Daily Archives: December 23, 2013

Housing Outlook 2014: 10 Predictions From The Experts | Waccabuc NY Real Estate

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In 2013, the housing recovery was a welcome bright spot for the economy: prices were shooting up, fewer homeowners were underwater, and builder confidence was finally on the upswing. It’s looking like 2014 should be another good year for housing–mostly. Here are ten things housing experts expect to see in 2014:

1. More homes will be available Short supply drove rapid price increases at the beginning of 2013, but watch for that to change next year. Realtor.org notes that the inventory (homes available for purchase) shortage began to soften in February. New construction and rising prices should bring more homes, both new and old, on to the market in 2014, helping inventory return to traditional levels.

2. Mortgage rates will rise Zillow Z +4.86% predicts rates will hit 5% by the end of 2014–well up from the 4′s and 3′s of late, but still well within normal levels. New Fed Reserve chief Janet Yellen is expected to continue Ben Bernanke’s policy of keeping mortgage rates low by buying blocks of mortgage-backed securities, but the Fed’s bond-buying taper could push rates higher. “While this will make homes more expensive to finance – the monthly payment on a $200,000 loan will rise by roughly $160 – it’s important to remember that mortgage rates in the 5 percent range are still very low,” says Erin Lantz, Zillow’s director of mortgages. Really. “Prior to the Federal Reserve’s 2008 decision to buy $85 billion in debt per month, the 36-year average was 9.2%, and never below 5.8%,” notes Glen Kelman, CEO of Redfin.

MortgageRate

Zillow: National mortgage rates, 30-year, fixed-rate

3. Mortgages will be easier to get “The silver lining to rising interest rates is that getting a loan will be easier,” says Lantz. “Rising rates means lenders’ refinance business will dwindle, forcing them to compete for buyers by potentially loosening their lending standards.”

4. Home prices will rise 3% Redfin and Zillow are predicting that home prices will rise between 3% and 5% in 2014. For comparison’s sake, 2013 saw jumps of 5% nationally, with increases of more than 20% in some hot spots. “These gains, while beneficial in many ways, were also unsustainable and well above historic norms for healthy, balanced markets,” says Dr. Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. “This year, home value gains will slow down significantly because of higher mortgage rates, more expensive home prices, and more supply created by fewer underwater homeowners and more new construction.”

5. Fewer homeowners will be underwater Rising prices helped 2.5 million homeowners with underwater mortgages regain positive equity status during the second quarter of 2013, according to Realtor.org. By Q3, a CoreLogic report found that about 6.4 million homes were still in negative equity at the end of Q3. Watch for that number to shrink in 2014.

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2013/12/23/housing-outlook-2014-10-predictions-from-the-experts/?partner=yahootix

 

Solar energy finally gets a push in NY | Bedford NY Real Estate

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An array of shimmering panels covering 3 acres in New York’s Finger Lakes is a sign of the state’s latest push to catch up to its neighbors in the Northeast that have set the pace in recent years for promoting solar energy.

The project in Romulus, N.Y., that will produce much of the electricity for the Seneca County sheriff’s department, was funded in part with a grant of almost $1 million from the state’s NY-Sun program. The initiative by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration will provide tens of millions of dollars a year for public and private projects producing at least a megawatt of solar power, the equivalent of about 200 typical residential installations.

An initial round of competition in 2012 allocated $30 million to 16 developers in New York City and the Hudson Valley who planned to put a total of 34 megawatts online by the end of this year.

One aim of NY-Sun is to help meet goals for increasing the share of the state’s energy needs covered by renewable sources, now dominated by hydropower. Another is to close the gap with other states that moved more aggressively and quickly to encourage development of solar.

Massachusetts, for example, saw 129 megawatts of solar installed in 2012 compared to 60 in New York, according to an industry group. At the same time, 415 megawatts were installed in New Jersey, where regulatory policy created a system that has utilities effectively subsidizing solar owners to meet renewable energy standards.

“It quickly comes down to policies,” said Michael Johnson, a California-based expert on funding such projects, who returned to his home county this month to help flip the switch on the Romulus system. “Every state does it their own way.”

Developers say Massachusetts and Vermont outpaced New York, in part, because of more generous incentives for a wider range of projects.

 

 

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20131223/REAL_ESTATE/131229976

Chris Brown seeks $1.92 million for his home, (in)famous for its graffiti-style artwork | Bedford Hills NY Homes

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Good news, Hollywood Hills parents: It’s safe to let your babies out again.

Not only has pop star Chris Brown removed the “monsters” that he’d painted along Rinconia Drive, he’s leaving the neighborhood and has put the whole darn house on the market.

Back in May, neighbors told the Los Angeles Times that his murals — which you can see in the June news video below — were scaring their kids. “There are lots of babies, lots of children, and they’re literally frightened. It’s like devils on the wall,” Hollywood Dell Civic Association President Patti Negri said.

The creatures’ “bulging eyeballs and giant fangs loom over the canyon,” the Times wrote.

He removed the mural after — but not because of, his lawyer hastened to say — much-publicized complaints. The lawyer told the Times in July that Brown took down the monsters because he was prepping the house for sale. And now here it is!

We’re happy to report that you can still appreciate Brown’s handiwork in listing photos of the interior. He treated a couple of walls as a giant canvas, with more of his sharp-toothed gremlins grimacing over what appears to be the living room.

Other distinctive touches in the home — which is “tailored for the most demanding in high design and quality,” according to the listing — include “spectacular custom LED site lighting and a colored LED light show in the saltwater pool and spa,” a sand pit, a “shower massage system,” “stone waterfalls,” fire pits (plural!), and “walls of glass and exotic stones.”

The asking price for this three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 3,000-square-foot fantasy? $1,920,000.

 

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/chris-brown-seeks–1-92-million-for-his-home—in-famous-for-its-graffiti-style-artwork-074531181.html

Irish House Prices Rise for Eighth Month | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate

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Irish home prices rose for the eighth successive month in November, led by increases in Dublin, according to official data released Monday, providing evidence that the country’s six-year housing slump is easing in the capital at least.

The government sees the rising prices as one more sign the country is recovering from the devastating economic crisis that erupted with the bursting of its housing bubble. The government exited its 2010 bailout this month and now relies on bond markets for funding.

Nationwide, residential prices rose 0.6% in November and were 5.6% higher than a year earlier, the Central Statistics Office said. In Dublin, residential prices increased by 1.3% in November and were 13.8% higher than a year ago.

Outside the capital, prices were flat on the month and 0.6% lower than in November 2012.

On average, home prices are 46.5% lower than at their 2007 peak, and prices won’t match those of the boom years any time soon. At best, property price gains will help damaged banks cut some of their huge losses.

The European Union plans to carry out scenario-specific bank audits next year, known as stress tests, to determine whether lenders in countries including Ireland have enough funds.

 

 

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20131223-702373.html

Rising mortgage rates, closing costs joining higher home prices | Bedford Corners NY Homes

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Home prices are higher in metro Atlanta, and so are mortgage rates and closing costs.

All three are signs that the local housing market continues to roar  back from the meltdown just a few years ago as the economy continues to  strengthen with more homeowners and prospective homeowners finding jobs  and a paycheck.

The strengthening economy was a primary reason that Federal Reserve  policymakers signaled recently that they will do a little less in trying  to stimulate economic activity by influencing interest rates.

In interviews with Biz Beat, analysts at Zillow, the online housing  listing service, and Bankrate, which tracks loan rates in Georgia and  nationally, say consumers can expect to see mortgage rates trending  higher in the new year even if they are still at historically low  levels.

Erin Lantz, director of mortgages at Zillow, said weeks of  anticipating that the Fed would “dial back” its influence on interest  rates and the actual announcement that changes in its economic stimulus  program would begin in January have already begun to push rates higher.

“The stimulus program was meant to keep interest rates lower,” Lantz said. “The economy is getting back on its own footing and doesn’t need to rely on federal stimulus as much.”

In a weekly report, Bankrate said the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in metro  Atlanta rose to 4.54 percent most recently, from 4.47 percent in the previous report and  3.76 percent at the start of 2013. The average 15-year fixed rate  rose to 3.59 percent from 3.48 percent.

Greg McBride, Bankrate’s senior financial analyst, said closing  costs, which lenders charge to process a loan, are up 6 percent from  last year in metro Atlanta. By comparison, inflation is up less than 2  percent.

McBride said lenders, who are paying out billions of dollars to  settle claims they botched loans and wrongly foreclosed on thousands of borrowers, are  facing higher costs in complying with new regulations designed to  prevent the problems that led to the housing crises. The due diligence now includes verifying  applicants’ employment, income and debt obligations multiple times before closing on a loan.

Those higher loan processing costs are being passed on to borrowers.

“Secondly, there is no wiggle room in terms of fees quoted by a  lender on the good-faith estimate of costs,” McBride said. Lenders are  required by law to provide borrowers with a written best estimate of  what a loan will cost, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they go with the higher end of a range. “Once they put that number on the form they are  locked in. It can’t be a penny more,” McBride said

 

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/biz-beat/2013/dec/23/mortgage-rates-closing-costs-joining-higher-home-p/

Foreclosure Settlement: Ocwen Agrees to $2 Billion in Mortgage Relief | Armonk NY Homes

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Ocwen Financial Corp. will reduce struggling borrowers’ loan balances by $2 billion in an agreement with federal regulators and 49 states over foreclosure abuses. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and state attorneys general announced the deal Thursday with the Atlanta-based company, one of the largest U.S. mortgage servicers. The regulators said Ocwen pushed borrowers into foreclosure through illegal actions, such as failing to promptly and accurately credit mortgage payments.

The company also miscalculated interest rates and charged borrowers improper fees, the regulators said. “We believe that Ocwen violated federal consumer financial laws at every stage of the mortgage servicing process,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray (pictured above) said in a conference call with reporters. “We have concluded that Ocwen made troubled borrowers even more vulnerable to foreclosure.”

Under the agreement, Ocwen also will refund a combined $125 million to about 185,000 borrowers who had been foreclosed upon from 2009 through 2012. It also agreed to change the way it manages mortgages. The company must stop “robo-signing” of documents, the practice of automatically signing off on foreclosures without a proper review. The agreement must be approved by a federal court in Washington.

 

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/12/20/ocwen-foreclosure-settlement-reduces-mortgages/