 Deduction for Mortgage Insurance. Allows taxpayers, subject to an income cap, to deduct premiums paid for private mortgage insurance and FHA/RHA/VA insurance premiums. The deduction for MI is expected to save home owners $919 million for tax year 2014.
  • Bonus Depreciation. Extends 50% bonus depreciation.
  • Section 179 Small Business Expensing. Increases the maximum expensing amount to $500,000 for qualified property on up to $2 million in property placed in service.
  • Mortgage forgiveness tax relief. The provision would eliminate any taxes home owners might face due to renegotiating the terms of a home loan, which might result in forgiving or canceling a portion of the outstanding mortgage. Applies only to principal residences and through the 2014 calendar year.

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2014/12/what-housing-policies-are-in-the-tax-extenders-legislation/

This $460,000 West 56th Street One-Bedroom Is … Something | Katonah Real Estate

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8 images

Well, there’s definitely a reason (more than one, actually) that this apartment, a one-bedroom co-op in Midtown West asking only $460,000, is so cheap. Let’s start with a quick rundown. Floors: tile throughout. Windows: two in the bedroom, around half of one in the living room. Painted wall murals: most definitely, although their precise location is not entirely clear. Living room curtains framing something that looks like a window but is definitely not a window: yup.

And if this place wasn’t confusing enough, there’s the cryptic brokerbabble: “The reasonably sized living room space can fix anything that you have.” Is the living room magic? If any living room is magic, it could be this living room. (Perhaps more importantly, is it reasonably sized?) There’s also this paragraph about the kitchen: “The special feature of this apartment including marble tiles in the kitchen I’m decorated wall. It was painted by a talented artist.” The identity of the artist, and what exactly he or she painted, remain a mystery, like most everything about this apartment.

 

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/21/this_460000_west_56th_street_onebedroom_is_something.php

Mortgage Foreclosures Down 29% in November | Katonah NY Real Estate

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Homeowners (and investors in the banks holding their mortgages) received a triple dose of good news Thursday, when residential property data provider CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX ) announced that:

  • The number of completed foreclosures in America dropped 29% year over year in November, as compared to November 2012.
  • Completed foreclosures trended down sequentially from October, falling 8.3%.
  • The inventory of houses in some stage of the foreclosure process, the so-called “foreclosure inventory,” dropped 34% from a year ago. Month-over-month, the foreclosure inventory dropped 4.6% from October 2013 to November 2013.

Additionally, CoreLogic estimates that the residential “shadow inventory” of homes that are “seriously delinquent, in foreclosure or held as REO [real estate owned] by mortgage servicers, but not currently listed on multiple listing services,” has fallen to levels not seen since the start of the housing crisis in 2008. CoreLogic puts the size of this shadow inventory at 1.7 million homes, down 26.4% from one year ago.

As for actual foreclosures, according to CoreLogic’s data, 46,000 homes were foreclosed upon in November, versus 64,000 completed foreclosures in November 2012.

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/01/09/mortgage-foreclosures-down-29-in-november.aspx

Consolidated Edison rate freeze announced | Katonah NY Real Estate

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New York officials say Consolidated Edison Co. has agreed to a two-year freeze in electric delivery rates and a three-year freeze in gas and steam distribution rates starting in 2014.

The settlement proposal, pending approval by the state Public Service Commission, could result in rate decreases for some commercial and industrial customers.

The joint proposal recommends spending $1 billion to make more resilient the company’s electric, gas and steam systems.

Con Edison said lower financing costs and other savings will help offset rates, with most customers seeing little change, and will also fund its program to harden equipment against storms.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140102/ECONOMY/140109995

Combined Value of US Homes to Top $25 Trillion in 2013 | Katonah NY Real Estate

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Total Value 2013

If you wanted to buy every single home in the country, all at once, you’d need to be prepared to spend more than $25 trillion, according to Zillow.

The overall cumulative value of all homes in the U.S. at the end of 2013 is expected to be approximately $25.7 trillion, up almost $1.9 trillion, or 7.9 percent, from the end of 2012. Gains were calculated by measuring the difference between cumulative home values as of the end of 2012 and anticipated cumulative home values at the end of 2013.

The gain in cumulative home values is the second annual gain in a row, after home values fell every year from 2007 through 2011. Between 2007 and 2011, the total value of the U.S. housing stock fell by $6.3 trillion. Over the past two years, U.S. homes have gained back $2.8 trillion, or about 44 percent of the total value lost during the recession.

“In 2013, the housing market continued to build on the positive momentum that began in 2012, after the housing market bottomed. Low mortgage rates and an improving economy helped bring buyers into the market, boosting demand and driving prices up,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. “We expect these gains to continue into next year, though at a slower pace. The housing market is transitioning away from the robust bounce off the bottom we’ve been seeing, toward a more sustainable, healthier market. This will result in annual appreciation closer to historic norms of between 3 percent and 5 percent.”

Real estate in the United States is hugely valuable. The $25.7 trillion total value of the country’s entire housing stock is more than the combined gross domestic products (GDP) of China and the U.S. in 2012. Homes in the New York and Los Angeles markets alone account for more than $4 trillion in combined value.

The chart below shows how much the total housing stock in each of the country’s 30 largest metros is expected to be worth at the end of this year.

METROProjected Value, All Homes Year-End 2013Projected Home Value Gain/(Loss) 2013Home Value Gain/(Loss) 2012
United States$25.7 trillion$1.89 trillion$885 billion
New York, NY$1.9 trillion$123.1 billion($3.5 billion)
Los Angeles, CA$2.2 trillion$323.1 billion$117.8 billion
Chicago, IL$687.5 billion$58.6 billion($8 billion)
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX$339.5 billion$18.7 billion$17.8 billion
Philadelphia, PA$540.5 billion$19.5 billion($6.7 billion)
Houston, TX$307.2 billion$18.7 billion$6.4 billion
Washington, DC$890.3 billion$64.5 billion$26.1 billion
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, FL$646.8 billion$83.3 billion$49.5 billion
Atlanta, GA$332 billion$39.1 billion$869.5 million
Boston, MA$568.5 billion$45.6 billion$20.1 billion
San Francisco, CA$987.2 billion$159.2 billion$87.7 billion
Detroit, MI$247.2 billion$33.5 billion$19.6 billion
Riverside, CA$370.1 billion$71.5 billion$20.1 billion
Phoenix, AZ$383.5 billion$36.1 billion$59.6 billion
Seattle, WA$427.8 billion$43.6 billion$22.7 billion
Minneapolis-St Paul, MN$281.4 billion$25.4 billion$18 billion
San Diego, CA$507.5 billion$71.5 billion$32 billion
St. Louis, MO$170.5 billion$2.4 billion$4.6 billion
Tampa, FL$204.5 billion$25.7 billion$10.2 billion
Baltimore, MD$302.7 billion$14.5 billion$2.4 billion
Denver, CO$265.1 billion$21.9 billion$18.6 billion
Pittsburgh, PA$131.2 billion$6.6 billion$2.8 billion
Portland, OR$216.7 billion$22.8 billion$10.1 billion
Sacramento, CA$236.9 billion$40.7 billion$16.4 billion
San Antonio, TX$107 billion$1.9 billion($3.5 billion)
Orlando, FL$149 billion$21.3 billion$8.7 billion
Cincinnati, OH$115.7 billion$5.7 billion$420.5 million
Cleveland, OH$105.4 billion$3.3 billion$942.1 million
Kansas City, MO$115.6 billion$2 billion$1.9 billion
Las Vegas, NV$146.7 billion$31.4 billion$10.8 billion