Daily Archives: February 25, 2014

This Classical-ish Indian Creek Estate Is $19.8 Million | Pound Ridge NY Homes

Leave a reply

 

24 images

Directly after the bridge to Indian Creek Village is this big house constructed in 1994. Listed for $19.8 million, it was designed in what the brokerbabble describes as “French Neo-Classical”, but could also be called “watered down neoclassical blah perhaps with vaguely French proportions.” It has 8,500 square feet of living space, a pool, a dock, twin grand staircases, and a formal drive around a long “looking-glass pool” which, is probably just an inventive way of saying it has a reflecting pool. Oh, and above the grand staircase is a dome. Credit is always deserved when one has a dome.

 

http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/24/this-classicalish-indian-creek-estate-is-198-million.php

$110 Million For This Private Island In The Upper Keys | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

[Images via Pumpkin Key]
2 images

The 26 acre Pumpkin Key, within the exclusive confines of the Ocean Reef Club on the upper tip of Key Largo, has hit the market for a whopping $110 million. Mostly undeveloped, the Key comes with a main house, two cottages, a boat captain’s apartment, tennis courts that double as a helipad, a 20-slip marina capable of handling a superyacht, and a single family house located on shore in the Ocean Reef community with a garage and water access. The brokerbabble, however, emphasizes the island’s development potential, saying it’s “perfect for a family compound” or it “could be developed to include 12 bayfront homes owned by several families.” But then it wouldn’t be anyone’s own private island, would it.

 

http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/25/110-million-for-this-private-island-in-the-upper-keys.php

What $3,200/Month Can Rent You Around San Francisco | Chappaqua Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

10 images

↑ In the Excelsior, $3,200 a month will fetch you a three bedroom single-family home, complete with tiered backyard (that’s in need of some TLC). The spacious living room has a decorative fireplace and parquet flooring, and while the kitchen doesn’t have the latest and greatest stainless steel appliances and fancy cabinetry, it’s still charming and has an eat-in area. There are two bedrooms on the main level, and a lower room behind the garage that’s being advertised as another bedroom. Small pets are negotiable and there’s laundry on site.

 

http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/25/what_3200month_can_rent_you_around_san_francisco.php

Jim Olson-Designed Floating Home Hopes For $2.88M | Armonk NY Homes

Leave a reply

 

10 images

Aside from the fact that it’s floating in Seattle’s Lake Union, this home is a bit more conservative than the designs by which Olson Kundig Architects made a name for themelves—and, it goes without saying, worlds away from Tom Kundig’s recent foray into weird conceptual art—although it was built by firm principal Jim Olson back in 1976, a decade before Kundig joined on. The listing, recently uncovered by Curbed Seattle, touts “270 degrees of epic views,” and tableaus aside, those curved second-floor windows are definitely the most notable feature of the three-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot abode despite its ‘modernism at sea’ premise. But hey, if sliding glass doors that leave you “just fingertips away from the glistening water” aren’t enough, there’s a 50-gallon reef tank installed inside. What might “complete this luxurious treasure,” aside from a redo of the overwhelmingly beige interior? Why, if the current asking price holds, $2.88M.

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/02/24/jim-olsondesigned-floating-home-wants-to-break-288m.php

Brutalist Country Estate on Long Island Asks $6.5M | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

18 images

Location: Old Westbury, N.Y. Price: $6,475,000 The Skinny: Designed by Ulrich Franzen in 1977, this Long Island home combines two completely disparate styles, because, hey! What goes together better than Brutalism and a historic 19th-century country estate? Actually, anything, really, as this interesting but somewhat jarring design makes crystal clear. Franzen, champion of blockiness that he was, demolished the original home except for the salon and drawing room, and then built a brick monolith and connecting structure which looks for all the world like it’s devouring the old estate. The grounds (which were designed by Frederick Olmsted) were also preserved, but the graceful curving lawn and the blocky new home are an awkward fit, with neither truly complementing the other. It’s not that the home—which is asking $6.475M—is awful: it’s a perfectly nice Brutalist residence. But all parties involved may have been better served if the teardown of the original, once started, had been completed.

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/02/25/brutalist-country-estate-on-long-island-asks-65m.php

 

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Dip For 2nd Straight Month In December | North Salem Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Home prices across the country fell for the second month in a row in December, according to S&P/Case-Shiller data released today. The 20-City Composite, which tracks single-family home prices in major metro areas, dipped by 1/10th of 1%. It fell by that same amount in November.

However, year-over-year home prices across all nine U.S. Census divisions (tracked by the national S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index) logged an 11.3% gain.

“The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index ended its best year since 2005,” said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, via a release. “However, gains are slowing from month-to-month and the strongest part of the recovery in home values may be over. Year-over-year values for the two monthly Composites weakened and the quarterly National Index barely improved.”

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices track the price of single-family homes across the U.S., with the 10- and 20-City Composite indices focused on major metro areas (Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington). The data is reported with a two month lag (it’s February; we’re reporting on December figures).

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/02/25/spcase-shiller-home-prices-dip-for-2nd-straight-month-in-december/

This modular wall unit holds an entire kitchen | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

It’s common to see a hideaway bed change a living room into a bedroom easily, but now Resource Furniture wants to make kitchens covert with its new line of Stealth Kitchen modules. Each unit contains full-size appliances hidden within seemingly normal cabinetry; some of the modules are as small as six feet wide and they all can hold a refrigerator, freezer, sink, dishwasher, microwave, oven, countertop, and extra drawers and cabinets for storage.

Modular furniture isn’t a new trend, but it has become even more popular for its space-saving qualities in the wake of the micro-apartment boom in major cities. Resource Furniture seems to get that, specializing in furniture that does much more than it seems to at first glance, such as a multi-use table that extends from 17 inches to 115 inches, and chairs that become stepladders. The company also made an entire micro-apartment exhibit called Launchpad for the Museum of the City of New York last year, but the Stealth Kitchen seems to be its first crack at an entire room in one piece that you can actually buy.

 

 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/25/5445358/resource-furniture-modular-stealth-kitchen

3 Huge Differences Between U.S. and Canadian Mortgages | Katonah NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

As housing reform continues to be part of the Obama administration’s agenda, differences between the mortgage market in the United States and that of other countries have come to light. For instance, how do domestic mortgage products differ from those offered in Canada, a country considered the most comparable to the Unites States?

Here are three critical differences between the home lending market here and in our closest neighbor to the north.

30-year mortgages? Never heard of them While the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage has become a staple in the U.S., Canada doesn’t offer anything remotely similar. The longest term for a home loan in the North Country is five years, with the amount amortized over a 25-year period. Canadian banks also offer fixed-rate mortgages for two-year, three-year, and four-year terms.

This means Canadians can never count on having a particular loan interest rate last more than five years. At the end of the loan’s life span, borrowers can refinance, but prepaying a loan early to take advantage of a drop in rates can cost mortgage customers dearly, as prepayment fees are quite hefty.

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/23/3-huge-differences-between-us-and-canadian-mortgag.aspx

The Housing Market Is Plunging. Is It Time to Panic? | Chappaqua Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

The bottom just dropped out of the housing market. Or, at least, that’s what a report released this week by the government suggests.

According to the Commerce Department, the number of housing starts — new residential construction projects commenced during the month — plummeted by 16% in January compared to December.

It was the worst monthly decline in almost three years. The only recent month that even comes close was April of last year, when housing starts fell by 15%.

The general opinion is that unusually cold and snowy weather caused the dramatic decline, as many of the East Coast’s biggest cities have been bombarded by snowstorms since the beginning of the year.

According to the Associated Press, “U.S. home construction fell in January for a second month, but the weakness in both months reflected severe winter weather in many parts of the country.”

Yet, this appears to tell only half of the story, as housing starts in the hardest-hit region, the Northeast, actually increased by 62% compared to December. It was the Midwest that suffered the biggest blow, where new home construction fell by a staggering 68%.

“While we believe the weather did impact construction activity, we think this is just part of the story, as the new construction slowdown was more broad-based,” an economist at BNP Paribas wrote in a note to clients.

 

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/23/the-housing-market-is-plunging-is-it-time-to-panic.aspx

Case-Shiller Home Rise In Line With Expectations | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

The Case-Shiller 20-City home price index was up 0.75% month-over-month in December, and up 13.42% year-over-year in December.

This compares with expectations for a 0.6% MoM and 13.4% YoY rise.

“The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index ended its best year since 2005,” David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a press release.
“However, gains are slowing from month-to-month and the strongest part of the recovery in home values may be over. Year-over-year values for the two monthly Composites weakened and the quarterly National Index barely improved. The seasonally adjusted data also exhibit some softness and loss of momentum.”

Recent housing data suggests “a bleaker picture for housing,” he said. We’ve seen a decline in homebuilder confidence, existing home sales tumbled, housing starts missed expectations.

Meanwhile, FHFA home prices were up 0.8% in December, beating expectations for a 0.3% rise.

Home prices were up 1.2% in Q4, compared with expectation sfor a 1% rise.

FHFA’s November numbers were revised down to show a 0.1% MoM fall, compared with a 0.1% rise previously.

 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/comes-case-shiller-home-prices-134120159.html