Category Archives: Bedford Hills

Can You Afford to Buy a House? | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

With the help of low interest rates and intervention from policymakers, the housing market has been one of the most improved areas of the economy. However, a combination of higher rates, rising home prices, and stagnant wages is building affordability issues.

The cost of homeownership is on the rise across the nation. The estimated monthly house payment for a median-priced, three bedroom home purchased in the fourth-quarter of 2013 surged 21 percent to $865, compared to $714 from a year earlier, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac. The firm analyzed 325 U.S. counties and included other factors such as insurance, taxes, maintenance, and tax deductions. Among the 15 most populated counties analyzed, the estimated monthly house payment jumped an average of 34 percent from a year ago.

“A potent combination of rapidly rising home prices and the often-overlooked but significant uptick in interest rates in the second half of 2013 caused the monthly cost of owning a home using traditional financing to jump substantially in many markets over the last year,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, in a press release. “The monthly cost of owning a home is still less than renting in the majority of markets, but the cost of financed homeownership is becoming dangerously disconnected with still-stagnant median incomes, driven not by shoddy underwriting practices this time around but by investors and other cash buyers who are not tethered to the typical affordability constraints.”

 

 

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/politics/economy/can-you-afford-to-buy-a-house.html/?ref=YF

Housing construction permits soared 71% | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

The number of residential unit construction permits issued by the city last year exceeded the previous year’s total by a whopping 71%. As good as that sounds, a New York Building Congress report released Monday noted the jump still puts permits at half the number set during the boom years that between 2005 and 2008.

The city Department of Buildings issued permits for 18,095 residential units in 1,383 buildings in 2013, a huge step up from the 10,599 units in 1,011 buildings seen the year before. And while high-profile luxury developments in Manhattan are making the headlines, the report noted that the increase came in all five boroughs—for the first time since 2008.

“This is encouraging,” Building Congress President Richard Anderson said. “Things continue to look very positive for the overall construction market in the city.”

Red-hot Brooklyn boasted the greatest number of permits, swamping Manhattan’s total by over 1,000 units. Meanwhile, in percentage terms Queens saw the biggest gain. Bolstered by two developments in the mammoth Hunter’s Point South project in Long Island City, permits soared 107% in the borough last year.

Citywide, 2013’s figure is still shy of the 20,000 units the congress estimates developers need to build annually simply to keep up with the growth of the number of households, to replace outdated buildings and to provide housing options for New Yorkers across the income spectrum. However, on average that needed level of construction was met over the last decade, the report noted, courtesy largely of the boom years between 2005 and 2008, when DOB issued an average of 30,000 permits annually.

And while last year’s hefty surge in residential permits bodes well for construction companies, for New York apartment dwellers, the news may not be quite as promising, as the increasing amount of foreign capital flowing into Manhattan’s skyline means that many of the newly built units will likely be snapped up by overseas buyers and renters, rather than lower income families dealing with record-low inventory

 

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140303/REAL_ESTATE/140309989/housing-construction-permits-soared-71#

Director Oliver Stone lists West Village home for $2.9M | Bedford Hills Homes

Leave a reply

 

Apartment at 1 Morton Square

Apartment at 1 Morton Square

Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone has put his West Village pad on the market for $2.9 million.

Paul Anand of the Corcoran Group has the listing for the two-bedroom condominium at 1 Morton Square, according to the Wall Street Journal. Stone bought the 1,750-square-foot space in 2010 for $2.2 million to live in while directing “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”

The 14-story mixed-use doorman building, built by J.D. Carlisle Development in 2004, gives residents access to a children’s playroom, a gym and a garage, according to property records.

Stone is reportedly looking to move into a space bigger than 2,000 square feet. Given the neighborhood’s low inventory, Anand expects to receive offers by early next week, the Journal reported.

 

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/02/28/oliver-stone-lists-west-village-home-for-2-9m/

U.S. Negative Equity Rate Dips Below 20 Percent in Q4 | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Today, Zillow released the fourth quarter Negative Equity Report. Nationally, the share of homeowners with a mortgage that are underwater, owing more on their home than their home is worth, has dropped below 20 percent for the first time in years.

As home values have continued to rise over the past year, millions of underwater homeowners have come up for air and are finally able to put their home on the market. This increase in inventory should, in turn, help create a more balanced home shopping season than we’ve seen in the past few years, with buyers having more choice and perhaps less competition.

According to the most recent numbers, nearly 10 million people were underwater on their mortgage in the fourth quarter 2013, collectively owing $657 billion more than their homes are worth. But the number of underwater homeowners is slowly but surely receding. Almost 3.9 million U.S. homeowners were freed in 2013, and the negative equity rate fell to 19.4 percent at the end of the fourth quarter, from 27.5 percent at the same time in 2012.

Nationwide, the negative equity rate is expected to fall to 17.2 percent by the end of 2014, signaling further stabilization of the market and likely freeing up even more inventory.

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/u-negative-equity-rate-dips-below-20-percent-050552127.html

Home prices slowing down: Case-Shiller | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

U.S. home prices slowed down at the end of 2013, but posted the fastest calendar-year growth in eight years, according to data released Tuesday.

U.S. home prices ticked down 0.1% in December, declining for a second month, with 11 of 20 tracked cities posting drops, according to S&P/Case-Shiller’s composite index. After seasonal adjustments, home prices in December rose 0.8%, down a bit from 0.9% in November.

“Gains are slowing from month-to-month and the strongest part of the recovery in home values may be over,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “The seasonally adjusted data also exhibit some softness and loss of momentum.”

On a year-over-year basis, home prices rose 13.4% in December, the fastest calendar-year growth since 2005, supported by a low inventory of homes available for sale. However, December’s year-over-year growth is down from a recent peak of 13.7% hit in November.

Bloomberg

Enlarge Image

A home for sale in Princeton, Illinois, on Jan. 22, 2014.

Going forward prices may continue to slow down if inventories rise as more sellers become willing and able to place their homes on the market. Also, climbing mortgage rates could curb some demand, economists say.

But slower price growth isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Prices that run too high too quickly for an extended period would keep many would-be buyers from purchasing a home.

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-slowing-down-case-shiller-2014-02-25?siteid=yhoof2

 

5 Cities Most Likely to Serve Up a Soul Mate | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

If true love hasn’t found you this Valentines Day, here’s a look at five cities you can move to if you want to boost your odds of meeting the perfect mate.

“We feel that these are the places you should go to if you want to find love,” says economist Krishna Rao of real-estate site Zillow.com, which this week released its Valentines Day Index of America’s most singles-friendly locales.

The firm analyzed America’s 50 largest metro areas for three criteria key to finding your soul mate:

  • what percent of the local population is single;
  • how many restaurants and other date-friendly sites a place has per capita;
  • how much disposable income the typical single has — an important consideration if you expect your date to at least sometimes pick up the check.

Rao says singles-friendly cities are actually harder than you’d think to find, as unmarried people make up just 50.8% of America’s total 15-and-older population.

Zillow also estimates that the typical single has just $1,301 a month of gross income left after paying rent — not always enough to pay for dates considering that also has to cover taxes, car payments and other expenses.

Lastly, Rao says the average U.S. community has just 15.9 restaurants, bars, museums and other date-suitable establishments for every 10,000 residents, meaning there aren’t always lots of interesting places to go.

Notice to potential homebuyers: Mortgage rates keep ticking up | Bedford Hills NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Average fixed mortgage rates up slightly for the second week in a row, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

“Mortgage rates crept up further following the uptick in the 10-year Treasury yield  as minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting indicated little possibility of a pause in the central bank’s reduction of bond purchases,” said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac.

“Housing starts in January fell 16% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 888,000 units, below consensus forecast,” Nothaft added. “Permits were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 937,000 in January, also below consensus.”

30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.33% with an average 0.7 point for the week ending February 20, 2014, up from last week when it averaged 4.28%.

A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 3.56%.

15-year FRM this week averaged 3.35% with an average 0.7 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.33%.  A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 2.77%.

5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.08% this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 3.05%.  A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 2.64%.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29034-notice-to-potential-homebuyers-mortgage-rates-keep-ticking-up