Pinterest group boards for real estate agents: the secret to reaching a larger audience with better engagement | Bedford Realtor
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Daily Archives: February 27, 2014
Suburban Jungle reports Top NYC Suburb Destinations | Armonk Realtor
Average 30-year US mortgage rate up to 4.37 pct | Bedford Corners NY Homes
Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages rose for a third straight week as new data showed a surprisingly strong pace of new-home sales last month. Rates still remain near historically low levels.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate for the 30-year loan increased to 4.37 percent from 4.33 percent last week. The average for the 15-year mortgage rose to 3.39 percent from 3.35 percent.
A report Wednesday from the Commerce Department boosted expectations that the spring home buying season will be solid enough to lift the overall economy.
Sales of new homes rebounded in January to the fastest rate in more than five years. The strength in purchases followed a slowdown that had been linked to higher mortgage rates and severe winter weather.
Mortgage rates have risen about a full percentage point since hitting record lows roughly a year ago. The increase was driven by speculation that the Federal Reserve would reduce its $85 billion-a-month bond purchases. Deeming the economy to be gaining strength, the Fed proceeded last month with planned reductions of its bond purchases, which have helped keep long-term interest rates low.
To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country between Monday and Wednesday each week. The average doesn’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
http://news.yahoo.com/average-30-us-mortgage-rate-4-37-pct-152646289–finance.html
Bedford Could Get Snow Showers Thursday, Major Storm Sunday | Bedford NY Real Estate
Winter’s firm grip on Westchester County will be as strong as ever through next week.
Thursday will be marked by a frigid wind chills with gusts as high as 30 to 32 miles per hour and a high temperature between 28 and 30 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. There is a chance of afternoon snow showers.
Frigid cold will then set in with overnight lows near zero and wind chills between 10 and 12 degrees below zero.
After a sunny and cold day Friday with a high between 18-20, there is a chance of snow showers Saturday and the potential exists for a major winter storm from Sunday evening into Monday evening.
While it is too early to predict the storm’s impact, Accuweather.com has projected a possible accumulation of up to 6 inches.
The long-range forecast shows temperatures struggling to top the freezing mark through the end of next week.
http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/news/westchester-could-get-snow-showers-thursday-major-storm-sunday
Down to Earth Farmers Market | Pound Ridge NY Homes
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| 1840’s Dinner Inspired by Oscar Nominated, 12 Years a Slave; Sale on Pasture-Raised Meats & More February 27-March 5th, 2014 Down to Earth Markets | ||||||
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Click on a Market to see all vendor and event details…
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| Stay tuned to all market happenings via our Down to Earth Markets Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @DowntoEarthMarkets | ||||||
| An American Food Story, Sourced from a Down to Earth Farmers Market | ||||||
Chefs prepare to serve dinner inspired by Anne Northup’s 1840s cooking One of the fascinating things about shopping at the farmers market is that we never know who we are going to meet. Our Park Slope market recently led us to Tonya Hopkins, a woman known as “The Food Griot”. Self-described as “an American food storyteller”, Hopkins uses the name the Food Griot to recall the West African legacy of traveling poets, musicians, and storytellers who maintain a tradition of oral history. | ||||||
Chappaqua Real Estate Weekly Report | Chappaqua NY Homes
| Chappaqua NY Weekly Real Estate Report | 2/27/2014 | |
| Homes for sale | 104 | |
| Median Ask Price | $1,264,500.00 | |
| Low Price | $469,000.00 | |
| High Price | $19,900,000.00 | |
| Average Size | 4297 | |
| Average Price/foot | $363.00 | |
| Average DOM | 103 | |
| Average Ask Price | $1,677,196.00 | |
Mt Kisco Real Estate Weekly Report | Mt Kisco Homes
| Mt Kisco NY Weekly Real Estate Report | 2/27/2014 | |
| Homes for sale | 38 | |
| Median Ask Price | $750,000.00 | |
| Low Price | $339,000.00 | |
| High Price | $4,900,000.00 | |
| Average Size | 3136 | |
| Average Price/foot | $326.00 | |
| Average DOM | 107 | |
| Average Ask Price | $1,059,995.00 | |
Home Foreclosure Numbers Improve, but Still Far to Go | Armonk NY Homes
In the month of January, 48,000 U.S. home foreclosures were completed, down 11.8% month over month and down 19% from 59,000 in January 2013, according to research firm CoreLogic. While an improvement, the number of foreclosures is still well above the 2000 to 2006 average of 21,000 foreclosures per month. CoreLogic notes that since September 2008, some 4.9 million foreclosures have been completed in the United States.
The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures in the past 12 months were Florida (116,000), Michigan (52,000), Texas (39,000), California (38,000) and Georgia (35,000). The five states with the fewest foreclosures in the 12 months through January were District of Columbia (60), North Dakota (427), Hawaii (526), West Virginia (543) and Wyoming (732).
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/home-foreclosure-numbers-improve-still-133053522.html
Here’s Why Real Estate Will Have an Excellent Spring | Mt Kisco NY Real Estate
There’s no getting around it: It’s been a brutal winter in many parts of the country. And much of the negative economic data we’ve seen recently has been driven by the unusually harsh weather.
This is especially true in housing, where new mortgages have declined and housing starts have fallen considerably. However, I think there may be a very positive spring on the horizon for real estate as built-up demand and favorable buying conditions create a “perfect storm” (pun intended) of real estate activity.
Housing starts At first glance, the recent housing-start data looks atrocious, dropping by 16% from December to January. The rate of housing starts is lower than a year ago, even though the market improved throughout 2013.
Even the number of new housing permits — a good indicator of the building activity to come over the next couple of months — dropped. January’s rate of housing permits was 5.4% lower than it was in December, which indicates that February’s housing starts data might be even worse.
This makes sense, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual number comes in much worse than even the lowest estimates. February’s weather has been terrible, and of the permits that were initiated, weather delays may have prevented the actual construction from commencing.
On the other hand, once the weather gets nicer, homebuilders may have a backlog of new homes to build that they haven’t been able to start. Along with that, they could see more buyers coming into the market simply because better weather makes it more enjoyable to go out and shop for a house. After all, who wants to shop for a house in a foot of snow?
Mortgages are lower despite decent interest rates Although interest rates on mortgages are higher than they were last year, they definitely seem to have stabilized as a result of the Federal Reserve’s long-awaited taper at the end of 2013.
However, despite the stabilizing rates, mortgage applications fell by 8.5% in a recent report. However, a good chunk of the drop in mortgage applications is due to the 11% drop in refinancing applications, which is included in the total number. This makes sense since as rates rise, there’s progressively less of a financial case for refinancing.
Why Buying a Home Still Beats Renting…for Now | North Salem NY Homes
Buying a home is still cheaper than renting one in every one of the top 100 metro markets, but rising home prices and mortgage rates are making the equation more complicated.
Nationally, it’s 38 percent cheaper to buy than to rent a home right now, according to a new report from Trulia, the real estate online marketplace. The report assumes that owners receive a 4.5 percent mortgage, stay in their home for at least seven years, and are in the 25-percent income tax bracket. Last year, it was 44 percent cheaper.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-buying-home-still-beats-171700965.html