Daily Archives: February 3, 2014

Mortgage rates hit three-month lows as stocks dip | North Salem NY Homes

 

One upside to the downturn in the U.S. stock market is a sharp drop in mortgage rates. Those rates follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond and on pricing in agency mortgage-backed securities; as investors rush to the comparative safety of the bond market, yields fall and so do rates.

It’s not a perfect correlation, however, since there are other factors weighing on today’s lenders, such as new regulations.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed conforming mortgage hit 4.34 percent Friday, down from 4.50 percent just a week earlier, according to Mortgage News Daily. Lenders haven’t offered rates that low since November.

“This correction is bigger than I would have expected,” said Matthew Graham, COO of Mortgage News Daily, who points out that this week’s jobs report could send rates right back in the other direction.

 

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101384967?__source=yahoo%7Cfinance%7Cheadline%7Cheadline%7Cstory&par=yahoo&doc=101384967%7CMortgage%20rates%20hit%20three

US banks under pressure to step up new mortgage business | Waccabuc NY Homes

 

Pressure is mounting at the mortgage banking divisions of  the biggest US  banks.

As refinancing activity has plummeted, banks are trying to step up their new  home loan books, in an attempt to offset the dramatic revenue drag on overall  bank earnings. There are few easy ways to boost new purchase originations, but  one of the starkest battles is playing out in the bidding war for hotshot  mortgage loan officers.

“People are fighting over a smaller pie,” said Franklin  Codel, head of mortgage production at Wells Fargo, the biggest US home lender. “The  competition for quality loan officers is very high.”

Up to now, the focus has been on thousands  of job cuts in the mortgage divisions of US banks – many of which came in  the refinancing call centres as higher interest rates deterred borrowers from  refinancing their mortgages.

But as credit quality improves the banks have begun vying for a slice of the  new purchase market and have started an intense competition for experienced  mortgage bankers with existing client relationships.

The role of government-backed entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac means that US banks tend to offer  similar mortgage products so it is harder for them to stand out in this area  than in credit cards, where their benefits packages differ.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ef5d1b9e-8377-11e3-86c9-00144feab7de.html#axzz2sIQ3eQmw

Considering The Cloud: A Strategic Guide For Business | Cross River Real Estate

 

It’s nearly impossible to turn a page in a business journal these days without seeing an article about the “cloud” or “software as a service (SaaS).” These topics are everywhere you look and a common reason is the impact they have on the bottom line: software as a service often provides a more cost-effective alternative for organizations to achieve their business objectives than traditional packaged applications. But the rising popularity of the cloud isn’t a sufficient reason to retool the underlying technology supporting your business. If you want to win more bids, increase your profitability and keep ahead of the competition, ignoring it isn’t the answer either.

Determining where cloud computing fits in your business and IT strategy is critical for ensuring you’re driving the most value possible out of both capital and operational expenditures and/or equipping your team with the best tools for the job. This whitepaper examines the business advantages of cloud computing, as well as practical barriers facing most organizations, and concludes with advice for implementing an effective solution. Our goal is to help you make pragmatic decisions about deploying a solution (or blend of solutions) that makes sense for your business—whether it’s in the cloud, on-premises or a little of both.

 

http://www.fieldtechnologiesonline.com/doc/considering-cloud-strategic-guide-business-technology-leaders-0001

 

 

 

Hybrid ARMs are Hot | Waccabuc NY Real Estate

 

Hybrid ARMs continued to be the most popular loan product offered by lenders and chosen by ARM borrowers according to Freddie Mac’s 30th Annual Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM) Survey of prime loan offerings, which was conducted January 6 to January 10,

Hybrid ARMs have an extended initial fixed-rate period — generally three to ten years — and then adjust annually thereafter. Nearly all of the ARM lenders participating in the survey offered a hybrid. The 5/1 hybrid (a five-year fixed-rate initial period before the rate resets annually) was by far the most common, followed by the 3/1, 7/1 and 10/1. Far less common were ARMs where the re-pricing frequency was fixed for the life of loan, such as a one-year adjustable, a 3/3 ARM (which adjusts once every three years), or a 5/5 ARM (which adjusts every fifth year).

Among the 106 ARM lenders surveyed, 84 offered Treasury-indexed ARMs and 22 London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR)-indexed ARMs; generally, community and regional lenders were more likely to offer Treasury-indexed ARMs while large, national lenders offered LIBOR-based ARMs. Thus, even though offered by fewer lenders, the LIBOR-based product accounted for more than one-half of ARM originations. LIBOR-indexed ARMs generally had a lower margin (about 0.5 percentage points lower) than Treasury-indexed ARMs, a similar initial interest rate, but a higher index rate (about 0.5 percent-age points higher).

In early January 2014, the interest rate savings for the 5/1 hybrid ARM with a 30-year term — the most common ARM offered in today’s market — compared to the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage amounted to about 1.36 percentage points. For a $250,000 loan, the monthly principal and interest payment on a 5/1 hybrid would be about $194 less than on the 30-year fixed-rate loan over the first five years of the loan.

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/01/hybrid-arms-are-hot/

Flipping Moves on Up as Profits Rise 19 Percent | South Salem Real Estate

 

Higher prices and fewer foreclosures have not put a dent in the flipping business.  In fact, last year saw 156,862 single family home flips — where a home is purchased and subsequently sold again within six months — in 2013, up 16 percent from 2012 and up 114 percent from 2011, according to RealtyTrac’s Year-End and Q4 2013 Home Flipping Report.

Homes flipped in 2013 accounted for 4.6 percent of all U.S. single family home sales during the year, up from 4.2 percent in 2012 and up from 2.6 percent in 2011. Flips accounted for 3.8 percent of all sales in the fourth quarter, down slightly from 3.9 percent of all sales in the third quarter and down from 7.1 percent of all sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 — the highest percentage of sales represented by flips in a single quarter since RealtyTrac began tracking flipping data in the first quarter of 2011.

The average gross profit for a home flip — the difference between the flipped price and the price the flipper purchased the property for — was $58,081 for all U.S. homes flipped in 2013, up from an average gross profit of $45,759 in 2012. The average gross profit for homes flipped in the fourth quarter was $62,761, up from 52,746 in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 19 percent increase.

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/01/flipping-moves-on-up-as-profits-rise-19-percent/

 

Some 86% of Banks Have not Relaxed Mortgage Lending Standards | Katonah NY Homes

Despite reports of banks relaxing requirements for getting a mortgage, some 86 percent of banks that originate residential mortgages have either not changed or tightened their lending standards, according to a national annual survey conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Some 11 percent of banks said they had eased standards, up from 10 percent in 2012.  Eleven percent said that they have tightened them up. Home equity loans also saw tighter standards.

The survey which concluded in June 30, 2013 and covered the previous 18 months, did not reflect changes in standards over in the past seven months.  Ellie Mae reported median FICO scores for purchase and refi loan fell from 742 in June to 727 in December and median loan to value ratios rose from 80 to 82 percent.

The OCC found banks were relaxing underwriting for both commercial and other retail products at a faster pace than residential mortgages.  Large banks as a group reported the highest share of eased standards. Want to get more information? The Atlantic Union Bank has a lot of information that can be very useful.

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/01/some-86-of-banks-have-not-relaxed-mortgage-lending-standards/

Pending home sales mirror pre-crash levels | Bedford Hills Homes

 

Pending home sales fell steadily from May to December last year, closely mirroring the trajectory of the same economic indicator months before the 2007 home price crash, analysts Chris Flanagan and Justin Borst with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch claim in a new report.
But don’t get sour on housing just yet, or assume we are in store for another home price crash.
While pending home sales fell sharply in December ??— and experienced steady declines last year — other factors, not existent in 2007, are likely to save housing from a free-fall in prices, the two researchers say.
But before analyzing the year 2014, we have to look back to 2007 when a quiet housing storm was silently brewing in America.
Fortunately, unlike 2007, current housing prices are closer to fair market values and inventory levels remain constrained. Buffered by these two factors, a wide swing in prices is unlikely, the researchers said. On the other hand, the perfect storm of 2007 had additional headwinds in the form of excess inventory and steep price drops from peak levels.
Yes, it’s true year-over-year growth has likely reached its peak and growth will be slower in the future, but Borst and Flanagan are still calling for 5% home price growth in 2014.

In fact, prices are unlikely to move dramatically, they say, since mortgage credit is still wound tight and builders are not creating excess housing supply.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28813-pending-home-sales-data-mirrors-pre-crash-levels

 

 

 

December construction spending rises 0.1% | Bedford NY Real Estate

 

Outlays for U.S. construction projects rose 0.1% in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate $930.5 billion, led by private projects, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Monday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a 0.4% increase in December. Private-construction spending rose 1% in December, with a 2.6% increase for residential projects and a 0.7% decline for nonresidential projects. Meanwhile, public-construction spending fell 2.3% in December.

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/december-construction-spending-rises-01-2014-02-03-1091846?siteid=yhoof2

5 Ways to Get the Most Space Out of Your Home | Pound Ridge NY Homes

 

You look around you and feel like your home is bursting at the seams. Whether it’s an apartment, a condo, or a small single-family house, you see your stuff all over and know that you’re running out of space. But you may not be prepared to make the move to someplace bigger.

No worries: January is a great time to start anew and make the most out of the space you have. To help appeal to shoppers who have resolved to de-clutter in the new year, many stores offer discounts on storage systems and organization supplies. In cold-weather cities, contractors probably aren’t working on outdoor projects, so you might be able to catch one during a slow time and get a decent deal.

With a little planning and some creative thinking, your home may turn out to have more space than you think.

1. Look in the nook.

The alcove by your front door, or a corner or recess in a downstairs or upstairs hallway, could be a good spot to set up some prefabricated bookshelves. You can even buy the components for a home office space that hangs from the wall. Of course, if you live in rental space, you should check with your landlord before drilling holes in the wall. But small touches like these can move things—books, laptop, printer, CDs—out of your main living space. These also tend to be smaller projects that you can do yourself.

  Vertical space is precious andoften-overlookedreal estate.

If the thought of a few hours of quality time with an Allen wrench isn’t your idea of fun, see if your building’s maintenance staff is looking for extra work. They may be willing to do it for less if you’re able to pay them swiftly, so consider using the Popmoney ® personal payment service which allows you to send money to virtually anyone’s U.S. bank account easily with your phone, directly from your bank account, using the Citi Mobile ®  App.

 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-ways-most-space-home-143052537.html

7 Ways You’re Ruining Your Wood Floor | Bedford Corners Real Estate

 

Our resident expert, Carolyn Forte, Director of the Good Housekeeping Research Institute Home Appliances and Cleaning Products Department, shared these words of warning.

1. Vacuuming with a rotating brush Your vac’s rotating brush can be very abrasive to wood floors. Turn off the brush roll or use a floor brush attachment instead. But make sure you vacuum often — gritty dirt and dust particles can scratch your floor when they sit for too long.

2. Wet-cleaning too often Unless your wood floors get tons of foot traffic, you don’t need to wet-clean them more than every one to two months. Instead, keep your wood floors well-vacuumed (see number one) and spot-clean as needed.

3. Drenching the floor with cleaner Today’s wood flooring finishes are much more resistant to water than ones in the past, but that doesn’t mean you should flood your floors with cleaning solution. When it’s time to wet-clean, tackle small areas at a time with a damp, not wet, mop or cloth and dry them promptly.

 

http://shine.yahoo.com/at-home/7-ways-39-ruining-wood-floor-173700832.html