Tag Archives: North Salem Luxury Homes

Why Buying a Home Still Beats Renting…for Now | North Salem NY Homes

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Buying a home is still cheaper than renting one in every one of the top 100 metro markets, but rising home prices and mortgage rates are making the equation more complicated.

Nationally, it’s 38 percent cheaper to buy than to rent a home right now, according to a new report from Trulia, the real estate online marketplace. The report assumes that owners receive a 4.5 percent mortgage, stay in their home for at least seven years, and are in the 25-percent income tax bracket. Last year, it was 44 percent cheaper.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-buying-home-still-beats-171700965.html

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Dip For 2nd Straight Month In December | North Salem Real Estate

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Home prices across the country fell for the second month in a row in December, according to S&P/Case-Shiller data released today. The 20-City Composite, which tracks single-family home prices in major metro areas, dipped by 1/10th of 1%. It fell by that same amount in November.

However, year-over-year home prices across all nine U.S. Census divisions (tracked by the national S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index) logged an 11.3% gain.

“The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index ended its best year since 2005,” said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, via a release. “However, gains are slowing from month-to-month and the strongest part of the recovery in home values may be over. Year-over-year values for the two monthly Composites weakened and the quarterly National Index barely improved.”

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices track the price of single-family homes across the U.S., with the 10- and 20-City Composite indices focused on major metro areas (Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington). The data is reported with a two month lag (it’s February; we’re reporting on December figures).

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/02/25/spcase-shiller-home-prices-dip-for-2nd-straight-month-in-december/

Self-employed spouses still owe taxes even if one loses more than the other makes | North Salem NY Real Estate

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The vast majority of real estate brokers and agents are self-employed sole proprietors. They are often married to spouses who are self-employed as well. Marital togetherness is great, but when spouses each have their own separately run business, they need to keep their business income (or losses) separate for self-employment tax purposes. One spouse’s business losses cannot be used to reduce the other spouse’s net self-employment income and thereby reduce the Social Security and Medicare tax due on that income. This is so even if spouses live in a community property state like California. The U.S. Tax Court recently taught this lesson to Brenda Fitch, a California-licensed real estate agent, and her husband, Donald, a CPA. Self-employment taxes are based on net earnings from self-employment — that is, on the profit earned from the business after subtracting deductible expenses.

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/02/24/self-employed-spouses-with-separate-businesses-still-owe-taxes-even-if-one-loses-more-than-the-other-makes/?utm_source=20140224&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.qv1F5J6t.dpuf

Housing Scorecard: America still healing from Great Recession | North Salem NY Real Estate

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Despite positive trends in the housing market, officials caution that the economy is still healing from the Great Recession, the Obama Administration said in the November housing scorecard.

Home prices stayed relatively still according to the S&P Case-Shiller home price index, which increased to 165.8 in December from 165.9 a month prior. Year-over-year the index is up from 145.8 in November 2012.

Existing homes sales climbed to 405,800 from 401,700 in November, just marginally down from 408,300 a year prior, the most recent data from the National Association of Realtors said.

The U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that new home sales slightly fell to 34,500 in December from 37,100 in November, but is barely up from 33,000 from December 2012.

Additionally, the supply of existing-homes for sale posted little change from a year ago and ticked up to a 4.6-month supply in December from 4.5-month supply last year, but significantly down from a 5.1-month supply in November, NAR found.

Although foreclosure starts are up from 52,800 in November, coming in at 52,100 in December, starts are still drastically down from 72,500 in 2012, RealtyTrac recent report revealed.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28898-housing-scorecard-america-still-healing-from-great-recession

How to Get French Style at Home | North Salem NY Real Estate

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“French style is all about being creative and incorporating some surprise into a room,” says Erin Swift. For instance, you could bring an armoire-like this Napoleon III bibliothèque from 1860-into the bathroom, where it can serve as a linen closet to hold toiletries and extra towels.

Box Yourself In

“A plain room can really benefit from decorative molding,” says Swift. If crown molding along the ceiling gets pricey, add molding to the walls. “Measure out squares or rectangles on your walls and have a home-improvement store cut thin molding to your specifications,” she says. “Some people choose to paint theirs white, and the wall a darker color, but I like everything the same. It’s easier to execute-and visually interesting without being distracting.”

Related: How to De-Clutter Your Home-for Good

Go a Little Wild

In France, taxidermy is considered an art form, and some of the finest examples come from Deyrolle, a famous Parisian taxidermy shop that’s been in business since 1831. If exotic mounts aren’t exactly your thing, Swift suggests other wildlife inspirations, such as plaster casts, stone sculptures or, in this case, 19th-century Japanese metal cranes.

Find Your Balance

Swift says the way the French collect and arrange objects comes down to one fundamental principle: Balance. As she notes, it’s related to symmetry but isn’t quite the same thing. Start with objects of similar visual “weight.” In this case, that’s a lamp opposite a marble bust, with the remaining objects (books, plants, architectural fragments) arranged in between.

 

 

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/french-style-home-175400160.html

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

Should You Rent or Sell Your Home? | North Salem Real Estate

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Ryan Severino liked the location of his family’s home in Scotch Plains, N.J., but he also thought they needed more space. So in the summer of 2011, they decided to buy a bigger house. Mortgage interest rates were down, and so were home prices. “We were outgrowing our house,” Severino says. “We didn’t want to wait for prices to go back up.”

But one thing he didn’t realize was exactly how long it would take to sell the first house or to rent it, if that turned out to be the better option. “It comes down to more than pure economics,” says Severino, senior economist and associate director of research at Reis, Inc., a real estate research firm.

Finally, in the spring of 2012, eight or nine months later, Severino found a buyer for the first house. In the interim, Severino weighed the pros and cons of renting versus selling, and he reflected on the decision he ultimately made. “It was tough to sell it in that market,” Severino says. “We had the house on the market for sale while we were getting inquiries for renting it.” But Severino knew he didn’t want to be a landlord, and “didn’t want the money tied up in the house.”

Determining whether a property is a good investment takes research and analysis, and it’s wise to take your time in making the decision because it’s a major one, real estate experts say.

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/rent-sell-home-204651328.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/