Daily Archives: May 21, 2014

Down Payments Squeeze First-time Buyers | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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It’s no secret that raising the cash for a down payment is the toughest hurdle first-time buyers face on the road to home ownership. For many, government programs like FHA, USDA Rural Development guaranteed loans, VA loans and down payment assistance programs sponsored by state and local housing authorities have made all the difference.

Yet requirements by lenders in the wake of the QM Rule and overall tighter loan-to-value ratio standards are taking their toll. Average down payments are rising again, making it tougher for millennials who may face student loans and other financial hurdles.

Fewer first time home buyers are putting low down payments, according to the latest Realtor Confidence survey. About 60 percent of first time home buyers put down 6 percent or less compared to about 74 percent in 2009. Realtors reported that buyers who pay cash or put down large down payments generally win against those offering lower down payments.. For buyers with sufficient financial resources, a higher downpayment also means saving on mortgage insurance premium payments.

Down payments have already increased when last year, when the media for first-time buyers was 5 percent for first-time buyers and 14 percent for repeat buyers, according to NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.

Last year first-time buyers used a variety of resources for the loan downpayment: 78 percent tapped into savings; 27 percent received a gift from a friend or relative, usually from their parents; and 7 percent received a loan from a relative or friend. Nine percent sold stocks or bonds and 8 percent tapped into a 401(k) fund. Among entry-level buyers who said that saving for a downpayment was difficult, 54 percent said student loan expenses delayed savings.

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/05/down-payments-squeeze-first-time-buyers/

Economists and Experts Expect 2014 Price Increases to Average 4.4 Percent | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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More than 100 housing economists and experts participating in a quarterly survey expect nationwide home values to appreciate 4.4 percent through the end of this year. The most optimistic group of panelists predicted a 5.8 percent annual increase in home values this year, on average, while the most pessimistic predicted an average increase of 3.2 percent.

.Panelists said they expect home value appreciation to slow to 3.8 percent by the end of 2015, on average, and to 3.4 percent through 2016. During the pre-bubble years from 1987 to 1999, home values grew at 3.6 percent per year.

On average, panelists said they expected U.S. median home values to exceed their pre-recession peaks by Q1 2018. The most optimistic panelists predicted home values would rise roughly 12.6 percent above their 2007 peaks by the end of 2018, on average, while the most pessimistic said they expected home values to remain about 5.9 percent below 2007 peaks.

The second quarter findings represented a slight decline from the first quarter survey, when the expert consensus called for a 4.5 percent price increase in 2014.

“After narrowing over the past year, in this quarter, the spread between the forecasts of the most optimistic and pessimistic groups not only expanded, but widened by a degree we have not seen in the four-year history of this survey,” said Terry Loebs, Founder of Pulsenomics. “These data are consistent with a growing uncertainty about how and when conditions in U.S. housing markets will normalize. Time will tell whether Washington’s unfolding plan to expand mortgage credit will have a durable, positive impact on home values, housing confidence, and market expectations.”

Experts were split on the root causes of mounting housing affordability concerns in several large housing markets nationwide. Panelists were asked to identify the primary cause of declining affordability from a list of five choices. Responses that gained the largest support among those with an opinion were stagnant income growth (28 percent), abnormally high rates of home price and rent appreciation (27 percent) and an abnormally low supply of homes currently available for sale or rent (21 percent). Many also pointed to a generally insufficient number of homes (13 percent) and tight credit (11 percent).

 

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/05/economists-and-experts-expect-2014-price-increases-to-average-4-4-percent/

 

Do little fixes boost home sales? | Mount Kisco Real Estate

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In some parts of the country, handyman services made up nearly half of all home-improvement projects undertaken in the six-month period before a home sold, according to real estate website Porch.

Real estate agents and sellers prioritize repairs and aesthetic improvements that prospective buyers are likely to notice, such as upgrades to flooring, cabinets, fences and doors, says Matt Ehrlichman, chief executive of Porch, which tracks home-improvement projects.

The Wall Street JournalFor the analysis, details of 675,000 home-improvement projects that had been submitted to Porch by homeowners, architects, builders, real estate agents and others were compared with home listings and sales data from realtor.com, which partners with Porch. The findings: Home sellers in the Northeast and Midwest were most likely to hire a handyman for minor repairs in the six-month period before the home sale. Homeowners in the West were most likely to hire a general contractor for larger improvements. In the South, home sellers were most likely to pay for electrical upgrades and repairs.

“Just doing these minor things will help your house sell quicker and typically for more money,” says Brad Carlson, a real estate agent with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene in The Woodlands, Texas.

Carlson once had the listing for a three-bedroom home with dated brass fixtures throughout. The house sat on the market for over two months with no offers until the seller finally agreed to swap the fixtures for more modern ones. Two days and $800 in new fixtures later, the home sold close to its listing price at $214,900

 

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http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/post–do-little-fixes-boost-home-sales

Posh Porches | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Front porches add character and curb appeal as well as enviable outdoor living space. If you are lucky enough to have one, are considering adding one or just like to dream, check out these inspiring photos from our friends at Houzz.

 

 

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http://glo.msn.com/living/10-fabulous-front-porches-10209.gallery

 

Where Can You Really Afford to Buy a Home? | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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Owning a home has long been associated with success, stability, and work ethic. An investment in your future, purchasing a home is one of your more significant financial decisions. It’s a decision two out of every three Americans have made in recent years.

Interest rates, housing markets, community and school ratings, and crime statistics are only a few of the factors that may weigh into the decision to buy a home. This week, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is 4.33 percent, and next week this rate will likely change.

While finding the right home that will earn you a decent return on your investment is essential, perhaps even more critical is the need to find a home you can afford. HSH recently published a report on the annual salary required to purchase a home in 27 different metropolitan areas. Based on this report and other supplemental data, let’s see where you can afford to buy at the median home price.

Read more: http://wallstcheatsheet.com/personal-finance/where-can-you-really-afford-to-buy-a-home.html/?a=viewall#ixzz32Mv4rOsv

 

U.S. mortgage collectors gag homeowners in loan deals | Cross River Real Estate

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Joseph and Neidin Henard thought they had finally fixed the mortgage that was crushing them.

In January, the couple reached a settlement with every company that had a stake in the mortgage on their house in Santa Cruz, California, a deal that would have slashed their monthly payment by almost 40 percent to $3,337. It was the end of a process that started with their defaulting in 2009.

But when they saw the final paperwork for their settlement, they found that Ocwen Financial Corp, the company that collected and processed their mortgage payments, had added an extra clause: they could not say or print or post anything negative about Ocwen, ever.

The Henards’ experience was not unusual. Mortgage payment collectors at companies including Ocwen, Bank of America Corp and PNC Financial Services Group are agreeing to ease the terms of borrowers’ underwater mortgages, but they are increasingly demanding that homeowners promise not to insult them publicly, consumer lawyers say. In many cases, they are demanding that homeowners’ lawyers agree to the same terms. Sometimes, they even require borrowers to agree not to sue them again.

These clauses can hurt borrowers who later have problems with their mortgage collector by preventing them from complaining publicly about their difficulties or suing, lawyers said. If a collector, known as a servicer, makes an error, getting everything fixed can be a nightmare without litigation or public outcry.

 

 

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-mortgage-collectors-gag-homeowners-loan-deals-052329273.html

Cambridge leads the way in regional housing boom | North Salem Real Estate

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Eastern Massachusetts appears headed toward another housing boom that could turn out bigger than the last one as frenzied real estate activity near Boston begins to spread to outer suburbs and beyond, economists and housing specialists say.

The projection is based on trends in communities that historically have led the region’s housing market, particularly Cambridge. The red hot market there has already pushed the median price 30 percent above the pre-recession peak and housing specialists say it’s only a matter of time before other cities and towns follow.

“Traditionally, Cambridge and other areas in or near Boston are first to explode in housing prices, then it spreads to Route 128 and eventually even further out,” said Mark Hickey, an economist at CoStar Group, a real estate research firm in Boston. “Cambridge is kind of the canary in the coal mine.”

The Cambridge housing market has become so hot over the past 18 months that buyers are paying an average of 4 percent above the asking prices of sellers, according to data compiled by CoStar. By comparison, sale prices in Cambridge never exceeded average asking prices during the last decade’s housing boom — or the housing boom that accompanied the dot-com era of the 1990s, data shows.

Homes for sale in Cambridge now last only about eight days on the market before they’re snapped up by buyers, compared to the norm of 50 to 70 days during the last housing boom, according to CoStar. Even at the very peak of last decade’s housing frenzy, Cambridge homes still took more than a month to sell on average.

 

 

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/05/19/boston-and-beyond-another-housing-boom-way-maybe-bigger-than-last-one/OnYyr5v5gme8JWjHBcHMyJ/story.html

London Housing Prices Stoke Frenzy, Alarm Bank of England | Armonk Homes

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Rohit Sabhlok said he’s upset he lost a bidding war on a London house. Katy Barnes bought her home to avoid rising rents, while Holly Martin purchased hers as an investment. Both are hooked on a website that shows their property values soaring. Kay Durrant used her home’s growing equity value to pay bills.

Welcome to London’s frenzied housing market, where low mortgage rates and a dearth of properties for sale have sent prices rising in a year by an amount almost twice the average annual London wage. From centuries-old pubs to Mayfair clubs to the halls of Parliament, London is abuzz with talk of escalating values, foreign buyers with piles of cash and half-built garages selling for vast sums.

London’s housing boom “has become a mainstay of conversation,” said Paul Stenson, an asset manager at Dunbar Assets Plc as he sipped a pint of Aspall cider at Ye Olde Cock Tavern on Fleet Street, a pub dating back to 1549. “Never mind the hackneyed view of it being the conversation of dinner parties, it’s gone beyond that. It’s like the elevator music that’s constantly on play.”

 

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-19/london-housing-talk-of-ye-olde-tavern-alarming-carney-mortgages.html