| Katonah NY Weekly Real Estate Report | 9/10/2013 | |
| Homes for sale | 45 | |
| Median Ask Price | $999,000.00 | |
| Low Price | $450,000.00 | |
| High Price | $18,995,000.00 | |
| Average Size | 4143 | |
| Average Price/foot | $447.00 | |
| Average DOM | 132 | |
| Average Ask Price | $2,451,618.00 | |
Polls for Bedford’s Conservative and Independence primary elections open at 6 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. Tuesday, with contested races for seats on the Town Board and for the role of Town Justice.
With two seats available on the Bedford Town Board, candidates Mary Beth Kass and incumbent Francis Corcoran will appear on the Conservative ballot. Conservative voters also have a write-in option.
The town supervisor position also is up for election this year – with Don Scott running on the Conservative ticket and Chris Burdick, a current member of the Town Board, on the Independence ballot. There also is a write-in option for both ballots.
The role of town clerk is being sought on the Conservative ticket by incumbent Lisabeth Boo Fumagalli and on the Independence ballot by Simone Shapiro. Both ballots have the option for writing in a candidate.
Judy Aydelott and incumbent Erik Jacobsen are running against each other on the Conservative and Independence ballots for Bedford Town Justice.
County Legislator and Majority Leader Peter Harckham, of North Salem, is running on the Independence ticket to keep his District 2 seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators. Voters also have the option of writing in a candidate for the District 2 seat, which represents Bedford, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, North Salem, Pound Ridge and Somers.
Check the Westchester Board of Elections’ website for information about polling locations.
http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/politics/bedford-voters-head-polls-tuesday-primary-elections
No place on the East Coast took a harder hit from last October’s Hurricane Sandy than the blue-collar neighborhood of Breezy Point, in Queens. When the storm surge swept over the low-lying streets, electrical power was still on—and soon, fires broke out. By the end of the night, nearly 130 houses burned. In all, some 350 houses were totaled by flood, fire, or both.
Nine months later, Breezy Point is far from recovering, reports the Huffington Post (“Breezy Point Sees Little Rebuilt After Devastating Superstorm Sandy Fire,” by Meghan Barr). “Rows of rectangular boxes sunk into the sand form a graveyard of wrecked homes. American flags waving feebly from the ground help mark where a street once existed,” the Post reports. “A perfect storm of government inefficiency, cumbersome permit laws, and general confusion has hampered the recovery effort in Breezy Point.”
The Wall Street Journal chimes in (“Recovery Is Choppy in Breezy Point,” by Josh Dawsey): “Some leaders and homeowners in Breezy Point, where all the homes are owned by a cooperative, said they had been stymied by city and federal rules.”
But the New York Daily News is focusing on success (“First new Breezy Point homes are starting to rise after Superstorm Sandy,” by Clare Trapasso) — highlighting the story of residents Rich and Tracy Whalen, whose modular house has just been set on a new poured concrete foundation. “The couple is racing against the clock to be in their two-story, three-bedroom modular home by Labor Day — right around the time their second child is due,” the paper reports. Whalen, a volunteer firefighter, told the paper, “This is our home. This is where we grew up. A little water’s not going to scare us away.”
For Christine and George Donley, an older couple, rebuilding is a hard slog — but they’re not giving up, reports NBC News: (“‘It will be beautiful again’: Breezy Point couple returns home, and recovers through rebuilding,” by Miranda Leitsinger). “Sixty-three years old sleeping on a mattress on the floor is tough,” Christine said as she presented the single habitable room of their Breezy Point home. “He sleeps on the couch, and this is where we live now.”
But Christine Donley’s determined: “”We will get through this,” she told NBC. “I am stronger than the storm. I am. It took me a long time to say that, but I said it the other night. I am stronger.”
Houses are selling faster in America than they have in three and a half years, the height of the homebuyer tax credit, as the recovery continues to roar through the summer months despite predictions the torrid pace of sales will slow.
New HousingPulse data show that three key barometers of the health of the housing market – time on market, number of sales offers, and the sales-to-list price ratio – all remained very strong for non-distressed properties in July. Non-distressed properties are the largest and fastest segment of this year’s housing market, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey results.
In the important time on market measurement, the average nationwide fell to a three-and-a-half year low of 8.6 weeks (based on a three month moving average) for non-distressed properties, HousingPulse found. That was not only way down from the 12.1 weeks seen in December but also down from 9.2 weeks in May.
On a regional basis, the average time on market for non-distressed properties sold in July ranged from a low of just 4.5 weeks in California to a high of 11.3 weeks in the Industrial Midwest (MO, IL, IN, OH and MI), HousingPulse data showed.
In terms of number of offers received, the July results also were very strong. Nationwide, HousingPulse recorded an average 2.3 offers for non-distressed properties sold in July. That was the fourth month in a row the national average has been at a three-and-a-half year high.
California once again led the nation in this category with an average 4.1 offers received on every non-distressed property sold in July. The Farmbelt (ND, SD, NE, KS, MN, IA and WI) was at the other end of the spectrum with an average of just 1.4 offers on every non-distressed property sold.
In the key sales-to-list price ratio category, a measure of how close a property’s sales price came to the listed price, July set a new high watermark, according to HousingPulse. The average sales-to-list price ratio for non-distressed properties nationwide hit 98.0 percent last month. That was up from 95.6 percent in December and 97.6 percent in May.
On a regional basis, California topped all other areas with an average sales-to-list price ratio of 101.8 percent in July. That meant that on average non-distressed properties in California sold for more than their asking price – a sign of a very hot housing market. On the other end, Florida had the lowest average sales-to-list price ratio in July for non-distressed properties at 95.0 percent.
http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/08/time-on-market-falls-to-86-weeks/
Work is underway at the long awaited Millwood Firehouse.
The fire department announced on its Facebook page that it had received a permit from the New Castle Building Department on Aug. 27.
Site work began on Aug. 30, according to the Facebook page. Currently, a path is being carved out and vegetation is being cleared.
The 9-acre 18,000 square foot site is located at 100 Millwood Road. Millwood’s current firehouse at 60 Millwood Road was built in the 1920s.
Millwood Fire District voters approved a bond referendum in 2011 for up to $13.95 million in spending for the new firehouse.
The commissioners board said the fire department expects to move to its new home on the fire company’s original firehouse’s 90th anniversary.
Construction is expected to be completed by late fall 2014.
http://chappaqua.dailyvoice.com/news/work-begins-new-millwood-firehouse
There were only about 49,000 completed foreclosures in the U.S. in July 2013, down from 65,000 in July 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 25 percent. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures decreased 8.6 percent from the 53,000* reported CoreLogic in June.
As of July 2013, approximately 949,000 homes in the U.S. were in some stage of foreclosure, known as the foreclosure inventory, compared to 1.4 million in July 2012, a year-over-year decrease of 32 percent. Month over month, the foreclosure inventory was down 4.4 percent from June 2013 to July 2013. The foreclosure inventory as of July 2013 represented 2.4 percent of all homes with a mortgage compared to 3.4 percent in July 2012.
As a basis of comparison, prior to the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006. Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 4.5 million completed foreclosures across the country.
“As the housing market continues to recover, the foreclosure inventory is declining quickly, down by 32 percent from a year ago,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “Continued strength in the housing market will contribute to our outlook for ongoing improvement in the stock of distressed assets through the end of this year.”
“Completed foreclosures and delinquency rates continued their rapid descent in July. Every state posted a year-over-year decline in foreclosures and serious delinquencies fell to the lowest level since December 2008,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “Not surprisingly, non-judicial states have come the farthest the fastest in reducing shadow inventory and lowering delinquency rates.”
Highlights as of July 2013:
*June data was revised. Revisions are standard, and to ensure accuracy, CoreLogic incorporates newly released data to provide updated results.
http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/08/foreclosure-inventory-plunges-32-percent/
The Bedford Central School District has begun the process of filling the vacancy on the school board.
The board is filling the vacancy left by Lee Goldstein, who resigned because her family is moving to Connecticut. The school board said applications are due Sept. 13.
There will be a special election for the seat May 20. Goldstein was elected to the school board in 2012; her three-year term expires June 30, 2015.
The board will conduct interviews at Fox Lane Middle School Sept. 18. The meeting will be open to the public and televised on BCSD-TV. The district said they are asking community members to submit questions or topics by Sept. 13
The board is expected to make an appointment Sept. 25. To be eligible for the position, an individual must be a qualified voter of the district and have lived in the school district for at least one continuous year. At a minimum, service on the board requires preparation for and attendance at bi-monthly meetings. In addition, board members serve on at least one board subcommittee, which meets monthly.
Interested individuals may obtain an application on the district’s website www.bcsdny.org or may contact Carole LaColla, district clerk at 914-241-6011 or via email at clacolla1777@bcsdny.org.
Susan Wollin, president of the school board, said she is confident the process will choose a worthy candidate. This is the third time the board has filled a vacancy during Wollin’s tenure.
“It’s very similar to the process we’ve used in the past,” Wollin said. “We hope to appoint somebody based on the outcome of the meetings.”
The board last filled a vacancy in 2011 when Mark Chernis resigned to avoid a conflict of interest with his employer and the district.
The Bedford Central School District is comprised of the towns of Bedford, Pound Ridge and Mount Kisco.
http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/news/bedford-begins-process-fill-school-board-vacancy
Mortgage originations rose 12.7 percent year over year and dipped a slight 1.5 percent month to month in June, indicating stability despite increases in interest rates, according to a monthly report from Lender Processing Services.
Through June, originations had their strongest 12-month period since 2007, to 784,000, LPS said.
Prepayment activity, which is historically a good indicator of mortgage refinances, is still largely driving origination volume, the company said.
“Prepayment speeds have been impacted by the sharp increase in mortgage interest rates we’ve seen over the last couple months. However, even with that increasing interest rate pressure, July’s monthly prepayment rates are still about where they were this time last year, when rates were at historic lows,” said LPS Data & Analytics Senior Vice President Herb Blecher in a statement.
“In fact, they are roughly at the same levels as the heights of the ‘mini refinance booms’ in 2010 — when interest rates were comparable to where they are today — and in 2009, when rates were even higher.
“Of course, as interest rates continue to climb, we can expect that both prepayments and associated originations will decline.”
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/mortgage-originations-defy-interest-rate-hikes/#sthash.3Gj9SiEH.dpuf
Fixed mortgage rates eased up from a two-year high this past week as lenders offered a 30-year mortgage at an average rate of 4.51%, up from 4.58% a week earlier, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The newspaper gave a rundown of all the changes this past week:
“The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.54%, down from 3.6%, according to Freddie Mac. Starting interest rates for popular types of variable-rate loans were up slightly, the McLean, Va., housing finance giant said.”
Freddie’s chief economist, Frank Nothaft, said the market is being driven by speculation about when the Federal Reserve will cut back on its stimulus program, which involves buying $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds.
Welcome back to The Brokerbabble Glossary, where Curbed takes a word or phrase that shows up repeatedly in listings and deciphers its true meaning. Ideas? Hit up the tipline.
[4601 NE Royal Ct, Portland, via Trulia]
Sometimes words get misused in real estate listings because they have multiple meanings, or precisely what they mean in the first place is confusing, or because brokers get a little too excited about the positive attributes of a particular house or property. And sometimes there is just no excuse. This is one of those times.
[8036 12th Ave NW, Seattle, via Trulia]
There might be a reason that these “top floor” views aren’t pictured.
[3009 34th St NW, Washington, DC, via Trulia]
Normally, a “commanding view” is from a dominating vantage point, usually overlooking something. You can debate what that means, exactly, but “through a chain link fence” probably doesn’t cut it.
[1106 Autumn Rdg, San Antonio, via Trulia]
This is a pretty dinky fireplace. · The Brokerbabble Glossary archives [Curbed National] · The Brokerbabble Glossary archives [Curbed NY]