Daily Archives: April 16, 2014

Bedford NY Supervisor update | Bedford NY Homes

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Dear  Residents,

It’s been a brutal winter – and as last night’s snowfall  tells us, it keeps coming back at us.

 

The winter has been tougher than usual on our roads.  We  are working as promptly as we can to restore them to good condition.  In  addition to working to fix potholes, the Town Board is considering a substantial  increase in funding for paving – approximately 30% to $1.1 million.  Further, we  have moved up to May 6 the scheduled date for adoption of the Capital Plan to  allow us to begin paving.   We aim to complete most paving and associated  drainage work projects in the summer before school  starts.

I also wish to mention that we are discussing with the  New York State Department of Transportation the need for attending to the even  greater deterioration in the state roads in our Town, such as Routes 22, 117,  121, 137 and 172.

 

As to potholes you find in our Town roads, please call  our Pothole Hotline at 666-7669 or feel free to contact me at 666-6530 or  Supervisor@BedfordNY.gov.

 

We  appreciate your understanding and patience.

 

Chris  Burdick

Supervisor

 

Housing Starts Rise 2.8% In March | Katonah NY Homes

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Numbers released by the Commerce Department Wednesday suggest that last year’s rapid housing recovery is continuing to slow.

Housing starts rose 2.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted rate of 946,000. This is higher than the month before, but 5.9% lower than the rate one year earlier. Housing starts measure actual groundbreakings on new construction and are thus a timely measure of market conditions.

Other data also suggest a slowdown. Building permits, a good indicator of the future, were 990,000 (seasonally adjusted) in March. That’s 2.4% below the revised February rate, the fourth drop over the last five months.

The numbers missed expectations by economists surveyed by both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal; economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted housing starts at 965,000 and permits at 1.01 million.

Yesterday’s National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index showed builder confidence a bit slack; the index rose just 1 point in March to 47. A score of 50 or higher indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

However, the March data shows starts of single-family homes at 635,000 (seasonally adjusted), a rate that is 6% above February’s revised figure. Construction of single-family homes dropped in January but has been steadily rising each month since.

 

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/04/16/housing-starts-rise-2-8-in-march/

Southern California home sales hit a six-year low | Bedford Hills NY Homes

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A dearth of inventory has driven home prices up and home sales down in Southern California. The median sales price for homes in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties rose to a six-year high of $400,000 in March.

That was up 4.4% from $383,000 in February and up 15.8% from March 2013. That marked the highest median sales price since it was $408,000 in February 2008, according to data released by DataQuick.

The median sales price has risen on a year-over-year basis for 24 consecutive months. Despite the rising costs, the March median sale price was still 20.8% below the peak $505,000 median in spring/summer 2007.

The high costs are driving the number of sales to a six-year low. There were a total of 17,638 new and resale houses and condos sold in the Southern California area in March. Those figures were up 25.7% from February, although that increase is typical for the area.

March 2014’s figures were down 14.3% from 20,581 sales in March 2013 and were the lowest for March since 12,808 homes sold in March 2008.

“Southland home buying got off to a very slow start this year, with last month’s sales coming in at the second-lowest level for a March in nearly two decades,” said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage.

“We see multiple reasons for this: The inventory of homes for sale remains thin in many markets. Investor purchases have fallen. The jump in home prices and mortgage rates over the past year has priced some people out of the market, while other would-be buyers struggle with credit hurdles. Also, some potential move-up buyers are holding back while they weigh whether to abandon a phenomenally low interest rate on their current mortgage in order to buy a different home.”

 

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29683-with-prices-at-six-year-high-southern-california-home-sales-hit-a-six-year-low

Homebuilder survey: Housing slump ahoy! | Bedford NY Real Estate

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The new home market is getting no spring lift whatsoever at least based on the National Association of Home Builder’s housing market index, which missed expectations for the last seven out of eight months, coming in at a lower-than-expected 47.

The index has been stuck below breakeven 50 for three months now, even though it’s the start of the “spring buying season.”

The homebuilder index weakness is centered in traffic, which remains far below 50 at 32.

Details for March once again showed serious weakness in traffic, at 33 versus February’s 31. Weakness in traffic points to lack of participation by first-time homebuyers and the importance of all-cash buyers who have been holding up the housing market, and who are now disappearing.

The official position of NAHB is that there is confidence in future activity, but there’s not a lot to support that. Expectations for tomorrow’s, mortgage applications, housing starts and permit data are no better than flat.

“Builder confidence has been in a holding pattern the past three months,” said NAHB Chairman Kevin Kelly, a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Del.  “Looking ahead, as the spring home buying season gets into full swing and demand increases, builders are expecting sales prospects to improve in the months ahead.”

The housing market index posted a record 10-point loss to 46 in February and hasn’t yet recovered, in what is a bad omen for the housing sector where many are banking on spring strength.

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29673-homebuilder-survey-housing-slump-ahoy

 

Top 13 cities for freshly minted millennials | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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As a millennial myself and proud resident of the No. 8 city, I’m aware of the numbers of millennials topping off the final days of their college educations and entering the beginning stages of their career.

So where are they choosing to live, or better yet, where should they live?

Niche Ink has published a list of the best cities and neighborhoods for millennials. Factors involved in the study include: data from the U.S. American Community Survey, crime rates from the FBO and types of top entertainment attractions.

While the cities’ unemployment rate might be a key factor, I personally still cherish the added variables of the best shopping locations and best cultural attractions. After all, you need to look good at your first job and have someplace to go to keep life exciting.

The list covers the top 25 in all, but here are the top 13…

 

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29677-top-13-cities-for-freshly-minted-millennials

Maker of Cloud CMA, launches MLS listing alert tool | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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W&R Studios, maker of the popular comparative market analysis tool Cloud CMA, has launched a new tool that allows agents and brokers to set up and brand multiple listing service listing alerts for their clients.

Cloud Streams, which is currently active only in the largest MLS in the U.S., California Regional MLS, also allows clients to share their listing alerts with other users and make comments on specific listings.

“We want to make agents look awesome in front of their clients,” said Greg Robertson, co-founder of W&R Studios. Cloud Streams does that, he said, by providing listing alerts — something many MLSs provide in what Robertson called an unflattering design — in a photo-rich and mobile-responsive way.

Brokers, agents and MLS service providers can license the product, which is designed to work well on iPad, iPhone and desktop computers.

By setting up a listing alert with search criteria like ZIP code, list price, bed and bath count, and other typical search filters, agents ensure that their clients get a branded email with a link to the Cloud Streams Web app, which is also branded to the agent, whenever a new home matching the search criteria hits the MLS.

Agents can choose to have clients notified in real time, daily or weekly.

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/04/16/wr-studios-maker-of-cloud-cma-launches-mls-listing-alert-tool/?utm_source=20140416&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.S8gLWwyg.dpuf

4 ways enhanced listing videos can boost properties’ selling power | Chappaqua Real Estate

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Let’s be honest: Video listings are a great real estate marketing tool, but sometimes you need more than a basic walk-through. Value-added features can be the key to making a standout video and boosting the selling power of a property. Voice-over.

Especially if you read the voice-over yourself, this is usually the least expensive way to add value. A voice-over allows you to point out the property’s best features or communicate any special information. For instance, if you’re selling a newly renovated home, you might describe the updates completed by the seller.

One tip: Work from a script. It makes the process more efficient and, by extension, more affordable. Pre-roll or “agent on camera.” Pre-roll is footage inserted before the main listing video. “Agent on camera” is a guided tour of the property.

Both options help personalize the video and allow you to point out what’s special about the property. For example, you might highlight a state-of-the-art media room or newly remodeled kitchen.

 

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/next/4-ways-enhanced-listing-videos-can-boost-properties-selling-power/?utm_source=20140416&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.kTJn4pa5.dpuf