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North Salem Homes for Sale

Spain Property Market Outlook 2014: Home Price May Fall By Another 15% | North Salem NY Real Estate

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After five years of double-dip recession, Spain’s economy seems to have stopped sinking. But the recovery will be a prolonged one. Despite having fallen almost 40 percent since the housing bubble burst in late 2007, home prices in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy are expected to drop by another 10 percent to 15 percent before they stabilize.

“Recovery in the housing sector in Spain hinges on an improvement in employment and access to credit, both of which are prey to uncertainty,” Souheir Asba, an analyst at Societe Generale, said in a note.

Here are the reasons why Asba thinks Spain’s property market has yet to hit the bottom.

While a recent trend indicates an improved appetite for distressed Spanish real estate assets, it’s not significant enough to call for a revival of the market.

Spain has finally overcome a slump triggered by the end of the real estate boom. The country emerged from recession in the third quarter of last year and its economy expanded 0.3 percent in the final three months of 2013, the fastest rate of quarterly growth in almost six years.

The Spanish government expects gross domestic product in Real Estate to grow by about 0.7 percent this year, and for job growth to resume in the second or third quarter, including the buying and renting market. You can even check out villas to rent in Spain here on this website and get to live your life in the most comfortable way ever.

The fact that investors are once again buying up Spanish government bonds is a big vote of confidence. As a result, the government is now paying much lower interest rates to borrow money. Yields on 10-year treasury bonds are down to 2006 levels.

http://www.ibtimes.com/spain-property-market-outlook-2014-home-price-may-fall-another-15-1553610

7 Homebuying Mistakes to Avoid | North Salem Real Estate

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For most people, a home is the largest purchase they’ll ever make, so choosing the wrong property can have disastrous implications for their wallets and well-being. Still, many homeowners feel a strong sense of pride in putting their mark on the property, building equity and having a place to truly call their own. Whether you’re a seasoned or first-time buyer, here’s a look at seven homebuying mistakes to avoid.

1. Using the wrong real estate agent. Just because your sister’s college roommate’s friend just got a real estate license doesn’t mean she’s the right agent for you. San Francisco real estate agent Herman Chan suggests vetting agents and looking for someone who does real estate full time and knows the local inventory. “You can lose an offer if you’re not responsive in a couple of hours,” he says. Request the agent’s sales data, and find out how he or she communicates. Chan recommends asking questions like these to gauge the agent’s tech-savyness: “Is it OK if I text you? Is it OK to DocuSign things? If I can’t make an open house on Sunday, can you shoot me a video?” If you prefer to check texts and emails on your phone, you may not want an agent who insists on faxing contracts.

2. Shopping before you get preapproved. Before you get serious about buying real estate, find out how much mortgage you qualify for and get a preapproval letter from your lender. “If you fall in love [with a property], write that offer and then find out you can’t afford it, it’s an emotional roller coaster you can’t afford,” Chan says. Many agents won’t even take buyers to showings until they have a preapproval letter for that very reason.

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/7-homebuying-mistakes-avoid-152000789.html

Mortgage rates hit three-month lows as stocks dip | North Salem NY Homes

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One upside to the downturn in the U.S. stock market is a sharp drop in mortgage rates. Those rates follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond and on pricing in agency mortgage-backed securities; as investors rush to the comparative safety of the bond market, yields fall and so do rates.

It’s not a perfect correlation, however, since there are other factors weighing on today’s lenders, such as new regulations.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed conforming mortgage hit 4.34 percent Friday, down from 4.50 percent just a week earlier, according to Mortgage News Daily. Lenders haven’t offered rates that low since November.

“This correction is bigger than I would have expected,” said Matthew Graham, COO of Mortgage News Daily, who points out that this week’s jobs report could send rates right back in the other direction.

 

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101384967?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101384967%7CMortgage%20rates%20hit%20three–

If you’re going to refinance, first do this: Spruce up your house | North Salem Real Estate

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For anyone selling a home, sprucing up is a no-brainer. Repairs, upgrades, painting and landscaping can raise the sales price. But homeowners who are staying put and refinancing often don’t bother with these improvements. If you’re not looking for a buyer and have years to get around to these things, why bother?

Because the home’s condition will be reflected in the lender’s appraisal, which will determine whether you get the new mortgage and how large it can be.

Appraisals start with an analysis of comparable sales data — the prices of nearby homes that have sold recently. Homes that have merely been refinanced are not included. Because most home sellers do spruce up, the comparable prices likely reflect homes in good to excellent condition.

In the second step, the appraiser makes adjustments for differences between the home and what he or she believes to be the standard among the comparables. So if you have a kitchen from the ’70s and the recently sold homes were more up to date, your appraised value will suffer.

After all, the point of the appraisal is to make sure the home is valuable enough to serve as collateral on the loan. The homeowner may perceive the “value” as including all those nagging improvement plans as if they’d be done, as they surely would be before a sale. But the lender wants to know what the home would fetch as is, in case it had to be unloaded after a foreclosure. A homeowner with enough financial troubles to land in foreclosure is unlikely to spend big money on repairs and improvements.

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/if-you-re-going-to-refinance–first-do-this–spruce-up-your-house-210847495.html

 

Princess Firyal’s Pierre duplex hits the market for $70M | North Salem NY Homes

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A sprawling Upper East Side home believed to belong to HRH Princess Firyal of Jordan is once again on the market — this time, with an asking price of $70 million.

The duplex apartment, which spans the 30th and 31st floors of the Pierre at 795 Fifth Avenue, was owned by the late financier Lionel Pincus and later handed over to the Jordanian princess, Pincus’ longtime companion. The luxurious 7,000-square-foot, five-bedroom home boasts 360-degree views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline, a 42-foot library along Fifth Avenue and two master bedroom suites with custom wood-paneled dressing rooms and marble baths, according to the listing. Sotheby’s International Realty broker Serena Boardman has the listing.

Boardman declined to comment for this story, and a spokesperson for Sotheby’s declined to confirm the seller’s identity. Calls and emails to Firyal’s publicist were not immediately returned.

Pincus, who co-founded private equity firm Warburg Pincus, was incapacitated in 2003. His sons listed the apartment in 2007 for $50 million, claiming the upkeep was too expensive. They listed it again In March 2008 for $35 million.

 

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/01/27/princess-firyals-pierre-duplex-hits-the-market-for-70m/