Tag Archives: Waccabuc Realtor

Home price gains ease | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

Home price gains ease

S&P/Case-Shiller’s 20-City index notched a 4.9% yearly gain in May, down only a tick from 5% in April but missing expectations of 5.6%. A national index covering all 9 Census divisions accelerated to a 4.4% yearly rise from 4.3%. The seasonally adjusted national index was unchanged during the month, while the 20-City index declined 0.2%. The 20-City index is 14% below its ’05 peak.

Read More At Investor’s Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/economy/072815-763737-economic-news-home-price-gains-ease-consumers-wary.htm#ixzz3hDDsiHd5

Lady Violet’s ‘Downton Abbey’ home for sale | #Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply
Savills
The dowager countess’s witticisms not included.

If you missed out last year on the listing of the “Godfather House” on Staten Island in New York, maybe this home is more up your abbey — er, alley.

Byfleet Manor, in Surrey, just southwest of London, and dower home to Maggie Smith’s character Lady Violet Crawley in the PBS series “Downton Abbey,” is on the market, according to real estate broker Savills. The price? £3.95 million,or $6.1 million. The Georgian-style brick home, built in 1686 and set on 19 acres, has a walled courtyard, eight bedrooms and four reception rooms — and it’s just 20 miles from central London.

“You get a lot of house for your money,” said Simon Ashwell, the Savills agent who is listing the home for Julie Hutton, the current owner, who bought Byfleet Manor about 10 years ago for £1 million.

Byfleet Manor isn’t one to avoid the cameras. The house also starred in the series “Poirot” and “Cranford” and was the stand-in for Cinderella’s home in the 2014 movie “Into the Woods” with Meryl Streep and Johnny Depp. When it comes to “Downton Abbey,” the home has served as Lady Violet’s house since 2010 after the location agent from the PBS series “Cranford” suggested it to the show’s producers. “We wanted to deliberately pull Violet back into that Georgian world,” Donal Woods, the production designer for “Downton Abbey,” told Savills.

 

read more…

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lady-violets-downton-abbey-home-for-sale-2015-05-12

Housing Share of GDP at 15.2% for Third Quarter | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

Economic growth in the third quarter was certainly good news for housing and the overall economy. The final estimate of GDP growth from the BEA was a 5% seasonally adjusted annual growth rate, up from 3.5% and 3.9% in the first and second estimates respectively.

As of the third quarter of 2014, housing’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) was 15.24%, with home building and remodeling yielding 3.08 percentage points of that total.

housing share of GDP_3q14

Housing-related activities contribute to GDP in two basic ways.

The first is through residential fixed investment (RFI). RFI is effectively the measure of the home building and remodeling contribution to GDP. It includes construction of new single-family and multifamily structures, residential remodeling, production of manufactured homes and brokers’ fees. For the second quarter, RFI was 3.08% of the economy.

The RFI component reached a $500 billion annualized pace during the second quarter. This is the second highest quarterly total for RFI since the middle of 2008.

The second impact of housing on GDP is the measure of housing services, which includes gross rents (including utilities) paid by renters, and owners’ imputed rent (an estimate of how much it would cost to rent owner-occupied units) and utility payments. The inclusion of owners’ imputed rent is necessary from a national income accounting approach because without this measure increases in homeownership would result in declines for GDP. For the second quarter, housing services was 12.16% of the economy.

Historically, RFI has averaged roughly 5% of GDP while housing services have averaged between 12% and 13%, for a combined 17% to 18% of GDP. These shares tend to vary over the business cycle.

 

read more…

 

http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/01/housing-share-of-gdp-at-15-2-for-third-quarter/

 

Mortgage Rates Hold Steady | #Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

reddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates holding largely steady for the third straight week amid light economic reports.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.10 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending September 4, 2014, unchanged from last week. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.57 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.24 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.25 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.59 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.97 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.28 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.40 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.39 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.71 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 the Regional 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.

“Mortgage rates were little changed amid a week of light economic reports. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate remained unchanged from the previous week at 4.10 percent. Of the few releases, the ISM’s manufacturing index rose to 59.0 in August from 57.1 the previous month. This was the highest reading of the index since March 2011.”

How Soon Will China’s Real Estate Market Bounce Back? | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

Is a housing crash imminent in China? China bears would think so. Home prices in major Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai are slipping, and transactions are taking a nosedive. The real estate market has entered what is arguably the deepest correction since the 2008 financial crisis, causing fears of a hard landing that might also drag down the entire Chinese economy.

So how much trouble is the real estate market actually in? According to the China Index Academy, an independent property research organization owned by real estate portal SouFun, housing prices in the 100 cities it monitors dropped 0.5% in June from the previous month, greater than the 0.32% month-on-month decline recorded in May (the first price downturn in 23 months).

English: The skyline of Shanghai, China.

The skyline of Shanghai, China. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But falling prices is not the most alarming signal, at least not yet (compared with the same period last year, prices were still higher in most major cities). It’s the distinct drop in transaction volume that is making economists nervous. As per SouFun’s data, transactions across major cities fell 19% year-on-year in the first six months of 2014, while new home transactions in Beijing and Shanghai fell drastically by 48.6% and 32.8% respectively, according to other research firms.

“That’s an indication that the demand is small, and so eventually prices will move too,” says Liu Jing, professor of accounting and finance at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, who closely follows China’s real estate market. “You can already see prices come down in several cities.”

 

 

read more…

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ckgsb/2014/07/08/how-soon-will-chinas-real-estate-market-bounce-back/

Despite positive housing reports, officials remain cautious | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Despite overall positive trends in the housing market, officials caution that the harsh winter slowed growth while the economy continues to recover from the Great Recession, the Obama Administration said in the May housing scorecard.

This is not too far off the April scorecard, which posted similar findings.

“May’s Housing Scorecard shows that the housing market recovery is picking up after the harsh winter months,” said U.S Housing & Urban Development Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research Katherine O’Regan.

“More homeowners have positive equity, foreclosures continue their downward trend, and sales of new and existing homes are rebounding. While these are all good signs, it’s clear that we must remain committed to helping homeowners as they recover from the worst housing recession since the Great Depression,” O’Regan added.

Home Prices increased to 166.8 in March, up from 165.4 in February, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home price index. Year-over-year the index is up from 148.4 in March 2013.

Existing homes sales slightly grew to 387,500 in April from 382,500 in March, but is down from 415,800 for the same period a year prior, the latest data from the National Association of Realtors said.

In addition, new home sales climbed to 36,100 in April, up from 33,900 in March and 37,700 in April 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD posted.

 

 

read more…

 

 

Scorecard: Despite positive housing reports, officials remain cautious

China Price Declines Spreading as Buyers in Less-Developed Cities Hold Back | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

China’s housing prices fell in May for the first time in nearly two years, as fresh data indicate more cities with price declines and weaker sales.

Average new-home prices fell 0.3% in May from April, a turnaround from the 0.1% monthly gain recorded for April and the first decline since June 2012, data provider China Real Estate Index System said.

Year to year, average new-home prices rose 7.8% in May, decelerating for the fifth straight month, after April’s 9.1% increase and March’s 10% rise, CREIS said, citing data from its survey of 100 Chinese cities.

Prospects for China’s property market, an important engine of growth for the country’s economy, are souring. More Chinese cities recorded a month-to-month fall in housing prices in May. Out of the 100 Chinese cities surveyed, 62 showed a decline in home prices, compared with 45 in April.

Many home buyers outside more-developed cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing, have shied away from the market in anticipation of further price cuts and difficulties in getting mortgages.

“We almost became home-mortgage slaves last week,” said Ou Yibao, a 29-year-old software engineer in Shenzhen, using a term for those paying off mortgages on expensive homes.

Mr. Ou, who told The Wall Street Journal two years ago that he was opposed to buying a home, said he was succumbing to family pressure to make the leap. But after realizing housing prices may fall, he said this week that he pulled back on the purchase of a 90-square-meter (969 square feet) apartment. “We tore up the contract,” he said.

read more…

http://online.wsj.com/articles/china-home-prices-slip-for-first-time-in-two-years-1401442956

Home sales finally thaw, but just slightly | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

U.S. home buyers signed more contracts to buy existing homes in March, as weather in much of the country warmed and as more listings came onto the market. An index of so-called “pending” home sales from the National Association of Realtors rose 3.4 percent from February, the first gain in nine months, but is still down 7.9 percent from March of 2013.

“After a dismal winter, more buyers got an opportunity to look at homes last month and are beginning to make contract offers,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors. “Sales activity is expected to steadily pick up as more inventory reaches the market, and from ongoing job creation in the economy.”

Regionally, sales in the Northeast increased 1.4 percent, but are 5.9 percent below a year ago. In the Midwest, sales slipped 0.8 percent and are 10.1 percent below March 2013. Pending home sales in the South rose 5.6 percent, but are 5.3 percent below a year ago. The index in the West increased 5.7 percent monthly, but is 11.1 percent below March, 2013. The Realtors still predict overall home sales for 2014 will come in lower than last year, at 4.9 million units sold.

Fast-rising home prices have caused at least some of the slowdown in sales during this spring season. In fact, prices in several major metropolitan markets hit new peaks in February. With median home values well above the national average, Denver, San Jose, Austin, Dallas and Houston hit new price highs, according to Black Knight Financial Services. Metropolitan markets in California made up eight of the top ten biggest price gains in February, with Portland, Ore., and Seattle, rounding out the list. Home prices fell in several Northeast and Midwest markets, like Cincinnati, Allentown, Pa. and Atlantic City, N.J. Nationally, home prices are still 13.5 percent below their June, 2006, peak, but that gap is closing fast.

 

read more…

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/home-sales-finally-thaw-just-140000849.html

Old-School East Hampton Mansion for $10.5M | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

20 Apaquogue Road, East Hampton
9 images

We wish the pictures were better with this listing. It starts out very well. “Built in 1902, this Georgica mansion sits high and majestically on meticulous grounds and is situated on the treasured Apaquogue Road in East Hampton Village.” Can’t argue with that. The 6000sf house has got six bedrooms and 5.5 baths and its own two-bedroom, one-bath carriage house. There are lovely brick pathways, mature plantings and a pool set on one acre. We’d like to see more and better pictures of the interiors. The kitchen and baths, for one. The property last sold in October 2007 for $8.5M, which would have been the top of the market. What do you think?

 

 

http://hamptons.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/15/oldschool_east_hampton_mansion_for_105m.php

 

House price boom ripples out of London, across Britain | Waccabuc Realtor

Leave a reply

 

The housing boom is spreading across the country, with rapidly rising prices   and long queues of buyers no longer restricted to London, experts are to   announce.

Property sales in the first three months of 2014 reached a six-year high as   the market recovered on a “truly national” scale, according to the Royal   Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

Activity is at levels last seen in early 2008, before the banking crisis took   hold, and is spreading to the Home Counties and beyond, figures suggest.

The trend is “striking in that it is clearly broadening out”, said Simon   Rubinsohn, a Rics economist. “There has been a sense that it was one story   for London and a very different outlook everywhere else, with perhaps a few   other city centres edging ahead. But that is not the case any longer,” he   added.

“Now that the housing market recovery is well and truly under way and mortgage   finance is more readily available, buyers seem to be looking to test the   market right across the country, not just in the usual hotspots of the South   East.”

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/houseprices/10756343/House-price-boom-ripples-out-of-London-across-Britain.html