Daily Archives: June 6, 2013

Impact Of Mortgage Refinance On Housing | Bedford Hills Homes

Mortgage refinance applications have been taking a hit recently.

This morning’s MBA purchase applications showed that refinance index was down 15% for the May 31st week.

The refinancing index is down four straight weeks, and was down 12% the previous week.

Refinance applications tends to be more sensitive to a rise in mortgage rates.

The MBA 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed from 3.59% in the first week of May to 4.07% in the first week of June. The decline in refinance activity reflects the rise in mortgage rates, Ed Stansfield, chief housing economist at Capital Economics explained in an email interview.

There are three key reasons to watch this data.

First, despite the recent sharp rise, mortgage rates are still at low levels. So the impact on refinance activity shows that both the housing market and overall economic confidence are still “fragile” and the the recovery is dependent on the loose monetary policy.

Second, is the impact on consumer spending, which Stansfield doesn’t think will be “large.”

Third, for those with adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) the rising interest rates have been a bigger blow. “This could offset some of the benefits of falling unemployment on delinquency rates, though again I would not really expect this effect to be large based on the rise in mortgage rates seen so far.”

 

Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor » Blog Archive » Impact Of Mortgage Refinance On Housing | Bedford Hills Homes.

It’s Time To Sell Your House | Mount Kisco Homes

Mortgage rates are on their way back up.

U.S. household net worth just hit an all-time high.

These are among the reasons why Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff says it’s now time to sell your house (via Jim the Realtor).

In an appearance on CNBC this morning, Rascoff says an ongoing lack of supply — the result of people still trapped by negative equity — and steady demand will only drive rates up further in coming years,

That means it’ll be more expensive to buy a home at a given price down the road than now.

He explains:

If you have any equity in your home and you’re thinking about selling in the next couple of years,” he continued, “[it’s] probably best to sell now, even though home values are continuing to rise.

Imagine yourself buying a $300,000 home today, and in four years you may want to trade up to a $500,000 home,” he said. “That home is not just that much more expensive—but because mortgage rates are going to be higher—it’s significantly more expensive. So the trade-up market is going to be very troubled in a couple of years.

Here’s the full clip:

SEE ALSO: 25 Reasons Why Chicago Is The Most Underrated City In America >

 

It’s Time To Sell Your House – Business Insider.

Impact Of Mortgage Refinance On Housing | Bedford Hills Homes

 

Mortgage refinance applications have been taking a hit recently.

This morning’s MBA purchase applications showed that refinance index was down 15% for the May 31st week.

The refinancing index is down four straight weeks, and was down 12% the previous week.

Refinance applications tends to be more sensitive to a rise in mortgage rates.

The MBA 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed from 3.59% in the first week of May to 4.07% in the first week of June. The decline in refinance activity reflects the rise in mortgage rates, Ed Stansfield, chief housing economist at Capital Economics explained in an email interview.

There are three key reasons to watch this data.

First, despite the recent sharp rise, mortgage rates are still at low levels. So the impact on refinance activity shows that both the housing market and overall economic confidence are still “fragile” and the the recovery is dependent on the loose monetary policy.

Second, is the impact on consumer spending, which Stansfield doesn’t think will be “large.”

Third, for those with adjustable rate mortgages (ARM) the rising interest rates have been a bigger blow. “This could offset some of the benefits of falling unemployment on delinquency rates, though again I would not really expect this effect to be large based on the rise in mortgage rates seen so far.”

But how significant is it?

“In terms of its significance, in my view, it is less of a concern than if home purchase approvals had fallen to a similar degree – they have been softening too, but not by as much,” Stansfield said. “After all, home purchase approvals are a better gauge of the strength of the demand for housing than the number of people who are switching from one mortgage deal to another.”

Bottomline: Stansfield expects the housing market to continue to recover but says this data shows that the recovery “may not proceed in a straight line.”

 

Impact Of Mortgage Refinance On Housing – Business Insider.

Social Media is Key to B2B Content Marketing | Bedford Realtor

91% of B2B marketers now use social media as a content marketing tool.

social media is key to b2b content marketing Social Media is Key to B2B Content Marketing [Report]B2B marketers are distributing their content on social networks more than ever before. A recent study conducted by the Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs confirms that content marketing remains a top priority for  B2B marketers, with the vast majority leveraging the practice as part of their marketing strategy. But many are uncertain about how to successfully employ the many tactics available to them.

Content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruptive — instead of directly advertising your products or services, you are communicating with your target audience by sharing valuable, free information. The core of this content strategy is the belief that buyers will be driven to do business with you if you provide valuable information to them on an ongoing basis.

If you have a website, a blog, or maintain a presence on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks, you are a publisher. You need to think like one, and build a digital content marketing strategy that leverages what you create — blog posts, website articles, images, and multimedia like videos, slideshows, and infographics — to enhance consumer engagement and conversion rates.

This is the first in a series of posts about how to use content to market online and via social media. As an introduction to this topic, here are some interesting statistics from the 2013 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America:

 

 

Social Media is Key to B2B Content Marketing [Report] | Pamorama | Social Media Marketing Blog.

The Secret to Using Your Blog to Generate Sales | Pound Ridge Real Estate

You’ve probably been at a party where some fool is talking his face off at everyone he meets. He talks about his trip to Spain and how he is such an amazing photographer. He never asks, “What you do or what interests you?” He just blathers on and on about himself.

On a good day I silently chuckle at this guy’s lack of social common sense. On a bad day I snap and scream, “PLEASE listen to me for just 10 seconds!”

When all you do is talk about yourself, you send people running in the other direction. If you don’t care about other people they for sure won’t care about you.

This was how the old school way of marketing worked. Megaphone style.

Image by nem_youth

Many of you might not think of your blog as a business and I understand, but one day you might want to create a ebook, product or use your blog to leverage a new career. When you improve your engagement your blog it becomes a tool to help you level up your life and career.

Spray and Pray

Back in the day, companies used to spray and pray. They sprayed their message in as many places as possible (magazines, newspapers, TV, radio, etc) and prayed that they picked the right advertising spots. Larger companies could afford to pay for market research, so they were able to make sure most of their efforts paid off.

Smaller companies didn’t have this luxury. Straight out of college, I worked in the marketing department for a high pressure valve company. They grossed about 10 million a year in sales. Not too shabby, but nothing compared to the bigger players in the industry.

We had to carefully choose our national magazines and our marketing company told us who read the magazines and which ones we needed to advertise in. We had to believe them. We had nothing else to go on.

This style of marketing has been turned upside down due to blogging and social media. Every business has the opportunity to measure their engagement on their website, email and social media accounts. The problem with all these new tools is we have the wrong attitude toward them. Companies are afraid to be transparent and engage with their customers.

Why? Because it’s hard work.

Truly Listen

Mr. Blather Lips, from the introduction, had a great time at every party he went to because he didn’t have to gauge people’s emotions. He just blathered on until he found someone to listen or it was time to go home.

Now businesses actually have to listen to their customers because if they don’t, a social media storm comes crashing down upon them. Just ask Netflix if they wished they had a better plan for when they doubled their prices.

Listening to your readers isn’t just for dealing with social media storms. It’s also so you can anticipate them and avoid them before they even happen. Now, every business has the opportunity to do market research. You can ask specific customers if they would be willing to fill out an online survey. You can ask them direct questions on your blog or social media that help you figure out what they want from you.

You don’t have to guess what you think people need. You can ask them directly and find out. You can even include them in the process of creating your product.

Invitation to Join In 

Threadless created their million dollar t-shirt company from this idea. They have people send in t-shirt designs, have the users vote on which designs they would like to buy and print only the most popular ones. They already have a built in audience for their t-shirts. It’s a win-win for everyone.

The company prints the most popular, making some good cash and the buyers get a limited edition t-shirt that they are proud to wear. Even the winning t-shirt designs are helpful to the designers. They can add this accomplishment to their resume.

You probably knew that engaging your ideal people was wise, but now what?

Now you have to go out and find them and start a conversation, but before you do you need to find out where you can connect with them.

  1. Write a description of the ideal client for your product

You have to ask yourself some specific questions to help you gain clarity:

    • What does she look like?
    • What motivates her?
    • What does she do for fun?
    • What are her career goals?
    • Where does she hang out? (Facebook, conferences, Twitter, etc.)
    • How do you engage with her? (light banter, philosophically, monetarily, etc.)

    The hard part is making the mental switch from talker to engager.

    I’m not just talking about being a better listener. That’s a good start, but to engage with people you have to be listening and asking great questions. It’s part art and part science.

    If you want an example of someone who understands her community then visit Mayi Carles to see how she is creating content that engages and builds trust. You’ll notice that she creates content around branding and business building. All a perfect target market for her.

     

    The Secret to Using Your Blog to Generate Sales : @ProBlogger.

    Houses with solar features rise in popularity | Katonah NY Real Estate

    Sales of new production homes with rooftop solar power systems nearly doubled from 2011 to 2012, suggesting homebuyers are searching for ways to control monthly electricity costs, the California Solar Initiative said.

     

    In California last year, an estimated 4,000 new production solar homes were built, 10 times the number built seven years ago during the housing construction boom, said homebuilder KB Home ($20.19 0%) in a press release.

     

    SunPower Corp. ($18.47 0%) expects growth to continue, with more than 20% of new production homes being solar powered this year.

     

    Putting even more power behind that statement, SunPower announced Wednesday that it will install its 10,000th high efficiency solar power system on a new production home.

     

    SunPower will add an upgraded solar power system on the house as well for the home’s soon-to-be owners, Justin Levine and Bethany Rutstein, who are soon to be married.

     

    “When you’re watching our monthly expenses carefully, choosing a home with solar is a no-brainer. We chose to build our new solar-powered home with KB Home because we were able to personalize nearly every aspect of our new home, including its energy efficiency through a process KB calls Built to Order,” said Rutstein.

     

    “KB Home has partnered with SunPower to build more than 1,500 solar homes across the country, and we see very high levels of satisfaction with our solar homeowners,” said Steve Ruffner, president of KB Home.

     

    Houses with solar features rise in popularity | HousingWire.

    Home affordability not yet impacted by rising mortgage rates | Bedford Corners Real Estate

    Mortgage rates continuously shot up over the past several weeks. And, the recent increase in mortgage rates is raising some concerns for its impact on home affordability, but a report from Goldman Sachs ($158.30 -3.38%) downplays those worries.

    Housing affordability is currently far above past average levels, showing that housing can remain affordable by historical standards.

    According to data from the National Association of Realtors, the housing affordability index assumes the typical homebuyer makes $50,000 a year, pays a 20% down payment and obtains a 30-year fixed-rate loan.

    Additionally, the company explains that a easy-to-handle house price is defined as a 25% debt-to-income ratio.

    In result, Goldman Sachs said, “For a mortgage interest rate of 3.81%, the average homebuyer can afford to buy a house worth $279,000 — 45% above the current median sales price of existing homes.”

    It expanded saying, “Put differently, even if mortgage rates continue to increase from here, the median home will still be affordable to the median borrower, based on the conventional 25% debt-to-income threshold.”

    The company found that after combining real Gross Domestic Product growth, inflation and interest rates, house prices will grow about 4-5% per year in 2014-2016.

    “As a result, rising interest rates will likely slow the strong house price appreciation observed over the past year, but the impact will likely be modest given the cushion provided by the high level of housing affordability at present,” the company explained.

     

     

    Home affordability not yet impacted by rising mortgage rates | HousingWire.

    Americans Have Gotten Much More Optimistic About The State Of The Economy This Year | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

    There’s a new WSJ/NBC poll about Obama’s approval, but fortunately buried within it, there are some good questions about how Americans see the economy.

    There’s still not massive satisfaction, but clearly since the beginning of the year, there’s been a big improvement in how people feel.

    For example, here’s a question on whether people are satisfied with the state of the economy.

    Those saying they’re “somewhat” or “very” satisfied with the economy total 36%, up from 27% at the start of the year.

    Those registering dissatisfaction are at 64%, down from 72%.

    Screen Shot 2013 06 05 at 5.25.49 AM

    Other poll questions show a similar story.

    There’s been a big drop in the number of people who think the economic outlook will get worse (18% vs. 28% at the end of last year).

     

    Americans Have Gotten Much More Optimistic About The State Of The Economy This Year – Business Insider.

    Prices Rose 12 Percent in April | Armonk NY Real Estate

    Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 12.1 percent on a year-over-year basis in April 2013 compared to April 2012. This change represents the biggest year-over-year increase since February 2006 and the 14th consecutive monthly increase in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 3.2 percent in April 2013 compared to March 2013*, according to the April CoreLogic HPI™ report.

    Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased on a year-over-year basis by 11.9 percent in April 2013 compared to April 2012. On a month-over-month basis, excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 3 percent in April 2013 compared to March 2013. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

    The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that May 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, are expected to rise by 12.5 percent on a year-over-year basis from May 2012 and rise by 2.7 percent on a month-over-month basis from April 2013. Excluding distressed sales, May 2013 home prices are poised to rise 13.2 percent year over year from May 2012 and by 3.1 percent month over month from April 2013. The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes for the most recent month.

    “House price growth continues to surprise to the upside with an impressive 12.1 percent gain year over year in April,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Increasing demand for new and existing homes, coupled with low inventory, has created a virtuous cycle for price gains, most clearly seen in the Western states with year-over-year gains of 20 percent or more.”

    “The pace of the housing market recovery quickened in April as home prices rose across the U.S.,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “For the second consecutive month, all 50 states registered year-over-year home price gains excluding sales of distressed homes. We expect this trend to continue, bolstered by tight supplies and pent up buyer demand.”

    Highlights as of April 2013:

    • Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Nevada (+24.6 percent), California (+19.4 percent), Arizona (+17.3 percent), Hawaii (+17 percent) and Oregon (+15.5 percent).
    • ncluding distressed sales, this month only two states posted home price depreciation: Mississippi (-1.7) and Alabama (-1.6 percent).
    • Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Nevada (+22.6 percent), California (+18.3 percent), Idaho (+16.4 percent), Arizona (+15.3 percent) and Washington (+13.9 percent).
    • Excluding distressed sales, no states posted home price depreciation in April.
    • Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to April 2013) was -22.4 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -16.3 percent.

     

    Prices Rose 12 Percent in April | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.