Tag Archives: Mount Kisco NY

Small Dog’s Death Raises Concern About Coyotes | Mount Kisco Homes

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Concerns about a coyote invasion in Westchester County have been heightened since the animals attacked and killed one woman’s beloved dog.

As CBS 2’s Tracee Carrasco reported Monday night, a tiny backyard memorial has been set up for the small dog that lost her life to three vicious members of her own taxonomic genus.

“She was a Chihuahua-terrier mix, about 7 pounds; full of heart,” said Kristin Porteus.

But the tiny pup, Roxy, was no match for a pack of three coyotes last Friday morning.

Like any other day, Porteus let her three dogs into the backyard of her Mount Kisco home in Westchester County. But on this particular day, there were three coyotes right there waiting.

“Right around here, I saw a lot of commotion and Roxy was barking, and I saw two coyotes come,” Porteus said.

Two of Porteus’ small dogs were able to escape as she chased the coyotes out of her backyard. But Roxy could not get away.

Now, Porteus and other Mount Kisco residents have become worried that the brazen animals are becoming more aggressive. They are afraid the animals may attack a child next.

 

 

 

Small Dog’s Death Raises Concern About Coyotes In Westchester County « CBS New York.

HUD Report Questions Westchester Zoning Laws | Mt. Kisco Real Estate

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Seven Westchester municipalities have been accused in a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report of having zoning laws that keep out and segregate low-income families.

Croton-on-Hudson, Harrison, Lewisboro, the Town of Mamaroneck, the Town of Ossining, Pelham Manor and Pound Ridge were the seven municipalities named in the report recently released from Housing Monitor James Johnson. Johnson is trying to ensure that Westchester County meets the terms of a 2009 anti-discrimination housing settlement that requires the county to build 750 units of affordable housing by 2016, according to a news release.

Johnson said the towns lack zoning laws that provide incentives for or mandate affordable housing.

“Our work made clear (that) seven municipalities did not meet the first standard. I believe more data is required before one can conclude on the second,” Johnson said.

The county settled the anti-discrimination suit with HUD in 2009, but the two sides have butted heads since County Executive Robert Astorino took office in 2010. HUD is threatening to withhold $20 million in federal grants for nonprofits if the county does not meet HUD’s terms.

Ned McCormack, communications director and senior adviser to Astorino rejected the HUD report.

“The county’s comprehensive analysis in eight submissions to HUD – running to thousands of pages of documentation – found no evidence of any exclusionary zoning,” McCormack said in a statement.  “The county executive once again demands that HUD release the $17 million it is arbitrarily withholding from our local communities. There is no reason for HUD to continue to hold this money hostage, which is designed to help our neediest residents.”

 

 

HUD Report Questions Westchester Zoning Laws | The Mt. Kisco Daily Voice.

Commercial real estate development surge expected in California | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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As the economy improves, commercial real estate industry leaders are increasingly optimistic about a surge in the California market over the next three years or so, a new report said.

Experts said they expect the nonresidential market will keep growing steadily for the next three years but start to slow after 2016 or 2017. There will still be growth, the report said, but at a slower rate.

 

 

Commercial real estate development surge expected in California – Los Angeles Times.

April Case-Shiller Prices Broke Records for Monthly Gains | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Home prices rose to 2004 levels in the S&P Case-Shiller Indices for April as the10- and 20-City Composites posted their highest monthly gains in the history of S&P/Case-Shiller.

Data through April 2013 released today showed average home prices increased 11.6 percent and 12.1 percent for the 10- and 20-City Composites in the 12 months ending in April 2013. From March to April, the 10- and 20-City Composites rose 2.6% and 2.5 percent.

All 20 cities and both Composites showed positive year-over-year returns for at least the fourth consecutive month. Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit and Minneapolis posted their highest annual gains since the start of their respective indices. On a monthly basis, all cities with the exception of Detroit posted positive change.

The chart above depicts the annual returns of the 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite Home Price Indices. In April 2013, the 10- and 20-City Composites posted annual increases of 11.6% and 12.1%, respectively.

“The recovery is definitely broad based. The two Composites showed the largest year-over-year gains in seven years. Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Francisco posted year-over-year gains of over 20% in April. San Francisco was the highest at 23.9%. Phoenix posted 12 consecutive months of double-digit growth. Recent economic data on home sales and inventories confirm the housing recovery’s strength,” David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“Last week’s comments from the Fed and the resulting sharp increase in Treasury yields sparked fears that rising mortgage rates will damage the housing rebound. Home buyers have survived rising mortgage rates in the past, often by shifting from fixed rate to adjustable rate loans. In the housing boom, bust and recovery, banks’ credit quality standards were more important than the level of mortgage rates. The most recent Fed Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey shows that some banks are easing credit restrictions. Given this, the recovery should continue,” Blitzer said.

For the month of April, 19 of the 20 cities showed positive returns; Detroit was the only MSA to remain flat. Compared to March 2013, thirteen cities showed improvement with Minneapolis showing the largest change with a gain of 2.9% compared to its March return of -1.1%. California is seeing impressive returns all around with gains ranging from 3.4% to 4.9%. Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco posted their highest gains since 2004, 1988 and 1987, respectively. Looking at the east coast, Miami showed its largest return, 2.4%, in seven and a half years.

All 20 cities showed increases over their levels from 12 months ago. Twelve MSAs – Atlanta, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Tampa – continued to show double-digit annual gains. Out of these 12 MSAs, Phoenix and Tampa were the only cities to show year-over-year deceleration.

The table below summarizes the results for April 2013. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are revised for the 24 prior months, based on the receipt of additional source data.

Since its launch in early 2006, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices have published, and the markets have followed and reported on, the non-seasonally adjusted data set used in the headline indices. For analytical purposes, S&P Dow Jones Indices publishes a seasonally adjusted data set covered in the headline indices, as well as for the 17 of 20 markets with tiered price indices and the five condo markets that are tracked.

 

April Case-Shiller Prices Broke Records for Monthly Gains | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Many Mt. Kisco Village Tax Bills Have Been Lost In the Mail | Mt. Kisco Homes

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MT. KISCO, N.Y. — The following is an advisory from Mt. Kisco regarding your tax bill.

ALL 2013 VILLAGE TAX BILLS THAT WERE MAILED OUT ON MAY 31, 2013 HAVE BEEN LOST BY THE WHITE PLAINS REGIONAL PROCESSING CENTER OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF SENDING OUT A DUPLICATE BILLING TO ALL PROPERTY OWNERS BY TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 2013.

HOWEVER, NYS REAL PROPERTY TAX LAW WILL NOT ALLOW ME OR ANY OTHER VILLAGE OFFICIAL TO WAIVE ANY PENALTY. ALL VILLAGE TAX BILLS ARE STILL DUE BY JULY 1, 2013, WITHOUT PENALTY.

PLEASE KNOW, AS ALWAYS, YOU ARE WELCOME TO PAY YOUR BILL IN PERSON AND WILL RECEIVE A COPY OF YOUR TAX BILL AT THAT TIME IF THAT IS MORE CONVENIENT FOR YOU.

WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS HAS CAUSED YOU. PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT THE VILLAGE HAS COMMENCED AN INVESIGATION WITH THE POSTAL SERVICE AND HAVE ALREADY BEEN ASSURED THAT ANY AND ALL ADDITIONAL COSTS WILL BE PAID FOR BY THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE.

Joann F. Cerretani
Receiver of Taxes
Village/Town of Mount Kisco
104 Main Street
Mount Kisco, New York 10549
(914) 864-0034

 

Many Mt. Kisco Village Tax Bills Have Been Lost In the Mail | The Mt. Kisco Daily Voice.

Rising prices widen homeownership availability gap | Mount Kisco Real Estate

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Across all 100 metros, less affordable markets tend to have high price gains. The correlation between the year-over-year price gain and the mortgage-payment-versus-wage measure is 0.3 (statistically significant at the 5% level). That means that homeownership affordability is becoming more unequal across the U.S. — the gap between more affordable and less affordable markets is growing. To see what this growing gap means for the housing market, read the full blog post byTrulia.

 

Rising prices widen homeownership availability gap | HousingWire.

Will higher mortgage rates kill the housing market? Maybe not! | Mount Kisco Real Estate

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Home prices have been soaring over the past year, the sharpest gains in seven years; construction activity is picking up nicely. Both trends have been driven in no small part by a steady drop in home mortgage interest rates, which have made homeownership too good a deal to pass up for millions of Americans.

But the trend on rates has reversed abruptly in the past few weeks. This chart shows the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage since the start of 2011; the spike on the right shows an increase from 3.4 percent to 4.1 percent since May 1.

Source: Bloomberg/BankRate

Source: Bloomberg/BankRate

So what will become of our precious and long-awaited housing boom? Is it a fragile, delicate flower about to be crushed by the boot of higher rates? Or is the housing recovery now resilient enough that there’s no need to fear? Economists at Goldman Sachs have run some numbers through their models of how the housing market works and have come up with some promising answers.

Source: Goldman SachsThe Goldman economists, Hui Shan and Marty Young, start with an analysis built on home affordability. Take the median household income in the United States ($50,000), assume a buyer has a 20 percent down payment and that they can only afford debt payments equal to 25 percent of their income. This chart shows how much house they can afford at any given mortgage rate:

Source: Goldman Sachs

It also shows an initial reason for some optimism. At a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate of about 3.8 percent, the typical American homebuyer can afford a $279,000 house. That’s 45 percent more than the current price of houses. That suggests that affordability isn’t the thing holding Americans back from buying houses (instead, it may be such factors as tight credit standards, difficulty building up a down payment  or lack of confidence in future job prospects). It also implies that slight increases in the mortgage rate shouldn’t completely undermine the improvement in the housing market; the thing to watch is not rates per se, but what happens on those other factors that are drags on would-be homeowners.

And that bodes particularly well:  As we wrote last week, the rise in rates over the past month appears to be driven primarily by improving economic prospects. If that’s the case, even as homes become a bit more expensive, they will be doing so at the same time those other restraining factors dissipate. So rising mortgage rates, if they’re rising for good reasons, could actually be net positives for the housing market if they result from more people having jobs and being confident in their prospects.

 

Will higher mortgage rates kill the housing market? Maybe not!.

Forget Lowballing: Bidding Wars Return in Hot Housing Markets | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Are buyers being manipulated into overbidding for the relatively few attractive homes on the market?
Earlier this year, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced that the number of homes for sale in the U.S. had reached a low not seen since 1999. More homes have hit the market since then, but Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in March that in many areas around the nation, the inventory of homes for sale is unlikely to keep up with the number of interested buyers.
“Buyer traffic is 40% above a year ago, so there is plenty of demand but insufficient inventory to improve sales more strongly. We’ve transitioned into a seller’s market in much of the country,” said Yun. “We expect a seasonal rise of inventory this spring, but it may be insufficient to avoid more frequent incidences of multiple bidding and faster-than-normal price growth.
Bidding wars have been commonplace in Connecticut this spring, especially for mid-range properties ($300K to $600K), reports the Hartford Courant. Buyers are reportedly frustrated by “the slow trickle of new listings,” and “they are ready to pounce,” according to a local realtor, when an attractive property in their price range comes onto the market.
Bidding wars have also been popping up in cities such as Denver, where half of new homes on the market have been selling in under 30 days. CNN Money recently noted that nine in 10 homes in hot markets in northern and southern California have attracted bidding wars, as have at least two-thirds of properties in Boston, New York City, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. “The only question is not whether a new listing will get multiple bids but how many it will get,” one agent in the Sacramento area explained.

 

Forget Lowballing: Bidding Wars Return in Hot Housing Markets | Mt Kisco Real Estate | Bedford NY Real Estate | Robert Paul Talks Life in Bedford NY.

As Home Prices Rise, Consumer ‘Wealth Effect’ May Be Smaller | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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The “wealth effect” is a term coined by economists to describe consumers’ tendency to spend more when their wealth has increased. It spurred the U.S. economy forward for decades as the market value of homes rose. It was easy for Americans to take out new mortgages and pocket the proceeds for trips to the mall or a second car. The equity extracted through these mortgages, known as cash-out refinancings, rose from $26 billion in 2000 to $321 billion in 2006. Home-equity loans, which do not require a new mortgage, also fueled the frenzy. Economists figured that every dollar increase in housing wealth produced an extra 3¢ to 5¢ in spending.
Home prices are rising again, but the wealth effect “is much smaller,” says Amir Sufi, a professor of finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Sufi reckons that each dollar gain in housing wealth today may yield as little as 1¢ in extra spending. U.S. Department of Commerce data show that consumer spending has grown at a 2.1 percent annual rate since the recession’s end, down from a 3.2 percent average for the 20 years before the slump.
Consumers now see their homes less as a piggy bank to be tapped and more as a nest egg to be secured. More homeowners are paying down the principal and shortening the maturities of mortgages. Cash-in refinancings, in which borrowers invest more of their own money in the house, outnumbered cash-outs by more than 2 to 1 in the fourth quarter, according to Freddie Mac (FMCC).

 

 

As Home Prices Rise, Consumer ‘Wealth Effect’ May Be Smaller | Mt Kisco Real Estate | Bedford NY Real Estate | Robert Paul Talks Life in Bedford NY.