Monthly Archives: February 2014

Mortgage Loan Rates Rise Slightly, Home Purchases Fall to 1995 Level | Armonk Real Estate

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The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its weekly report on mortgage applications Wednesday morning, noting a decrease of 8.5% in the group’s seasonally adjusted composite index. That followed a drop of 4.1% for the previous week. Mortgage loan rates rose slightly on all by adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) loans.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 4% from the prior week’s report. On an unadjusted basis, the composite index decreased by 7% week-over-week. The unadjusted purchase index increased by a slight 0.1% for the week and is 15% lower year-over-year.

ARM loans account for 8% of all applications, unchanged from a week ago.

The MBA’s refinance index decreased by 11%, after declining by 3% in the previous week. The share of refinancings fell by three points to 58% of all applications, the lowest level since last September.

The average mortgage loan rate for a conforming 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 4.50% to 4.53%. The rate for a jumbo 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose from 4.45% to 4.47%. The average interest rate for a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 3.55% to 3.56%.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/mortgage-loan-rates-rise-slightly-122511434.html

This Classical-ish Indian Creek Estate Is $19.8 Million | Pound Ridge NY Homes

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Directly after the bridge to Indian Creek Village is this big house constructed in 1994. Listed for $19.8 million, it was designed in what the brokerbabble describes as “French Neo-Classical”, but could also be called “watered down neoclassical blah perhaps with vaguely French proportions.” It has 8,500 square feet of living space, a pool, a dock, twin grand staircases, and a formal drive around a long “looking-glass pool” which, is probably just an inventive way of saying it has a reflecting pool. Oh, and above the grand staircase is a dome. Credit is always deserved when one has a dome.

 

http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/24/this-classicalish-indian-creek-estate-is-198-million.php

$110 Million For This Private Island In The Upper Keys | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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[Images via Pumpkin Key]
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The 26 acre Pumpkin Key, within the exclusive confines of the Ocean Reef Club on the upper tip of Key Largo, has hit the market for a whopping $110 million. Mostly undeveloped, the Key comes with a main house, two cottages, a boat captain’s apartment, tennis courts that double as a helipad, a 20-slip marina capable of handling a superyacht, and a single family house located on shore in the Ocean Reef community with a garage and water access. The brokerbabble, however, emphasizes the island’s development potential, saying it’s “perfect for a family compound” or it “could be developed to include 12 bayfront homes owned by several families.” But then it wouldn’t be anyone’s own private island, would it.

 

http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/25/110-million-for-this-private-island-in-the-upper-keys.php

What $3,200/Month Can Rent You Around San Francisco | Chappaqua Real Estate

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↑ In the Excelsior, $3,200 a month will fetch you a three bedroom single-family home, complete with tiered backyard (that’s in need of some TLC). The spacious living room has a decorative fireplace and parquet flooring, and while the kitchen doesn’t have the latest and greatest stainless steel appliances and fancy cabinetry, it’s still charming and has an eat-in area. There are two bedrooms on the main level, and a lower room behind the garage that’s being advertised as another bedroom. Small pets are negotiable and there’s laundry on site.

 

http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/25/what_3200month_can_rent_you_around_san_francisco.php

Jim Olson-Designed Floating Home Hopes For $2.88M | Armonk NY Homes

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Aside from the fact that it’s floating in Seattle’s Lake Union, this home is a bit more conservative than the designs by which Olson Kundig Architects made a name for themelves—and, it goes without saying, worlds away from Tom Kundig’s recent foray into weird conceptual art—although it was built by firm principal Jim Olson back in 1976, a decade before Kundig joined on. The listing, recently uncovered by Curbed Seattle, touts “270 degrees of epic views,” and tableaus aside, those curved second-floor windows are definitely the most notable feature of the three-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot abode despite its ‘modernism at sea’ premise. But hey, if sliding glass doors that leave you “just fingertips away from the glistening water” aren’t enough, there’s a 50-gallon reef tank installed inside. What might “complete this luxurious treasure,” aside from a redo of the overwhelmingly beige interior? Why, if the current asking price holds, $2.88M.

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/02/24/jim-olsondesigned-floating-home-wants-to-break-288m.php

Brutalist Country Estate on Long Island Asks $6.5M | Mt Kisco Real Estate

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Location: Old Westbury, N.Y. Price: $6,475,000 The Skinny: Designed by Ulrich Franzen in 1977, this Long Island home combines two completely disparate styles, because, hey! What goes together better than Brutalism and a historic 19th-century country estate? Actually, anything, really, as this interesting but somewhat jarring design makes crystal clear. Franzen, champion of blockiness that he was, demolished the original home except for the salon and drawing room, and then built a brick monolith and connecting structure which looks for all the world like it’s devouring the old estate. The grounds (which were designed by Frederick Olmsted) were also preserved, but the graceful curving lawn and the blocky new home are an awkward fit, with neither truly complementing the other. It’s not that the home—which is asking $6.475M—is awful: it’s a perfectly nice Brutalist residence. But all parties involved may have been better served if the teardown of the original, once started, had been completed.

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/02/25/brutalist-country-estate-on-long-island-asks-65m.php

 

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Dip For 2nd Straight Month In December | North Salem Real Estate

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Home prices across the country fell for the second month in a row in December, according to S&P/Case-Shiller data released today. The 20-City Composite, which tracks single-family home prices in major metro areas, dipped by 1/10th of 1%. It fell by that same amount in November.

However, year-over-year home prices across all nine U.S. Census divisions (tracked by the national S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index) logged an 11.3% gain.

“The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index ended its best year since 2005,” said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, via a release. “However, gains are slowing from month-to-month and the strongest part of the recovery in home values may be over. Year-over-year values for the two monthly Composites weakened and the quarterly National Index barely improved.”

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices track the price of single-family homes across the U.S., with the 10- and 20-City Composite indices focused on major metro areas (Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington). The data is reported with a two month lag (it’s February; we’re reporting on December figures).

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/02/25/spcase-shiller-home-prices-dip-for-2nd-straight-month-in-december/