Armonk, Bedford Hills Lead in Highest Average Size | RobReportBlog Katonah 3,531 Pound Ridge 4,033 South Salem 2,656 Mt Kisco 3,004 Chappaqua 4,103 North Salem 3,622 Armonk 4,801 Bedford 4,416 Bedford Hills 4,724
Robert Laitman of Bedford crossed the marathon finish about 20 minutes before the blasts that killed three and injured 130 exploded in Boston.
But the person he planned to run with finished two minutes before the attacks went off—too close for comfort, but safely across the line, he said.
“My heart goes out to those people. I was high-fiving everyone at the finish line and I am thinking about them,” he said. “I think it’s a horrible, tragic event and I definitely could have been back there. The the timing of attack is terrible, it targeted all charity runners, groups finishing around the four-hour mark.”
Another Katonah runner, Jeffrey Welch, safely crossed the finish line, according to the Lewisboro Ledger. He completed the marathon about 15 minutes before the explosions, his wife, Carroll, told the paper Monday evening.
Click here for a list of local runners who were registered for the marathon. If you participated, were a spectator or have heard from runners, post your comments in the thread below.
Laitman said he was already at work on a project for his charity, Team Daniel—his runner’s group which raises money for mental health research—when he heard about the bombs.
Westchester County is reacting to the deadly explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon today by increasing security throughout the county.
A county police spokesman said Westchester has deployed its aviation unit helicopter and its marine unit on the Hudson River. The county’s bomb squad is on standby and security has been increased at Westchester County Airport.
The helicopter is conducting aerial surveillance of critical infrastructure around the county.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families of the horrific tragedy at the Boston Marathon. As a result of the events in Boston, Westchester County is on a heightened level of readiness,” said Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino. “I have ordered Westchester County Police to immediately take a number of precautionary actions including the deployment of the Aviation Unit helicopter to conduct aerial surveillance of critical infrastructure around the county and the Marine Unit to do the same along the Hudson River
JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon won the right Tuesday to deposit a house in his Sarles Street home.
With final blessings from the planning board, Dimon can proceed with plans to convert a four-car garage in the 9,600 square-foot main residence into a two-bedroom, two-bath cottage with its own kitchenette.
The 1,069-square-foot cottage will be carved from an existing 1,617-square-foot garage. The leftover space will house a 229-square-foot security-console room, with pantry and bath, and 319 square feet of space for mechanical and electrical equipment.
Dimon’s property, largely a family summer retreat, includes a tennis court and a pool, with a cabana currently under construction for a future pool. Another accessory cottage also sits on the more than 29 acres off Sarles Street.
The new cottage will be topped by a slate gambrel roof, the banker’s land-use lawyer, John Marwell of Mount Kisco, said.
Accompanied by other members of the development team, including architect Gary Savitzky of Scarsdale, Marwell addressed the planning board Tuesday, saying, “We are in front of you this evening for site-plan approval and special-use-permit approval.” Marwell won three needed variances—exceptions from the strict letter of the town’s land-use code—from the zoning board of appeals last month.
Bedford Hills, Chappaqua Lead in Highest Ask Price | RobReportBlog Katonah $18,995,000.00 Pound Ridge $3,950,000.00 South Salem $3,200,000.00 Mt Kisco $4,500,000.00 Chappaqua $24,750,000.00 North Salem $18,500,000.00 Armonk $17,000,000.00 Bedford $14,500,000.00 Bedford Hills $30,000,000.00 Bedford Corners $11,250,000.00
The deal momentum from the end of 2012 gave the downtown commercial real estate market a strong start for the first part of 2013.
Vacancy rates for office and retail space in the city are down and activity levels in both sectors have brokers bullish on the progress of downtown, according to a new market report from brokerage firm Colliers International.
Activity in the West Michigan office market saw 50,641 square feet of new absorption in the first quarter of 2013, according to reports from Colliers. The downtown and central business district accounted for approximately 11,381 square feet of that figure.
The numbers are a modest improvement over total office absorption of 49,026 square feet in the fourth quarter last year, but the new data also marks nine straight quarters of positive absorption.
Average asking prices of residential properties in Abu Dhabi’s investment areas rose “significantly” by eight per cent in the first quarter 2013 due to its safe haven status and job stability driving people to buy than rent, says a new report.
In its report on Abu Dubai real estate, Jones Lang LaSalle said average prices within investment areas rose to Dh11,000 per square metre from Dh10,200 sqm in fourth quarter 2012. Average asking prices for apartments stood at Dh12,000 per sqm, while average prices for villas were at around Dh9,900 per sqm.
“With increased job stability some people are preferring to buy property rather than renting and this demand is concentrated in investment areas. There is additional demand from investors looking to capture price growth from a potential future upswing,” the report stated.
The consultancy pointed out that these increases, however, did not reflect a “market-wide recovery.”
On the rental side, the wider market continued to experience declines, resulting in a further divergence of residential market performance. Prime buildings showed signs of stabilization and selective recovery, while secondary market continued to experience downward pressure on rents.
Moreover, rents in Abu Dhabi have become relatively more affordable since those in Dubai have begun to rise which is encouraging more renters to consider relocating to the capital.
Average asking rents for prime two bedroom apartments reached Dh130,000 per annum in Q1, increase over 8 per cent from Q4 2012.
However, JLL said the increase was largely restricted to selected prime developments where performance has improved due to a number of factors such as more community facilities being completed within master planned areas; job growth from major infrastructure projects; limited availability of high quality units for private rental and initial relocation of Abu Dhabi government employees from Dubai in response to new regulations.
16,000 new housing units
The capital, JLL said, is set to witness supply of 16,000 residential units this year of which nearly 2,000 units were released in the first quarter alone. Thus the total residential stock stood at 208,000 units at the end of Q1 2013.
Nationwide home prices are up 8% over the last year, according to the Case-Shiller housing index.
This isn’t surprising. The supply of existing homes for sale is at a seven-year low. Construction of new homes is still well below the rate of household formation. Prices will almost always rise in that situation. It’s simple supply and demand. And it’s pulled millions of homeowners out from being underwater on their mortgage and brought new hope to the housing industry, boosting shares of D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI ) and NVR (NYSE: NVR ) as the outlook for construction rises.
That’s the good news. But what should homeowners expect the price of their house to do over time?
In this video, Fool analysts Morgan Housel and Matt Koppenheffer tackle that question.
Long-suffering home sellers got a reprieve in March, when home prices jumped 7 percent in the Columbia area.
But real estate experts say sellers need to stay realistic as the Midlands real estate market emerges from a steep downturn.
While rising home prices are a healthy sign, said Andy Walker, partner in the Bollin Ligon Walker real estate firm in Columbia, price should not be an isolated factor.
“If you’re thinking about selling your house, I wouldn’t be out there thumping my chest saying, ‘Prices are up 7 percent, I’m going to start asking more,’ because I think that could be a huge mistake,” Walker said.
The median price – the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less – for homes that sold in Midlands in March was $144,325, according to a report Monday from the S.C. Realtors trade group. That’s up from $135,000 in March a year ago.
It was the first increase in median price this year, according to S.C. Realtors’ monthly reports.
In South Carolina, the median price of homes sold statewide bumped up 5 percent in March to $151,600, with 11 out of 16 regions showing gains.
Homeowners anxious to sell have been under price pressure for four to five years now, as first the housing bust, then a busted economy, played out. It is still a buyer’s market, however, Walker said, and if sellers start optimistically pricing homes higher, the likely effect is homes will be on the market for longer periods of time, he said.
“The 7 percent (does not mean) the same house that sold last year is now selling for 7 percent more,” said Nick Kremydas, S.C. Realtors’ chief executive officer. “What it’s indicating in general is that the houses that are selling now, their prices are up by 7 percent, so it’s not apples to apples.”
Still, a rise in housing prices is a positive sign, indicating shrinking inventory and increased buyer demand, Kremydas said. “We started the year at a 50-year-low (of new housing construction starts),” Kremydas noted. “And foreclosures … have shrunk considerably.”
Even lending, while still difficult, has improved and consumer confidence also is up, Kremydas said.
Statewide, housing inventory levels are down 40 percent from two years ago, and there are reports across the state of multiple buyers bidding for one house – typical during the overheated housing market of 2005-2007 but unheard of in recent years – he said.
The Columbia area had about a 10-month supply of homes for sale in March – down from a more than 16-month peak less than two years ago. It continues to move toward balance. The $100,000-and-under category had about an eight-month supply of homes available. A normal market has about a six-month supply, experts say, and supply affects price.
“When a market favors buyers, prices are not going to go up very much, if at all,” Walker said. As supply reduces, prices will firm up more, he said.
The Columbia-area multiple listing service, on which the monthly real estate reports are based, includes a seven-county area: Richland, Lexington, Saluda, Fairfield, Kershaw, Calhoun and Newberry counties.
“What’s happening with mobile homes in Kershaw County or Lexington County, or anywhere, and what’s happening with properties on Lake Murray, versus what’s happening to properties in Spring Valley can be a wide variety of trends, in my opinion,” said Walker, president of SC Realtors in 2008 and Central Carolina Realtors Association president in 2002 and 2012.
“If you want to know what properties are doing in your neighborhood or in your part of town, you need to consult somebody,” Walker said.
