Daily Archives: April 24, 2013

Housing Rebound in U.S. Hampered by Success as Costs Soar | Bedford Hills NY Homes

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Suppliers of glass, drywall and wood products, who reduced output during the slump, are testing the vigor of the rebound by boosting prices before committing to restore capacity. Builders, including Lennar Corp. (LEN), Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) and KB Home, are asking homebuyers for more money as a result or are delaying sales, posing a temporary hurdle for the industry that has become one of the pillars of the economic expansion.

Building-material manufacturers “are raising prices dramatically, and once they’re convinced that these prices are going to stick, they’ll start reinvesting in those plants,” helping ease supply constraints, said John Burns, chairman of Irvine, California-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting, which provides research to developers, construction-product manufacturers and investors. “Those can take a year to get up and running.”

In a sign demand remains strong, a report yesterday showed sales of new houses advanced in March, capping the best quarter for the industry since 2008. Purchases of new single-family properties climbed 1.5 percent to a 417,000 annual pace, the Commerce Department said.

via bloomberg.com

How to Build a Greenhouse | Cross River NY Homes

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The south wall of the greenhouse is made of 2-by-6s and four storm doors.

NEVIN HAWLMAN

Early that autumn morning, I knew it was going to be a great day: I dropped my toast, and it landed honey-side up! Then in the morning newspaper, I saw an announcement for a public auction of “dozens of used aluminum storm doors.” I could hardly wait to hitch up my trailer.

My bid was $4 when the auctioneer said, “Sold! How many do you want?”

“All of them,” I said. I went home with 25 used double-track aluminum storm doors with screens and tempered glass.

Building the Greenhouse

I always wanted a home garden greenhouse to start my own vegetable plants (and a warm place to putter as the snow swirled outside). When I announced my new project at our Sunday family supper, my son smiled as he said, “I thought you were running low on things to do.” The next day he was helping me unload stones for the greenhouse base.

We made the greenhouse frame from 2-by-6s. The studs and rafters are on 36-inch centers to accommodate the 36-inch storm doors. Top and bottom plates are double 2-by-6s with overlapping corners. The frame is held together by three-eighths-inch bolts and galvanized spiral nails. The north side has no glass exposure. It is sheathed with oriented strand board and covered with vinyl siding. It shelters the greenhouse from cold winter winds. That sheltered side also makes working in the greenhouse bearable on hot summer days. The worktable is in the shade.

Heating the Greenhouse

The greenhouse is heated by hot water piped in via underground lines coming from a woodstove outside my shop. I modified the stove by laying a cast-iron radiator on top of it. The water in the radiator is drawn to the greenhouse radiator by a small circulating pump. The pump runs constantly in cold months. The greenhouse thermostat controls the blower on the remote woodstove so it maintains a water temperature of about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. I think this is more efficient than having the water temperature fluctuate widely. I know it provides a more even temperature in the greenhouse, which ranges from 70 to 80 degrees on cloudy days.

If you love gardening and potting plants, build a greenhouse! Don’t expect it to pay for itself unless you value the excitement of seeing a seed sprout, you get a special satisfaction from eating your own harvest, and enjoy the flavors that have been lost in the quest for commercial produce that stays hard as wood in shipping (and also resembles wood in flavor).

via motherearthnews.com

Bedford Corners Sales Up 25% | Median Price Down 48% | RobReportBlog

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Bedford Corners NY Real Estate ReportRobReportBlog20136 months ending 4/24201210Sales8$754,500.00median sold price$1,462,500.00$315,000.00low sold price$530,000.00$21,500,000.00high sold price$4,800,000.004813average size5385$351.00ave. price per foot$365.00254ave days on market256$2,892,000.00average sold price$1,980,500.0093.83%ave sold to ask95.38%
via trulia.com

Trulia: Housing market inching closer to ‘normal’ | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate

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The housing market continued to trudge towards a recovery in March, with rising construction starts and falling foreclosure and delinquency rates bringing market conditions closer to those of a balanced one, according to Trulia’s Housing Barometer.

The barometer summarizes three key housing market indicators — construction starts, existing home sales, and the delinquency-plus-foreclosure rate — looking at how current conditions compare to those recorded at the depths of the housing crisis and those recorded before the housing bubble.

Trulia noted that while existing home sales dipped slightly from February to March, they were up 10 percent from a year ago. Residential construction posted a 47 percent annual gain in March, and the share of mortgages in delinquency or foreclosure fell to 9.96 percent, down a full percentage point from the same time last year.

As a result, Trulia’s Housing Barometer puts the housing market at 56 percent of the way back to normal in March, compared to 54 percent in February and 33 percent a year ago.

This month’s improvement is even better than it looks, said Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko, because of a shift of sales from distressed to conventional and early signs that the inventory crunch may be easing, which would bring some relief to would-be homebuyers.

via inman.com

Homebuyers too fixated on simplified school rankings? | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Buyers may be reading too much into simplified school rankings offered on real estate sites, paying premiums of $200,000 or more for homes served by schools that score only slightly better than other schools in the same school district, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

School district officials in San Mateo County, Calif. say real estate professionals are part of the problem, because they rely on test scores and school ranking sites to help sell homes. They’re holding an event next month to give Realtors a better understanding of what qualities make for a good school.

The Chronicle described a “feeding frenzy” for homes in the city of San Carlos, where the school district’s four elementary schools all score “well above” the state average.

The lowest performing elementary school in the district, Brittan Acres, scored 880 on the state’s 1,000-point Academic Performance Index. While the state considers scores of 800 or above ideal, the other three elementary schools in the district all score above 900.

One buyer withdrew an offer on a home served by Brittan Acres and fired his Realtor when the agent — who serves on the board of a neighboring school district — insisted that the school was fine.

Educators say test scores can often reflect the makeup of a school’s population. Low-income students and those who speak English as a second language can dent overall scores, but high-scoring schools don’t always have the best teachers or programs.

via inman.com

New-home sales jump in March from a year ago | Cross River Real Estate

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Sales of new single-family homes in March rose 18.5 percent year over year, according to a monthly report from the U.S. Census Bureau released today.

March’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of 417,000 homes represented a 1.5 percent increase from February’s revised rate of 411,000. In January, new-home sales hit a four-year high of 431,000. 

The Census Bureau estimated that 153,000 homes were for sale in the U.S. at the end of March. That represents a 4.4-month supply at the current sales rate, the same as February’s supply level. 

On Monday, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales were up 10.3 percent from a year ago in March, but down 0.6 percent from February. 

Experts including NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun say that low inventory is preventing larger increases in home sales. The supply of homes for sale is down 16.8 percent from last year, when the months’ supply of inventory stood at 6.2 months, according to NAR data. 

via inman.com