Monthly Archives: March 2014

US home prices rose at solid pace in January | Bedford Real Estate

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U.S. home prices rose in January after three months of declines as a tight supply of properties likely supported prices despite slower sales.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday that prices rose 0.9 percent in January after dipping 0.1 percent in December. Over the past 12 months, home prices have risen 12 percent, the biggest year-over-year gain in more than eight years.

Such outsize price gains might not continue much longer, however. Paul Diggle, an economist at Capital Economics, notes that January’s price gains reflect conditions several months ago, when buyers first made offers. The supply of available homes was smaller than it is now, and it helped lift prices. The sales were completed in January.

Since then, more homes have come on the market while sales have slowed. That trend has modestly boosted the supply of homes and “points to a slowdown in price gains later this year,” Diggle said.

Diggle, like most other economists, foresees year-over-year price gains of below 10 percent in the coming months.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-home-prices-rose-solid-pace-january-133450485–finance.html

Finding the Right Mortgage for You | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Finding the right mortgage for your home can be a tricky proposition, but banks and other lenders are offering various options to meet your needs as the housing market rebounds.

Smaller down payments are still an option if you meet the requirements, depending on the lending institution.

While some Millennials are dealing with student loan debt and lack the cash to opt for a traditional 30-year mortgage requiring a 20% down payment, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans remain an option.

FHA loans were the dominant choice among many first time home buyers until recently. With a loan from the FHA, buyers have the option to finance 96.5% of a home’s price and put just 3.5% down.

Unlike conventional financing, 100% of the down payment could be a gift, so borrowers are able to secure a loan without putting any of their own money down, said Malcolm Hollensteiner, director of retail lending products and services at TD Bank, a financial institution based in a Cherry Hill, N.J. One advantage is that the underwriting criteria are more flexible than conventional mortgage loans.

While those factors are appealing to many borrowers, the FHA has increased its mortgage insurance costs which makes this type of loan more expensive for the buyer and has led to the number of first time buyers who obtained FHA loans to drop dramatically.

While many home buyers are still seeking the FHA loan, it is not as popular since the monthly mortgage insurance rates have risen, said Sin-Yi Lamberston, real estate and mortgage broker at ERA Yes! in Glendora, Calif. However, FHA loans allow consumers to borrow more with a lower credit score.

 

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/real-estate/finding-right-mortgage-you?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Americans Shut Out of Home Market Threaten Recovery: Mortgages | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Kirk Rohrig is concerned he may soon join the growing ranks of Americans shut out of the housing recovery and the financial benefits that spring from it.

Rohrig, who is unmarried, began hunting in November for his first home in Portland, Oregon, where cash buyers are driving up property prices. The software support specialist earns about $55,000 a year, has a high credit score of 790 and can’t find anything worth buying for about $200,000.

“Even fixer uppers are out of my range,” Rohrig, 33, said. “I went to look at a house that was garbage. There were cracks around all the windows and full condensation on the inside. It was on the market for $225,000.”

First-time homebuyers hurt by rising prices and tougher credit standards are disappearing from the market, slowing the pace of the three-year recovery. The decline of these buyers, many of whom are young and non-white, also threatens to widen the wealth gap between owners, who benefit from appreciation, and renters, said Thomas Lawler, a former Fannie Mae economist.

 

 

10 cities where ordinary people can no longer afford homes | Chappaqua NY Homes

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It now seems pretty clear that late 2012 or early 2013 was the ideal time to purchase a home: Real-estate prices and interest rates were both near record lows, creating an unprecedented buying opportunity for those who could muster a down payment and qualify for a mortgage.

Home affordability is still pretty good by historical standards, but typical buyers are once again being priced out in at least two dozen markets ranging from coastal hotspots to lower-cost inland cities. Three factors are pushing the cost of owning a home beyond the financial reach of ordinary families: Mortgage rates are ticking upwward as the Federal Reserve backs away from the super-easy monetary policy of the past five years. Home prices are rising as the economy recovers. And incomes are barely budging, which means typical families are once again falling behind as they try to bank enough to buy a home.

We used data from research firm RealtyTrac to determine where housing affordability is deteriorating the most. At the top of the list is Salinas, Calif., where a median-priced home rose 40% from the end of 2012 to the end of 2013, to $388,000. When rising interest rates are factored in, the income required to purchase a typical home rose by a whopping 58%.

The 10 areas in the list below are ranked by the increase in income required to buy a typical home from December 2012 to December 2013. We also included RealtyTrac’s affordability-index rating for the county each city is located in, to exclude cities in which required incomes have risen but homes are still relatively cheap. (The affordability index represents the median income per county as a percentage of the required income for a typical home purchase, so cities with a rating below 100 are less affordable while those above 100 are more affordable). We also grouped cities in northern and southern California into two entries, since there are so many of them. Here are the 10 areas where home affordability is deteriorating the most:

Source: RealtyTrac

With home prices rising nationwide by an average of about 11% in 2013, the income required to buy a typical home rose in all but a handful of cities. Still, affordability remains strong in the majority of markets, says Daren Blomquist of RealtyTrac. Here are the 10 cities where affordability has either improved during the past year, or barely changed (affordability-index data isn’t available for every city).

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-cities-where-ordinary-people-can-no-longer-afford-homes-203700652.html

US mortgage applications rose last week: MBA | Armonk Real Estate

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Applications for U.S. home mortgages rose last week as interest rates slipped, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 9.4 percent in the week ended Feb. 28.

The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications rose 9.6 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, rose 9.4 percent.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.47 percent in the week, down 6 basis points from 4.53 percent the week before.

The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101467313

What is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asking of credit card companies? | Armonk Real Estate

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is calling for credit card companies to make credit scores available to card holders on a monthly basis.  Will this cause more confusion and frustration for the average consumer?

Why are credit card companies responsible for providing consumers with copies of their credit scores monthly? It is hard enough as it is for consumers to get explanations and information from their credit card companies. It seems the three major credit bureaus who compile all the data should provide credit scores to the general public instead of the credit card companies. The bureaus have already created scores and can provide them to consumers much more easily. Right now there are some credit card companies, like https://www.53.com/content/fifth-third/en/personal-banking/bank/credit-cards/secured-card.html , offering credit scores but this could wind up confusing consumers and giving them a false sense of reality. If you read the fine print on the Discover Card offering credit scores it is clear that only the Trans Union FICO score is provided.

Here is the fine print taken from the Discover site:
“Your FICO® Credit Score is based on data from TransUnion and may be different from other credit scores. FICO® Credit Scores are delivered only to Primary cardmembers who get a monthly statement and have an available score. Discover and other lenders may use different inputs like a FICO® Credit Score, other credit scores and more information in credit decisions. This benefit may change or end in the future. FICO is a registered trademark of the Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries.”
Since banks take the middle score of ALL THREE credit bureau FICO scores (Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian) only having one score isn’t a true and accurate reflection of what a lender would see when evaluating credit. Many consumers have different information on each credit bureau report. This will cause the three scores to vary. If a collection agency updated a bad debt it would place the derogatory on only two of the three credit bureaus.

Do You Understand Income Tax Considerations of Rental Properties? | South Salem Real Estate

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A rental property can generate “taxable losses” that can be used to reduce your normal salary income, hence the federal income taxes you pay. It’s difficult for most people to understand how taxes work, and even more confusing once we get into the realm of rental properties and taxes. Note that understanding how taxes impact personal residences are a completely different topic, as those are governed by totally separate tax codes and go elsewhere on your 1040 form.

Below are some of the basics to understanding rental properties and federal income taxes.

Often I hear people saying that they want to buy some real estate to save money on income taxes. However, depending on your tax situation, owning real estate might not save you a dime on taxes. It wholly depends on your specific tax picture and the IRS rules about Passive Activity Loss Limitations.

First and foremost you should never make real estate investment decisions based solely on tax considerations. The first order of business is do your due diligence and determine if an investment makes sense based on cash flows, cash on cash returns, renovation costs, rental income, financing, and the risk of any particular property. Once you believe it makes sense in every other sense, then you can contemplate the tax effects.

Important note: Always have a CPA, attorney or licensed tax professional guide you through your individual tax picture — this article is an illustration of one scenario but your scenario can be very different based on your financial picture.

To better understand, let’s first quickly discuss the IRS 1040 form.

The 1040 form you fill out each year does two things:

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/understand-income-tax-considerations-rental-properties-184514095.html

Building boom signals stock market bust | Cross River Real Estate

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According to a study recently published in the Journal of Financial Research, not long after construction begins on a number of large buildings or they are actually finished, the stock market goes into the dumpster.

Its author, Guenter Loffler, a professor of finance at Ulm University in Germany, studied the correlation between skyscraper construction and stock market trends from 1871 to 2009.

He told the newspaper Real Estate Weekly recently that skyscraper construction is a better predictor of stock prices than more commonly used indicators, such as corporate profits or price/earnings ratios.

He offers plenty of examples.

In 1929, the Chrysler Building was under construction, while work was about to begin on the Empire State Building. This was an era that Real Estate Weekly considers to be “the greatest skyscraper boom in history.”

The stock market crashed later that year.

In 1993, construction began on the world’s tallest building, the Petronas Towers located in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Before its doors were opened, this super skyscraper was engulfed in the Asian Financial Crisis that sent stocks sinking around the world.

Fourteen years later, in 2007, construction began on what was slated to be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, the Chicago Spire. Like in the past, this was just one of the many towers being erected at that time. Indeed, the total square footage underway in 2007 was more than twice the average of the previous 20 years, writes Prof. Loffler.

As you might recall, the stock market peaked in October of that year and worked its way lower before plunging in September, 2008. The Spire was postponed indefinitely, as were a number of other buildings.

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/building-boom-signals-stock-market-bust-2014-03-04?siteid=yhoof2

Deducting Real Estate Taxes: A How-To Guide | Armonk Real Estate

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You can deduct on Schedule A the municipal, school and county, and state and foreign, real estate taxes, based on the assessed value of real property (land and “improvements“), that you paid during the year – whether you sent the check directly to your township, municipality or county, or whether the taxes were paid out of a mortgage escrow account.  There is no limit to the number of properties for which you can claim a deduction.

Charges for specific services, such as trash collection or water and sewer usage, are not deductible as real estate tax.  Neither are special assessments for capital improvements that increase the value the property, like a new sidewalk.  But you can deduct additional assessments to maintain public facilities, such as to repair existing sidewalks.

You can elect to “capitalize” (add to the cost basis) instead of claiming a current deduction for any real estate taxes paid on unimproved and unproductive land held for investment, such as a vacant lot.  A statement of election must be attached to the original Form 1040 for the year the election is made.  This election is made on an annual basis.  A taxpayer can capitalize property taxes paid on a lot purchased in 2013 in 2014, 2016, and 2017 and can claim a deduction in all other years.

 

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/moneyinvesting/taxes/deducting-real-estate-taxes-how-guide-0?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Before you buy, try that mortgage on for size | Katonah Real Estate

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If you’re a future homebuyer, you might have used one of those “How much mortgage can I afford?” calculators online. These calculators typically gather information like your down payment amount, credit score range, monthly or annual income and debts.

 

Then, they’ll spit out an estimate of what a bank might lend you mortgage-wise.

These calculators work primarily by figuring out your debt-to-income ratio and then how much you can afford to pay for your monthly mortgage payment. This is similar to how banks decide how much to lend you.

The typical bank limit on monthly mortgage payments is about 28 percent of your gross monthly income. Therefore, the bank thinks you can devote up to 28 percent of your household income to your mortgage payment and expenses (including taxes, insurance and association dues).

Banks will also typically allow a total debt-to-income ratio of up to around 36 percent. This means that your mortgage, credit card payments, student loan payments and car payments shouldn’t exceed 36 percent of your total monthly income. (Note that if your other debt payments are already at 15 percent of your monthly income, you only have 21 percent of your income to devote to your mortgage, regardless of the 28 percent rule.)

So when you put your current income and expenses into a house affordability calculator, it will tell you how much you can afford to pay for your home per month. Then, based on factors such as estimated interest rate, tax payments, insurance payments and available down payment, it’ll tell you how much house, in total, you can afford.

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/before-you-buy–try-that-mortgage-on-for-size-211830352.html