Daily Archives: July 26, 2013

Shoe Designer Vince Camuto Lists Historic Hamptons Estate | Waccabuc Real Estate

Leave a reply

What could you do with $48 million? You could purchase about 480,000 pairs of heels, or you could buy a shoe designer’s entire estate.

Shoe and fashion designer Vince Camuto — who founded popular shoe brand Nine West in the 1970s— has listed his historic Southampton home with a $48 million price tag.

The home was built more than eight decades ago as just a pool house for the mammoth Wooldon Manor, reports Curbed. The main residence was built by Dr. Peter Wyckoff, who sold it to Jessie Woolworth Donahue, the daughter of Woolworth’s founder, F.W. Woolworth. She renovated the pool house before selling the property to Edmund Lynch of Merrill Lynch.

The original manor — once named the most opulent in The Hamptons — was destroyed in 1941 after Lynch’s death. The land has since been subdivided, with the remaining estate sitting on 5.5 acres. An additional 8.8 acres is also available for purchase.

The past 30 years have been good to the 10,000-square-foot home. Sitting right on the water, the place has been updated and modernized by Camuto — and of course, a new pool house was added to the property. Today, the main residence has 7 bedrooms, 7.5 baths and plenty of entertaining space beneath vaulted ceilings and large windows. Patios and lawns stretch to the private beach, and the entire parcel is protected by security systems.

According to Curbed, Camuto has already moved on to another Hamptons home: the Jazz Age Villa Maria that recently garnered a feature in Architectural Digest.

 

Shoe Designer Vince Camuto Lists Historic Hamptons Estate | Zillow Blog.

Region’s Real Estate Sales Slip, But Prices Still Surging | Bedford Hills Homes

Leave a reply

 

Total sales in the region in June were 6,308, down 2.8 percent from 6,491 in the same month of 2012.

 

The median sale price in the region, however, jumped 44.7 percent from a year earlier, to $123,000, from $85,000 in June 2012.

 

The sales decline was felt most strongly in Detroit, Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, Genesee County, and in rural areas like Huron and Sanilac counties.

 

The biggest price pops, however, came in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights and Genesee County. Also reporting strong price increases were the Grosse Pointes, Lapeer County, Macomb County, Oakland County, and rural Sanilac and Tuscola counties.

 

Inventory on the market shrank a whopping 28.4 percent, with 19,459 houses for sale in the region in June, down from 27,191 a year earlier. Of that inventory, 7 percent is identified as short sales, and 12.6 percent as foreclosure sales. Average number of days on the market before a home sells also continues to tumble, to 66 days, from 81 days a year earlier.

 

By county or other sub-market, sales were as follows:

 

Detroit (includes Hamtramck, Highland Park and Harper Woods): 296 foreclosure sales, down 28.5 percent from 414 a year earlier, 183 non-foreclosure sales, down 3.2 percent from 189 a year earlier. Median sale price on foreclosure ales, $7,701, down 4 percent from $8,025 a year earlier. Median sale price on non-foreclosure sales, $23,000, up 76.9 percnet from $13,000 a year earlier.

 

Dearborn and Dearborn Heights: 40 foreclosure sales, down 45.9 percent from 74 a year earlier. 123 non-foreclosure sales, down 8.2 percent from 134 a year earlier. Median sale price on foreclosure sales, $57,500, up 36.2 percnet from $42,210 a year earlier. Median sale price on non-foreclosure sales, $100,000, up 44.9 percent from $69,000 a year earlier.

 

 

Genesee County: 160 foreclosure sales, down 36.5 percent from 252 a year earlier. 291 non-foreclosure sales, up 9.8 percnet from 265 a year earlier. Median sale price on foreclosure sales, $27,000, up 6.8 percent from $25,287 a year earlier. Median sale price on non-foreclosure sales, $97,000, down 2 percent from $99,000 a year earlier.

 

Region’s Real Estate Sales Slip, But Prices Still Surging « CBS Detroit.

Study: Consumers more loyal to real estate companies than agents | Cross River Real Estate

Leave a reply

Agents, think your clients would follow you if you were to hang your license elsewhere? That may not be the case.

Less than 20 percent of recent homebuyers and sellers said they “definitely will” switch real estate companies if their sales agent moved to another company, according to a buyer and seller satisfaction study from global marketing research firm J.D. Power.

“A real estate company’s agent remains the most important aspect of the customer’s experience among first-time and repeat homebuyers and sellers; however, customer loyalty is first to the company and second to the agent,” said Christina Cooley, director in the diversified services industries practice at J.D. Power, in a statement.

“In the end, it is the combination of the company’s standards, processes and approach to addressing customer needs combined with outstanding execution by the sales agent that will truly differentiate the customer experience.”

The sixth annual study included 3,930 respondents who bought or sold a home between March 2012 and April 2013 with one of the nation’s largest real estate companies.

The shares of first-time homebuyers and sellers in the market jumped from last year’s study, opening up an opportunity for real estate companies who can better serve their needs, the study said.

 

 

Study: Consumers more loyal to real estate companies than agents | Inman News.

California foreclosure starts fall to second-lowest level in 7 years | Pound Ridge Homes

Leave a reply

Foreclosure starts in California rose 38.7% from the first to second quarter, but still hover at their second-lowest level in seven years, DataQuick reported.

 

Homeowners in the state have rising prices and new legislation to thank for the dramatic slowdown in default notices.

 

The La Jolla, Calif.-based real estate data firm said 25,747 notices of default were filed in the April-to-June period, up 38.7% from 18,568 filings in the prior quarter and down 52.9% from 54,615 filings a year earlier.

 

The notices of default filed in the first quarter of 2013 marked the lowest quarterly total since 2005, making the most recent report the second lowest quarterly total in seven years.

 

It’s possible new foreclosure legislation in the state is the cause of the slowdown.

 

The Homeowner Bill of Rights took effect in California on Jan. 1, creating a private right of action for foreclosure plaintiffs to sue financial firms for violating one of the law’s many provisions.

 

“In California and other states in recent years foreclosure activity has sometimes plunged temporarily after a new law kicks in and the industry takes time to adjust,” DataQuick explained.

 

On the other hand, home prices are rising, and as they go up, homeowners have more leverage to save their properties.

 

The median price for a California home hit $344,000 in the second quarter, up 14.7% from $300,000 in the first quarter and a 27.4% jump from $270,000 in the second quarter of 2012.

 

The state’s median home price during the market bubble reached $485,500 in 2007.

 

Mortgage defaults in California continue to hit more affordable neighborhoods first, with zip codes featuring homes in the $200,000-price range reporting 4.2 notices of default for every 1,000 homes.

 

That compares to 2.8 notices per every 1,000 homes when analyzing the $200,000-to-$800,000 price range. And, in the above-$800,000-range, 1.1 notices are filed per every 1,000 homes.

 

California foreclosure starts fall to second-lowest level in 7 years | HousingWire.

New home sales hit five-year high, prices soar | North Salem Homes

Leave a reply

New U.S. home sales vaulted to a five-year high in June, while other data on Wednesday showed an acceleration in factory activity in July, boosting hopes of a third-quarter pick-up in economic growth.

 

Showing no signs yet of slowing in the face of higher mortgage rates, single-family home sales increased 8.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 497,000 units, the highest level since May 2008, the Commerce Department said.

 

Economists, who had expected sales to advance only to a 482,000-unit rate, said buyers sitting on the fence had probably rushed into the market to lock in lower rates in anticipation of mortgage rates moving even higher.

 

“The recent increase in mortgage rates hasn’t slowed demand as long as home affordability remains high,” said Bob Walters, chief economist at Quicken Loans in Detroit. “We are, however, seeing an increased urgency from potential new home buyers as they move to secure today’s historically low rates.”

 

Though the government revised down sales from March through May by a total 38,000 units, the overall tone of the report was bullish. Compared with June last year, single-family home sales were up 38.1 percent, the largest increase since January 1992.

 

There had been worries that higher borrowing costs could crimp the housing market recovery after a report on Monday showed a surprise drop in home resales in June.

 

Mortgage rates have been rising in anticipation of the Federal Reserve starting to reduce its massive monetary stimulus later this year. According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased 0.53 percentage point in June to 4.07 percent, its highest level since October 2011.

 

Still, mortgage rates, which edged lower last week, remain low by historical standards and economists, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, believe the fundamentals in the housing market are strong enough to withstand the rise in borrowing costs.

 

New home sales hit five-year high, prices soar | Reuters.

Mortgage delinquency, foreclosure rates decline in Corridor | Armonk Real Estate

Leave a reply

Home mortgage foreclosure and delinquency rates in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City fell in May over the same period last year, according to data released by CoreLogic of Irvine, Calif.

 

The rate of Cedar Rapids area foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans was 1.88 percent for May, a decrease of 0.22 percent from 2.1 percent in May 2012. Foreclosure activity in Cedar Rapids was lower than the national foreclosure rate of 2.61 percent for May, down from 3.46 percent in the same month last year.

 

The foreclosure rate measures the percentage of loans in some stage of the foreclosure process. A foreclosure is defined by the legal process by which an owner’s right to a property is terminated, usually due to default.

 

The foreclosure rate does not represent the number of new foreclosure filings, but rather the current inventory of loans in the foreclosure process.

 

The Cedar Rapids mortgage delinquency rate also declined in May. CoreLogic reported  3.23 percent of mortgage loans were 90 days or more delinquent, compared with 3.55 percent for the same period last year, representing a decrease of 0.32 percentage points.

 

The national rate of mortgages 90 days or more past due was 5.63 percent in May, down from 6.89 percent in the same period of 2012, according to CoreLogic.

 

The rate of Iowa City area foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans was 0.96 percent for May, a decrease of 0.17 percent from 1.13 percent in May 2012.

 

The mortgage delinquency rate in Iowa City also declined in May over the same period last year. CoreLogic reported 1.72 percent of mortgage loans were 90 days or more delinquent in May, compared with 2.07 percent for the same period last year, representing a decrease of 0.35 percent.

 

Mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City have generally fallen over the last year, with some occasional single-month increases. The rates have always been lower than the national rates tracked by CoreLogic.

 

Mortgage delinquency, foreclosure rates decline in Corridor | TheGazette.