Tag Archives: Pound Ridge Homes for Sale

Remodeling Market Index Reclaims All-Time High | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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The Remodeling Market Index (RMI) rose one point to 57 in the third quarter of 2014, the sixth consecutive 3-month period the index has been over 50.  An RMI above 50 indicates that more remodelers report market activity is higher (compared to the prior quarter) than report it is lower.

The overall RMI averages ratings of current remodeling activity with indicators of future remodeling activity. The current market conditions index increased one point to 57 this quarter, with all three of its subcomponents (major and minor additions/alterations and maintenance/repair) posting readings of 56 or higher.

The RMI’s future market conditions index rose to 58 from 56 in the previous quarter. All four of its subcomponents—calls for bids, amount of work committed for the next three months, backlog of jobs and appointments for proposals—increased or remained level with the previous quarter’s reading.

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2014/10/remodeling-market-index-reclaims-all-time-high/

Mortgage Rates Decline Further | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates hitting fresh lows for the year for the second consecutive week amid declining bond yields. At 3.92 percent the average 30-year fixed rate is at its lowest level since the week of June 6, 2013.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.92 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending October 23, 2014, down from last week when it averaged 3.97 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.13 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.08 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.18 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.24 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.91 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.92 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.00 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.41 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.38 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.60 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Fixed mortgage rates continued to fall this week after the yield on 10 year Treasuries dropped to their lowest point of the year. Existing home sales beat expectations in September clocking in at an annual rate of 5.17 million units, up 2.4 percent from August. Housing starts were up 6.3 percent in September adding a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.017 million units. Building permits rose 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.018 million units in September.”

Groovy Stone-and-Cedar Pavilion Wants $1.65M | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Location: Hopewell, N.J.
Price: $1,650,000
The Skinny: A ’70s relic with modernist leanings in Hopewell, New Jersey, has been bouncing on and off the market since 2010. Recently relisted with Keller Williams (no, not that Keller Williams), it’s been reduced in price from $2.75M to $1.65M. The 3,750-square-foot home was designed by architect Philip Collin (no, not that guy), who was trained at Princeton and contributed a spiraling pavilion to the 1964 New York World’s Fair. For this home, built in 1970 and sited on 42 acres, Collin filled in a stone and cedar frame with white walls and large floor-to-ceiling windows. The living room at the center has a wet bar and a sunken seating area—one of those groovy and ill-fated residential relics that are so abhorred they just have to be due for a comeback—and clerestories in the interior walls that keep it and the bedrooms very bright. The carpet and the tile aren’t doing the place any favors, but that’s a pretty simple fix. Also included: a pool, a small guesthouse, and an odd, yellow-green basement.

More photos, this way. >>

Mortgage rates drop near yearly lows | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Mortgage rates slightly fell back down following the Federal Reserve’s latest tapering announcement, dropping down near their yearly lows, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market survey results showed.

The 30-year, fixed rate mortgage declined from 4.19% last week to 4.12% and is significantly down from 4.23% a year ago.

In addition, the 15-year, FRM decreased to 3.30% after remaining frozen at 3.36% a week ago. This is close to 2013’s 15-year, FRM of 3.31%.

The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable rate-mortgage averaged 3.05%, compared to 3.06% a week prior and 3.05% a year ago.

The 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM stayed unchanged at 2.42%. This is down from 2.64% last year.

“Fixed mortgage rates were down on a week filled with bleak forward projections from the Federal Reserve and concern over growth in Europe. Despite gloomy vernacular from the Fed, mortgage purchase applications were up 2% on the week and the labor market added 248,000 jobs, beating expectations and lowering headline unemployment to 5.9%,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist with Freddie Mac.

Bankrate reported similar results, with the 30-year, FRM dropping to 4.18% from 4.27% a year ago.

The 15-year, FRM fell to 3.37%, down from 3.44% a week ago, while the 5/1 ARM declined to 3.27%, down from 3.29% a week prior.

“Continued nervousness about slower growth in the global economy proved to be good news for mortgage rates, with mortgage rates pulling back to the lowest level since June 2013. This also takes mortgage rates out of the narrow band of approximately one-tenth of a percentage point that had prevailed since mid-May,” Bankrate said in a press release.

 

 

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Freddie Mac: Mortgage rates drop near yearly lows

 

Home Prices are 3% Undervalued Nationally | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Trulia’s Bubble Watch shows whether home prices are overvalued or undervalued relative to their fundamental value by comparing prices today with historical prices, incomes, and rents. The more prices are overvalued relative to fundamentals, the closer we are to a housing bubble – and the bigger the risk of a price crash. Sharply rising prices aren’t necessarily a sign of a bubble. By definition, a bubble develops when prices look high relative to fundamentals.

Bubble watching is as much an art as a science because there’s no definitive measure of fundamental value. To try to put numbers on it, we look at the price-to-income ratio, the price-to-rent ratio, and prices relative to their long-term trends. We use multiple data sources, including the Trulia Price Monitor, as leading indicators of where home prices are heading. We combine these various measures of fundamental value rather than relying on a single factor because no one measure is perfect. Trulia’s first Bubble Watch report, from May 2013, explains our methodology in detail. Here’s what we found this quarter. (This report contains larger-than-usual revisions of previous Bubble Watch estimates. See note.)

We estimate that home prices nationally are 3% undervalued in the third quarter of 2014 (2014 Q3). In 2006 Q1, during the past decade’s housing bubble, home prices soared to 34% overvalued before dropping to 13% undervalued in 2012 Q1. One quarter ago (2014 Q2), prices looked 5% undervalued; one year ago (2013 Q3), prices looked 6% undervalued. This chart shows how far current prices are from a bubble…

 

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http://seekingalpha.com/article/2533125-bubble-watch-home-prices-3-percent-undervalued-with-few-metros-bubbling-up?ifp=0

Housing starts nosedive 14.4% in August | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Privately-owned housing starts plunged 14.4% in August, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Starts were expected to drop after a strong July but not by this much.

Housing starts for July jumped to an annualized pace of 1.093 million units-up from 0.945 million units the prior month. July was up a sharp 15.7%.

Housing starts printed at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 956,000, well below analyst expectations, but 8% above the August 2013 rate of 885,000.

Single-family units remained largely flat as they have for the past 20 months, multifamily starts fell from 396,000 to 343,000, or 13.4% for permits, and an incredible 31.5% for starts.

Single-family housing starts in August were at a rate of 643,000; this is 2.4% below the revised July figure of 659,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 304,000.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 998,000. This is 5.6% below the revised July rate of 1,057,000, but is 5.3% above the August 2013 estimate of 948,000.

Single-family authorizations in August were at a rate of 626,000; this is 0.8% below the revised July figure of 631,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 343,000 in August.

Privately-owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 892,000. This is 3.2% above the revised July estimate of 864,000 and is 16.9% above the August 2013 rate of 763,000.

Single-family housing completions in August were at a rate of 591,000; this is 8.2% below the revised July rate of 644,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 292,000.

 

 

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http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31404-housing-starts-nosedive-144-in-august

Fresh mortgage price war breaks out | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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A fresh mortgage price war has broken out with a string of major lenders slashing their rates in recent days.

Metro Bank, Halifax, Barclays, Nationwide Building Society, HSBC, Virgin Money, Skipton Building Society and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society are among those who have sharpened up their ranges.

The tussle for homeowners’ business has seen several lenders once again drop their rates below 3% for people looking for a five-year fixed rate mortgage.

Meanwhile, Virgin Money has taken the unusual step of launching a new range which allows people to fix in for one year longer than the usual five-year deals and protect themselves against the prospect of interest rates rising for a prolonged period.

Virgin’s new six-year fixed rate deals, which are available at the same price as its five-year fixes, include a product available for people with a 30% deposit with a rate of 2.99% and a fee of £995. Alternatively, people can opt to go fee-free and pay a higher rate of 3.59%.

Metro Bank also slashed its five-year fixed rates today. The new products, which carry a fee of £999, include a five-year fix at 2.99% for someone with a 40% deposit and one at 3.79% for a borrower with a 15% deposit to put down.

The announcements came as Norwich and Peterborough Building Society unveiled a 0.20% interest rate reduction on first-time buyer deals.

The society has shaved a fee-free two-year fixed rate deal for people aspiring to get on the property ladder down from 5.19% to 4.99%, as well as chopping product rates for people with 25% and 35% deposits.

 

 

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https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fresh-mortgage-price-war-breaks-124034052.html#5iZUafw

 

Charlotte seeing its homes sell quickly | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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There may be fewer listings on the Charlotte, North Carolina, housing market today than there were a year ago, but what is for sale is selling faster. Closed sales rose nearly 6 percent in July from July of 2013, according to the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association; that, as the inventory of homes for sale fell nearly 5 percent.

“The market is strong, though not everything is selling at the prices the sellers want,” said Bonnie Papandrea, a real estate agent with Wilkinson & Associates Real Estate in Charlotte. “Closer to town, those properties are doing fabulous and getting the price point back to almost 2006.”

 

The median price of a Charlotte-area home that sold in July rose 5.5 percent from a year ago, and sellers are getting on average about 95 percent of their list price. Sellers have been getting a bit more realistic, at least on a national scale, lowering their list prices and negotiating more, according to a report from Redfin, a national brokerage.

Charlotte had been a target of large-scale investors in single-family rental homes, but that demand is easing, especially as home prices rise. Investors need to get bargain-priced homes in order to make the investment work, and there are fewer and fewer distressed homes coming onto the market. There is also more competition in the market.

 

 

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/charlotte-seeing-homes-sell-quickly-153933644.html