Daily Archives: May 29, 2013

5 Top Things Today’s Home Buyers Want | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

Many people shopping for real estate today are younger than previous generations of home buyers, and they’re extremely tech savvy. They grew up with smartphones, apps, and Google searches. And they want to use technology not only in their search for a home but throughout the home itself.

A recent survey by Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate shows that 77 percent of Gen X & Gen Y home buyers want their homes “equipped with the technological capabilities they have grown accustomed to.” And it doesn’t stop there. This new generation of home buyers is “rewriting the rules to home ownership and reinterpreting traditional norms to fit their values,” says Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate.

These aren’t your standard-issue young home buyers from 30 or 40 years ago, who were often married couples looking for a starter home in the suburbs to raise a family. Today, single women make up a large percentage of first-time buyers, as do gay couples and the always-connected mobile professional.

As the home buyer evolves, so does the home. Here are five major shifts in homes you can expect to see today and in the coming years.

home theater

1. Man Caves and Smart Homes

The media room or “man cave” emerged in real estate marketing a few years back. Many buyers now prefer high-tech rooms with surround sound, large-screen TV’s, and the most up-to-date A/V equipment to the coveted formal dining room of a generation’s past.

But some aren’t limiting technology to just one room. They’re transforming an entire property into a “smart home” with home automation systems.

At a recent Maple Ridge, N.J. open house, the real estate agent demonstrated the features of the home automation system to excited buyers. With one tap on a touch screen, the owner of that home could remotely lock/unlock doors to let in their kids from school, automatically turn on the A/C or heat before they leave work, or monitor the family dog via webcam.

Given how technology is only going to be more important in our lives, transforming a home into a “smart home” is likely to be a good investment.

Carrie Bradshaw closet

2. Carrie Bradshaw Closets

In the first Sex and the City movie, Carrie Bradshaw excitedly tours her future Manhattan apartment with Mr. Big — and is woefully disappointed at the tiny closet space. He surprises her by dramatically remodeling the cramped space into a dream closet, with glowing, glass-enclosed sub-closets.

That 2008 movie raised the bar and set the tone for closets. Today, the walk-in closet is a must-have on many buyers’ wish list. Some homeowners are paring down a four-bedroom home to three by transforming one bedroom into an oversized walk-in closet. It’s a far cry from the Victorian era, when bedroom closets were often the size of a coat closet today.

A large closet will probably never go out of style. If you intend to expand a closet or bedroom into a grand walk-in closet, just be careful not to overly customize it. The more specific you get with your taste, the fewer people your closet will appeal to when you go to sell later.

Home office

3. Home Offices

Even though a few companies (most notably Yahoo!) are instituting a ban on working from home, most encourage it. And so, in our always-on culture, many people entering the real estate market are tethered to email well into the evening hours and on weekends.

A home office tops this buyer’s wish list. Depending on the number of bedrooms, some will create a home office with built-in desks, shelving and cabinets. The customized home office with built-ins could deter some buyers, however, who feel they’ve lost a bedroom or other space. But many prefer to have one place dedicated to their laptops, printers and work-related stuff. (A dedicated home office is better for tax purposes, too). Either way, try to make your home office as appealing to the next buyer as it is to you. And keep in mind that, provided you don’t create a built-in a desk or bookshelf, the space can easily be reverted back to a bedroom.

hardwood floor

4. Hardwood Floors

If you walk into a home that hasn’t been on the market for decades, you’ll probably see a lot of wall-to-wall carpeting. This was common in the mid 20th century. Not only did carpeting help reduce heating bills, it was seen as physically comforting and less sterile.

Fast forward 50 years, a time when most buyers prefer gleaming hardwood floors. Hardwood floors make a space feel less confined and give it a new, clean feeling. No matter how many times the carpet has been cleaned Top Carpet Cleaning Services from Super Kleen, there’s something about stepping on someone else’s carpet with your bare feet that turns off today’s buyers.

If you see a home you love, with wall-to-wall carpeting you don’t love, ask the agent what’s underneath it. You might be surprised to find a hardwood floor that, with some sanding and polishing, will give the home that updated, lighter look you want.

community pool

5 Top Things Today’s Home Buyers Want | Zillow Blog.

5 Home Renovations That Could Hurt Resale | South Salem Real Estate

pool

While a must-have for some buyers, swimming pools can also be a huge turn-off for other home shoppers.

Unlike the homeowner of 25 years ago, today’s typical buyers plan to live in their homes for just five to seven years. So it’s more important than ever to consider resale when making home improvements.

Even if you’re a buyer, it’s important to think like a seller, too, from the time you sign the purchase contract through any home improvement or renovation projects. The goal: Think about how your improvements might affect the sale of your home down the road.

Below are five home renovation/improvement projects that could actually hurt your home’s resale.

1. Going overboard on landscaping or gardens

A homeowner/seller may have a green thumb and be really proud of the time spent on the garden, the hedges or landscaping. But the next buyer might see it as too much maintenance, especially if you went overboard with your green thumb. Potential buyers may not be willing to pay for it (as part of the home’s overall price), hire a gardener or do the work themselves. This is especially true with Millennials and Gen X-ers. Of course, your property needs curb appeal, and nice landscaping does sell. But it could be just as easy to do a quick, inexpensive yard once-over before going on the market.

2. Converting a garage into a family room

Converting a garage into a family room may make sense if you don’t have a nice car or you simply want a bigger family room. Some people think a driveway is enough. But this is a huge “no-no” in real estate. A garage is expected, especially in the suburbs. If you take it out, you lose a huge chunk of buyers who simply won’t consider a home without a garage.

3. Taking out a bedroom

It’s common today for people to transform a bedroom into a huge master closet or into a home office with a built-in desk and cabinet. If you do, make sure the room can be easily turned back when you put the home on the market. Buyers with kids may need that bedroom. They’ll see the room you converted into a home office or closet as more money they’ll need to spend to turn it back into a bedroom.

A home office is the easiest to undo, as long as you haven’t built in intricate desks, shelves and cabinets. A large closet generally goes within a master bedroom, which includes taking out a door or putting up a wall — all of which is harder to undo.

4. Adding a swimming pool

Similar to landscaping, a pool requires maintenance and is an even bigger liability. This is very particular for certain parts of the country. If you’re in the South, in a warm environment, you can get away with it much more easily. A pool would be a common “must-have” on many buyers’ wish list.

If you’re in an area where it’s only warm a few months a year and pools aren’t common, adding one could be a big mistake. Then again, it’s your home, and if you plan to be there a long time, add the pool. Just know that it may be a turn-off to future buyers. When in doubt, consult your agent.

5. Adding highly personalized colors, finishes or fixtures

Often, homeowners put in tile, sinks, vanities, countertops and floor coverings that are hard to replace, and yet are specific to their tastes.

For example, you may be obsessed with the Moroccan tile from your Marrakesh vacation last year and want it in your kitchen. But the next buyer may not be so enthusiastic. Similarly, installing ceramic or marble tile all over the floors may be a costly mistake that others won’t want to pay for. Some homeowners assume that because they spent $50,000 in such upgrades, their homes will be worth so much more. But what may be a highly personal touch could make your home look like a “fixer-upper” to others. The end result: You’ll turn off a lot of buyers who don’t like your taste and don’t want to do the work to undo it.

 

5 Home Renovations That Could Hurt Resale | Zillow Blog.

Home Prices Slump As France Staggers Into Recession | Waccabuc Real Estate

As the French economy slumps into the second recession in four years, fears are rising that the country’s property market is also set to plunge.

Real estate services provider CBRE monitors the French residential property market and says the country’s unstable economy could lead to a price drop for the country’s beleaguered home owners.

Property prices have fallen in most French regions in the past year and the current prediction doesn’t provide much home hope.

Analysts at the firm say the weak economic environment and the drop in consumer spending power will not help the ‘feeble start’ for property sales in 2013.

The report highlights the growth in unemployment as a major concern for the country, while adding the drop in agreed mortgages, fuelled by over-cautious banks, will also not help prices in the short term.

Mortgage approvals drop by a third

They add that the fall in new mortgages approved has seen a 32% plunge since 2011.

The CBRE report states: “While banks have tightened their mortgage lending criteria and are asking for higher deposits, the main reason for the fall in mortgages is because of the slump in demand from home buyers.”

To underline the precarious state of the housing market, the construction of new homes is also heading downwards.

In the first three months of this year, only 83,900 units were started – a drop of 11.2% from last year.

Though 2012 is described as ‘brutal’ for developers after a fairly good 2011 – when housing starts fell by 18% on the year before – no-one is predicting a bumper year for construction this year.

Also, the number of investors in French property is in rapid decline.

Investors move out

From 2009 to 2011, investors made up 60% of the buying market, this fell to less than half last year and the numbers are still falling.

One reason for this decline is that letting returns have fallen as taxes have risen, and investors have become wary of a potential limit being imposed on rent levels.

CBRE says that property prices are not expected to rise this year and will even fall in some markets – particularly in areas which have a large supply of unsold homes.

The government is supporting the construction industry by unveiling 20 measures to boost house building and to encourage energy saving improvements to homes.

However, any attempts at encouraging new builds will only help fuel the oversupply of unsold homes and a bid to help landlords convert vacant offices into homes is proving unpopular since the conversion costs are too high.

 

Home Prices Slump As France Staggers Into Recession – iExpats.

Calgary and Edmonton buck national housing market trend of declining sales | Cross River Real Estate

A soft landing is underway in the Canadian housing market and should continue but Calgary and Edmonton are bucking the trend with sales rising compared with a year ago, says a new report released Tuesday by BMO Capital Markets.

The report, by Sal Guatieri, senior economist for BMO, said the Canadian housing market is “calming not crashing.”

“In most regions, sales have fallen at double-digit rates this year from high levels last year,” said Guatieri. “But the rate of decline has slowed recently.

“By contrast, Alberta enjoys decent sales growth.”

As of April, the three month moving average of sales in the existing home market was down 10.9 per cent across the country. However, Calgary and Edmonton were the only two major markets to see growth at three per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

Also, while the average sale price across Canada rose by only 1.0 per cent, Calgary led the nation with a 7.5 per cent hike. Edmonton was up 3.2 per cent.

Guatieri said Calgary’s resale prices are “supported by good valuations, following the 2008 correction, and strong job growth.”

“The upward trend should continue, as Alberta is expected to lead the nation’s economic performance in 2014,” he said.

According to the Calgary RealEstate Board, year-to-date until May 27, there have been 9,541 MLS sales in the city, up 3.89 per cent compared with the same period a year ago. The average sale price has risen by 6.6 per cent while the median price has increased by 5.51 per cent to $399,900.

At the national level. Guatieri said tighter mortgage ruls have slowed credit growth, helping to cool the housing market in an orderly fashion.

“Lack of pent-up demand, with homeownership rates near 70 per cent, and elevated household debt have abetted the slowing,” he said.

“Nationwide, sales are expected to stabilize this year amid steady job growth. Although long-term interest rates are likely to rise moderately next year, they should remain relatively low for some time.”


 

Calgary and Edmonton buck national housing market trend of declining sales.

All-cash buyers winning the war in Calif.’s booming housing market | Katonah Real Estate

One place the housing market is booming is in San Francisco.

The bidding wars are under way and the combatants are armed with cash.

In Oakland, Calif., Sara Mertz and her real estate agent Patrick Leaper are finally on the verge of closing a deal. This is the ninth house she has tried to buy

“Six months, nine offers,” Mertz said.

Home prices rise most since 2006

How much do Fannie and Freddie still owe us?

This first-time buyer is ready with a 20 percent down payment. But in today’s market, that is not always enough.

“From our experience, there’s not a lot on the market, and so when there is a house that we’re excited about, so is everybody else,” Mentz said.

It took Sara Mertz six months and nine offers before she was finally able to clinch a house. / CBS News

And many of those “everybody else’s” has cash. “A lot of it,” Mentz said.

“Cash buyers coming in with no contingencies at all are closing in 10 days,” Leaper said.

He hasn’t seen this many cash buyers in 40 years.

Cash buyers accounted for more than a third (34.1 percent) of home sales in California in March, more than double the average (a 16.1 percent monthly average since 1988). They are not just buying foreclosures, they are buying everything.

“There’s a tremendous amount of cash buyers out there,” Leaper said. “Not just the investor, [or] people who have taken money out of their IRA’s and buying real estate, but homeowners too.”

In part it’s a response to the low interest rates paid on money in the bank. Some savers are putting their money in real estate instead. All that cash is helping drive up prices. In Oakland, the median sales price has risen from $240,000 in April last year to $537,000 this April, according to Red Oak Realty.

“It’s wonderful for sellers right now, today, equally as bad for buyers,” Leaper said.

It’s almost as if buying a house in Oakland right now has become an endurance sport.

Sara Mertz endured. After being beaten on eight previous offers, she went more than $100,000 over the asking price to get her new house. And she can’t wait to move in.

 

 

All-cash buyers winning the war in Calif.’s booming housing market – CBS News.

What the Housing Market Turnaround Means for You | Bedford Hills Real Estate

In recent months it’s become clear that the housing market has turned around, with prices this spring adding to the 7.3% gains of last year. But future gains are likely to be more modest — about 2.5% this year.

That’s the latest estimate from CoreLogic(CLGX_), the housing-data firm. CoreLogic projects an average gain of 3.9% a year through 2017.

While many homeowners would prefer faster appreciation, gains of 3% to 4% are probably healthier over the long run than larger ones. Too much appreciation produces bubbles, which do terrible damage when they collapse. If homeprices grow faster than incomes, fewer and fewer people can afford to buy, and prices eventually drop to reflect the lower demand that results.

Also, home price gains are not really money in homeowners’ pockets, because the next home you buy is probably getting more expensive too.

But why won’t homes appreciate faster? After all, in most parts of the country, homes are still worth far less than they at their peak in 2006 or 2007.

CoreLogic says several factors are at play. The heavy demand from investors buying foreclosed properties will diminish as rising prices and falling foreclosures reduce the number of bargains. A shortage of homes for sale will diminish as rising prices draw more sellers into the market. Price gains, for example, will reduce the number of underwater mortgages — where the homeowner owes more than the home is worth — making homes easier to sell.

“Price appreciation will also be limited by the increase in supply as more new homes are built,” 

 

What the Housing Market Turnaround Means for You – TheStreet.

Real Estate Market Trends: Prices Gain Nearly 11 Percent | Bedford Real Estate

Home prices across the nation’s largest 20 largest metropolitan areas posted their largest annual gain in seven years, rising 10.9 in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the same period last year, according to the latest real estate market trends reported today by Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

The largest yearly increases were seen in Phoenix (22.5 percent), San Francisco (22.2 percent) and Las Vegas (20.6 percent), said David M. Blitzer Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement analyzing the latest real estate market trends. The slowest – yet still substantial – gains were seen in New York (2.6 percent), Cleveland (4.8 percent) and Boston (6.7 percent).

Additional indicators, including housing starts, new permits, and new and existing home sales, add to the growing evidence that the housing market is healing, but other real estate market trends indicate the recovery has a ways to go, Blitzer said. “The larger than usual share of multi-family housing, a large number of homes still in some stage of foreclosure and buying-to-rent by investors suggest that the housing recovery is not complete,” he said.

Townhomes account for an increasing share of the existing market, as well as new housing activity, according to a blog on the latest real estate market trends published today by the National Association of Home Builders, a trade association based in Washington, D.C.

Construction began on 15,000 new townhomes in the first quarter of 2013, up from 10,000 in the first quarter of 2012, according to the association. Over the same period, the market share of town homes rose from 10.4 percent to 12.7 percent.

 

Real Estate Market Trends: Prices Gain Nearly 11 Percent | Millionaire Corner.

Wall Street rallies as home prices jump | Pound Ridge Real Estate

Stock markets soared after data showed consumer confidence climbed to the highest level since 2008 and home values jumped the most in seven years, Bloomberg writes.

Nine out out 10 S&P 500 groups advanced, paced by a 1.4% rally among financial shares.

The S&P rallied 1% to 1,665.68, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 156.59 points, or 1%.

 

Wall Street rallies as home prices jump | HousingWire.

Activist homeowners take foreclosure fight to the DOJ | Bedford Corners Real Estate

500 activists from across the country came to the nation’s capital recently to “Bring Justice to Justice” — participating in three days of action organized by Home Defenders League and Occupy Our Homes. They were calling for the criminal prosecution of banks for ongoing illegal activity, including illegal foreclosures; and for resetting mortgages to a property’s fair market value for the more than 13 million homeowners still at risk of foreclosure, according to The Nation.

 

 

Activist homeowners take foreclosure fight to the DOJ | HousingWire.

Refi apps tumble for third week | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

Mortgage applications plummeted once again, falling 8.8% from the week prior, the Mortgage Bankers Association posted.

Refinancing and purchase applications did little to revive the decline suffered last week.

The refinance index tumbled 12%, the largest single week drop in refinance applications this year, from the previous week to the lowest level since December 2012.

For the second week in a row, the seasonally adjusted purchase index dropped 3%, the industry trade group said.

“Refinance applications fell for the third straight week bringing the refinance index to its lowest level since December 2012 as mortgage rates increased to their highest level in a year,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics.

He explained, “Rates rose in response to stronger economic data and an increasing chance that the Fed may soon begin to taper their asset purchases.”

Meanwhile, the refinance share of overall mortgage activity inched down to 71% of total applications, compared to 74% the prior week.

The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity slightly increased to 5% of all mortgage applications.

The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan balance skyrocketed to 3.90%, the highest rate since May 2012, from 3.78%,

 

 

Refi apps tumble for third week | HousingWire.