Tag Archives: Mt Kisco Luxury Real Estate
Dutch Property Prices In Five-Year Freefall | Mt Kisco NY Real Estate
Property investors who bought in the Dutch market have been hit with prices that have dropped for five straight years – and the decrease is accelerating, according to figures.
Average house prices fell by 11.4% in real terms last year to make it the biggest drop in values for five years.
The figure comes from the Dutch Association of Real Estate Agents (NVM) which adds that the future is bleak for investors and warns that property prices will inevitably fall again in 2013.
A spokesman said: “The country’s weak economy is not helping and we are seeing mortgage approvals fall and high interest rates which look like making any recovery in the near future impossible.”
Permits for new builds are also at their lowest since 1953 with just 55,804 applications being made.
Serious problems
According to government figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) the price of homes fell slightly less at 9.1%, when adjusted for inflation, in the year to November.
They say the biggest house price falls were felt in Amsterdam (-11.2%) and Apeldoorn (-9.7%).
Whichever figure an investor chooses, the property market in Holland is in serious trouble.
The NVM say the average house price in Holland is now £178,000 and the number of sales is also dropping too – down 7.2% between January and November to 99,897.
In comparison, between 2005 and 2008 the average number of property transactions was 200,300.
It’s a far cry from the property boom between 1992 and 2001, when property prices surged by 80% and then continued to increase each year afterwards by an average of 11%.
The boom ended when the economy officially went into recession in 2011 after 26 years of growth.
Europe’s worst mortgage debt
One legacy from that period, when successive governments pushed for home-ownership and introduced a generous tax regime, is that mortgage debt is now more than 100% of GDP, one of the highest levels in the Eurozone.
Property investors have also been warned off the Netherlands by investment firm Colordarcy, which says the country is the ‘worst performing’ real estate market in 2012.
Holland is now on a list, which also includes Eurozone basket cases Greece and Portugal, for countries where property investors will not see gains for the next 12 months.
A spokesman said: “Dutch property owners have some of Europe’s highest mortgage debts, so that coupled with the falling value of property and unemployment running at 15% is a real concern.
“We believe that the Netherlands is going to be the worst property market in 2013 and we cannot find a single reason why an investor would have gained anything in 2012 and they are unlikely to do so this year.”
Hubzu to open up auction marketplace to brokers and agents | Mt Kisco NY Real Estate
Hubzu, the online marketplace and auction platform of real estate owned properties (REO), will open up its service for licensed brokers and agents and non-REO properties in early February, the company announced today.
Last fall, Hubzu completed its name change from “GoHoming.com” and announced that it would expand its user base and begin to deal with non-REO properties.
The 3-year-old site is operated by publicly traded Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A., a provider of services to mortgage lenders, loan servicers, investors, mortgage bankers, credit unions, financial services companies and hedge funds.
Traditionally, all of the listings on Hubzu — about 4,000 active currently — are lender-owned. Most listings come from another Altisource-held company, Hubzu general manager Scott Wielar told Inman News last fall.
Hubzu’s new “Direct-to-Broker” channel will allow brokers and agents to list properties, both REO and traditional, on the site for a fee of 1.5 percent of the sales price, plus a tech fee of $299 per transaction.
The site will verify broker and agent licenses of potential users in a one- to two-day clearing process, said Eric Eckardt, vice president of Hubzu’s direct to broker program.
Article continues belowAt the moment, the site features a variety of lender-owned properties, including single-family, one- to four-unit multifamily, townhomes and condominium units, and land parcels, which are sold by auction or traditionally.
Screen shot of Hubzu’s homepage.
“When we moved to Hubzu, we moved away from REO,” Wielar said of the changes announced today. Listings will be clearly delineated between REO-owned and traditional on the site, he said.
Hubzu also considered handling listings from property owners, but has decided to open up its platform only to real estate pros for right now, Wielar said.
Currently, 125,000 of the site’s 285,000 total registered users are licensed brokers and agents, Wielar said. They have not been able to list properties on the site, but that changes in February.
Each property on the site, which has facilitated the sale of 30,000 properties in the last 12 months, receives an average of nine bids, Wielar said. Properties can also sell without bidding. If they are listed with an “own it now” price, a buyer can move a sale forward if they like the price, short circuiting the bidding.
The auctions are timed. To prevent “auction sniping” — where a bidder waits to enter a bid just as the auction time runs out — 15 minutes are automatically added to the auction when the time is nearly up to maximize bidding.
Buyers traditionally have been the revenue engine of the site. No fees are charged to buyers until a sale. Buyers pay a flat technology fee of $299 and a “buyer’s premium” that ranges from $625 to 5 percent of the property’s value.
Mt Kisco Real Estate | The Hottest Neighborhoods In America In 2013
Housing a Sweet Spot for U.S. Economy as Recovery Expands | Mt Kisco Real Estate
Snagging real estate bargains on Florida’s ‘Forgotten Coast’ | Mt Kisco Real Estate
When the real estate bubble finally burst across the U.S., tiny St. George Island was pounded as if a Category 5 hurricane had just passed through. Home values dropped by 75 percent. That $3 million lot now cost $750,000.“There were many people who bought during the time of house price escalation and didn’t flip,” Collins said. “They wound up underwater (an ambivalent phrase if there ever was one in Hurricane Alley), owning more for the property than they could possibly sell it for. We have been dealing with foreclosures and some short sales for the last four years.”
It’s important to remember that the Franklin County market peaked in 2005, far ahead of the rest of the country. So, the question is, does recovery happen ahead of the country as well?
Sadly, that’s not the case, but Collins and Parker see sunshine after the housing hurricane.
“People who wanted to buy but couldn’t when the prices were so high have started coming around,” Collins said. “These are not investors, but professionals with families.”
Over at Alligator Point, Parker is seeing a brisk business from a different kind of client. “I sold over 70 properties this year,” Parker said. “Most of my buyers are newly retired or getting ready to retire. They always wanted a place on the water and now they can afford it.”
Attorneys general request extended tax relief for distressed homeowners | Mt Kisco NY Real Estate
6 Playfully Spooky Marketing Campaigns Just in Time for Halloween | Mt Kisco Real Estate
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Property in Westchester County Is for Sale | Mt Kisco Real Estate
A listing on the Web site of Ginnel Real Estate refers to the three-story, 10,000-square-foot colonial-style home, in the Mount Kisco area, as a “state-of-the-art and eco-friendly country estate” with geothermal heating and cooling, energy-efficient appliances and fiber-optic lighting. It sits on 10 acres on South Bedford Road.
Muffin Dowdle, the agent listed as managing the sale, did not respond to requests for comment.
The names of Mr. Kennedy and his estranged wife, Mary R. Kennedy, appear on a deed for the property, as well as on a record of a $500,000 mortgage taken out on the residence in June 2010.
The Kennedys were embroiled in divorce and child-custody proceedings in the period before Ms. Kennedy’s death. The body of Ms. Kennedy, 52, was found in a barn on the property. The medical examiner said she died of asphyxiation after hanging herself.
Apartment Demand Slows in Third Quarter | Mount Kisco NY Real Estate
Having recently participated on a panel at the National Apartment Summit, I had a chance to discuss drivers of demand and overall trends for the multifamily market. Investors are still bullish on the performance of the apartment sector, though they are concerned with the pace of job creation and the impact of sluggish economic growth on the under-35 years of age demographic. In addition to low wages, this group of traditional renters has also been contending with increasing education debt levels.
With payroll employment still stuck in second gear, demand for apartments has been slowing into the third and fourth quarters. Net absorption of apartment space—a measure of demand—is projected to be 54.830 units in the third quarter, with a year-end total of 219,318 units. This figure represents a noticeable improvement over last year’s demand numbers, especially in light of the supply trends.
Completions of new multifamily buildings have been rising, boosted by financing availability from Government Sponsored Enterprises. Supply of apartments is projected to total about 31,543 units in the third quarter and 80,000 units for 2012.
Given the strong demand of the past year, there’s still a gap of about 140,000 units between demand and supply of space in 2012. Vacancy rates have been declining, reaching 4.3 percent in the third quarter. However, with the slight decline in demand, national vacancies are expected to close the year at a level 4.3 percent. The local markets with the lowest availability rates are Portland, Minneapolis and New York with vacancy rates of 2.0 percent, 2.2 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. At the other end of the spectrum, Memphis, Jacksonville and Houston continue to work through rates at or above 7.0 percent. Rent growth for office space has been positive so far and is expected to stay in the 4.0 percent range for 2012, although the underlying fundamentals are pointing to a potential slowdown.