Category Archives: Armonk

Mortage Rates Move Down as We Head Into Spring | #Armonk Real Estate

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Freddie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving down across the board. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate continues its run below 4 percent — a good sign for the spring homebuying season.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.78 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending March 19, 2015, down from last week when it averaged 3.86 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.32 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.06 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.10 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.32 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.97 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.01 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.02 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.46 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, unchanged from last week. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.49 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for theRegional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

Quotes
Attributed to Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 3.78 percent this week following mixed housing data. Housing starts dropped 17 percent to a seasonally adjusted pace of 897,000 units, below market expectations. However, housing permits increased 3 percent in February. As we head into spring, home builders remain positive about home sales in the near future although the NAHB Housing Market Index dropped another 2 points to 53 in March.”

Williamsburg’s New Rental Has Nice Views But Tiny Apartments | Armonk Real Estate

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After a tipster complained about the size of the units in the newly launched third Northside Piers tower, 1 North 4th Place, officially known as 1N4th, we were invited inside the brand new Williamsburg waterfront rental tower to take a look for ourselves. And while, yes, the units are indeed small (they’re rentals, after all), and expensive, they are also as advertised, containing condo-quality finishes, and, possibly more importantly, access to the building’s many amenities. There’s an enormous lobby as befits a building of this size (there are 509 units in total, 20 or so of which already have residents) with multiple lounging areas, a kitchenette, and a meeting room; a bike room with storage space for more than 250 bicycles; an approximately 3,000-square-foot gym; and more, as you will discover on the rest of the tour.

  • The units feature a variety of different kitchen layouts. This is the most open one, as it’s tucked into a corner of the living area.
  • The highly touted views live up to the hype, as you’ll soon see in greater detail.

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/03/10/williamsburgs_new_rental_has_nice_views_but_tiny_apartments.php

NAHB Completes Landmark 800th Local Impact Study | #Armonk Real Estate

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n January, NAHB produced a study on the impact of home building in the nine-county Kansas City metropolitan area.  Like earlier studies, the one for Kansas City estimated the income, jobs and taxes generated by home building activity in the area.  However, the Kansas City study is especially notable because it marks the 800th such customized report NAHB has produced for various metropolitan areas, non-metropolitan counties, and states across the country since first offering this service late in 1996.

The map below illustrates the parts of the country covered by the 800 customized NAHB local impact studies.  The darker green shading indicates studies covering metro areas or non-metro counties; the somewhat lighter orange shading indicates studies produced for an entire state.

NAHB 800

Although a local market area analyzed by NAHB must be large enough to include places where construction workers live, and places where the new home occupants work and shop (most often, a metropolitan area or non-metropolitan county), the construction analyzed can be confined to a particular jurisdiction or development.  Over the years, the studies have been used to help get individual projects approved, counter anti-growth proposals, and generate publicity for the local home building industry.

A customized report can be ordered by anyone willing to pay the fee and provide the inputs needed to run the NAHB model.  For those lacking the time or resources, a study showing results for a typical or average local area is available immediately on line.

For example, this study shows that the estimated one-year local impacts of building 100 single-family homes in a typical metro area include

  • $21.1 million in local income,
  • $2.2 million in taxes and other revenue for local governments, and
  • 324 local jobs.

And that the additional, annually recurring impacts resulting from the 100 single-family homes becoming occupied and the occupants paying taxes and otherwise participated in the local economy  include

  • $3.1 million in local income,
  • $743,000 in taxes and other revenue for local governments, and
  • 53 local jobs.

The typical local area report, along with instructions for ordering customized reports for a particular area,  are available on NAHB’s local impact of home building web page.   Readers are urged to check back periodically, as NAHB anticipates updating the information for a typical local area within the next two months.   Readers with questions about the local impact estimates or how they’re generated may contact Paul Emrath in NAHB’s Housing Policy Department.

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/03/nahb-completes-landmark-800th-local-impact-study/

Mortgage Rates Up Again | Armonk Real Estate

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Fredie Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average fixed mortgage rates moving higher amid solid housing data on new home sales and house price appreciation. Regardless, fixed-rate mortgages rates still remain near their late May, 2013 lows.

News Facts

  • 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.80 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending February 26, 2015, up from last week when it averaged 3.76 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.37 percent.
  • 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.07 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.05 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.39 percent.
  • 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 2.99 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 2.97 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.05 percent.
  • 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.44 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 2.45 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 2.52 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following links for the Regional and National Mortgage Rate Details and Definitions. Borrowers may

Case-Shiller: “The housing recovery is faltering” | Armonk Real Estate

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Home prices saw a slight increase in nine cities covered by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices in December.

Both the 10-City and 20-City Composites saw year-over-year increases in December compared to November.

The 10-City Composite gained 4.3% year-over-year, up from 4.2% in November. The 20-City Composite gained 4.5% year-over-year, compared to a 4.3% increase in November.

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which covers all nine U.S. census divisions, recorded a 4.6% annual gain in December 2014 versus 4.7% in November.

“The for-sale housing market made great strides toward ‘normal’ in 2014, as runaway appreciation cooled markedly and negative equity fell significantly. But anyone looking to see how far from truly ‘normal’ the market remains need look no further than the red-hot rental market, and its implications on the broader housing market going forward,” said Zillow Group (Z) Chief Economist Stan Humphries. “Many current renters could likely realize significant monthly savings by buying a home now and taking advantage of terrific affordability driven by low mortgage rates and home prices that remain below peak in most areas.”

 

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http://www.housingwire.com/articles/33042-case-shiller-the-housing-recovery-is-faltering

Nobel-winner Shiller wrong on housing: Sternlicht | Armonk Real Estate

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Global real estate investor Barry Sternlicht told CNBC on Thursday that he disagrees with Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller, who predicted a day earlier that the U.S. residential housing market looks topped out.

Housing is a major asset class that’s “actually trailing asset bubbles,” said Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of the $42 billion-plus investment firm Starwood Capital Group. “It’s cheaper to buy a house and finance it, than it is to rent in many markets.”

In a “Squawk Box” interview Wednesday, Shiller, co-founder of the Case-Shiller housing index, said he “won’t bet” on the increase in home prices since 2012 continuing.

“Home prices are … at about the right level based on history. So maybe they won’t go anywhere in the near future,” the Yale professor warned.

A day later on the program, Sternlicht expressed optimism about buying homes as an investment. “The housing sector is going to be a major asset class in this country.”

The Starwood Capital chief did acknowledge that Americans are “a little nervous about taking mortgages.” He blames that, in part, on the gridlock in Washington, D.C., in solving the country’s debt problems and reforming entitlements.

But Sternlicht said the collapse in oil that’s led to cheaper gasoline would help consumers feel more confident. “You’re going to see things like lodging doing better this summer. People will be driving more.” He also predicted the impact of less expensive prices at the gas pump would eventually translate into better retail sales.

On the investor side of the equation, he’s concerned about the easy money policies being pursued around the world.

“Smart investors are really nervous,” Sternlicht said. “It seems to me, there’s a big dike [on] the world’s economies, and the politicians and the [central] banks are plugging all these holes, but it’s getting harder and harder to hold these holes.”

 

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http://www.cnbc.com/id/102438825

‘Ultra-Luxury Treehouse’ Outside Nashville | Armonk Real Estate

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Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Price: $3,500,000
This 8,120-square-foot modern mansion with a cantilevered prow was built to the specifications of the late Marvin Runyon, a Tennessee business exec who served as U.S. Postmaster General from 1992 to 1998, and according to a short item in Luxury Portfolio International, those specifications were exact. Ms. Atkinson tells the author “it must have taken the mason six tries to stack the stones in a pattern that was just right.” So interested parties can be assured that these limestone walls weren’t haphazardly dry-stacked.

“In essence, it’s an ultra-luxury treehouse capturing a different scene each season,” says architect Seab Tuck, who is said to have met with the Atkinsons “every Saturday morning for three years,” and whose firm, Tuck-Hinton, also designed the extension to the Country Music Hall of Fame. (The very same extension which now contains the Taylor Swift Education Center.) These season-capturing capabilities are abetted by a “two-story sunroom” that, with windows thrown open, can act like a screened-in porch.

The layout, Tuck explains, “is very contemporary, but while most people expect stark white tones, we offset it with soft, natural materials to create a very rustic feel.” Noteworthy material applications include floors of Chinese slate and reclaimed “heart-of-palm wood,” steel-framed walls of glass, and exterior cladding of black-stained cedar, for the outdoor space the Legacylt company   https://legacylt.com/east-texas-land-clearing/ clears your land.

According to Ms. Atkinson, she and her husband wanted “a home where we could entertain, but also one that was comfortable with only two people in it.” The two guest suites are apparently removed enough from the shelf-lined master suite to make it feel like “it’s almost two separate homes.” Both are guarded by a terracotta warrior stationed in the entryway

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http://curbed.com/archives/2015/02/12/tuck-hinton-nashville-home-for-sale.php