Category Archives: Chappaqua

Bad weather hammers housing starts, again | Chappaqua NY Homes

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Housing starts fell sharply in January for the second straight month as cold and stormy weather continued to batter the recovering housing market.

Starts of single-family houses and apartments fell 16% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 880,000 last month after declining dramatically in December, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.  Extreme winter weather is largely blamed for both poor showings after starts jumped to their highest level in a year in November.

Starts in December were revised up to an annual rate of 1.05 million from 990,000.

Economists had expected Commerce to report that starts fell to a 950,000 annual rate in January, according to their consensus estimate. Starts rose in the Northeast but declined in the rest of the country.

Applications — a gauge of future housing activity — fell 5.4% in January. Applications for permits to build single-family homes fell 1.3%.

The report follows this week’s release of a closely watched index of home builders’ outlook in February which declined at the fastest-ever pace and indicated that more builders view conditions as poor than good.

In a research note, UBS said the falling measure “suggests inclement weather probably depressed starts further in February.”

Other factors may also be at work, such as rising mortgage rates that have dampened home sales.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/02/19/housing-starts-january/5587867/

 

Housing Indicator Suffers Worst Monthly Decline in History | Chappaqua NYHomes

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The strength of the housing recovery remains questionable depending on who you ask. Home prices have rebounded sharply from their worst levels of the financial crisis, but the Federal Reserve played a major role in the process. The real estate market is expected to return to a more sustainable pace over time, but frigid temperatures and other factors are already weighing on home-builder sentiment.

After finishing 2013 at its best level since August, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo’s index of builder confidence continues to worsen. The index plunged 10 points in February to 46, compared to 56 in January. More builders viewed market conditions as poor than good for the first time in nine months.

It was the worst monthly decline for the index in survey history, and the first reading below 50 since May. Any reading below 50 indicates that builders in general hold a negative view on sales conditions. In the five years before the Great Recession, the index averaged 54, and hit an all time low of 8 in early 2009.

 

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/politics/economy/this-housing-indicator-suffers-worst-monthly-decline-in-history.html/?ref=YF

 

Living in Las Vegas: A Look Beyond the Strip | Chappaqua Homes

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Sky-high hotels, desert sun and entertainment galore. It’s not surprising Las Vegas continues to be one of the most popular Spring Break destinations attracting college students around the country.

Today’s Vegas reaches far beyond the Strip’s neon lights and slot machines. In fact, a growing number of families are putting down roots in the Gambling Capital of the World.

To get a feel for what it’s like to live in Vegas, we asked longtime residents Christa Schueler and Michelle Radcliff to share their experiences.

Family-friendly culture

“I moved here in the ’80s and the common belief was that you must work and live in a hotel, or have some affiliation to a casino,” said Schueler, who writes an online magazine geared toward local women. “Then in the ’90s, Las Vegas started trying to get that family demographic because growth started to explode here. They started trying to appeal to families living here as well as those who were vacationing.”

Schueler said efforts to make Vegas more conducive to a family lifestyle weren’t hugely successful in the ’90s, but she notes there’s been a recent movement to appeal to families with children.

“Now, we’re not just looked at as gambling town,” she said. “People are realizing families do live here and that there are things to do, whether you’re a tourist or a local.”

Radcliff, who also moved to Vegas in the 1980s, agrees.

“I have a daughter who was born here,” she said. “A lot of people raise families in Vegas. There are a lot of things you can do with children.”

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/living-las-vegas-look-beyond-strip-182059598.html

Wash. state housing prices up 6 percent from year ago | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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The state’s housing market softened in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the quarter before, but remained stronger than a year ago.

That’s according to a new report from the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington.

Sales of existing homes declined 8.6 percent from the third to the fourth quarter of 2013. But they were still 9.2 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2012.

The report says the statewide median home sales price during the fourth quarter was 6 percent above a year ago at $256,300. Price increases were especially strong in the metropolitan Seattle area.

Median home prices ranged from $70,000 in Lincoln County to $421,000 in King County.

 

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Wash-state-housing-prices-up-from-1-year-ago-245218321.html

NAR: Rising home prices infringe affordability | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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The vast majority of metropolitan areas continued to experience strong year-over-year price growth in the fourth quarter, the latest quarterly report by the National Association of Realtors revealed.

However, a companion metro area annual affordability report pictures less favorable conditions, especially in the West.

The median existing single-family home price rose in 73% of measured markets, with 119 out of 164 metropolitan statistical areas recording gains based on closings in the fourth quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2012.

In addition, forty-two areas, 26%, had double-digit increases, two were unchanged and 43 recorded lower median prices.

There are two ways of looking at the price gains, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said.

“The vast majority of homeowners have seen significant gains in equity over the past two years, which is helping the economy through increased consumer spending,” Yun said.

“At the same time, home prices have been rising faster than incomes, while mortgage interest rates are above the record lows of a year ago. This is beginning to hamper housing affordability,” he added.

On Monday, HousingWire reported on Yun’s remarks at the alabama Commercial Real Estate Conference after he noted that it feels like America is still in a recession.

“Looking at the economy, last year was overall a sub-par performance with 2% GDP. That is below the historical norm of 3% and it’s been several years of under 3% growth,” he added.

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28920-nar-rising-home-prices-infringe-affordability

Is Now the Right Time to Sell Your Home? | Chappaqua NY Real Estate

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With the housing market on an upswing, is now the right time to put your house on the market?

A recent survey by Redfin found 38% of home sellers believe now is a good time to sell, up from 34% last quarter and an enormous improvement from 22% in the fourth quarter of last year.

It is no secret that a lot of homeowners who want to sell their homes have been waiting (for several years in some cases) for a better housing market before listing their house.  Mortgage rates are relatively low, inventories are at their lowest level in years, and confidence in the housing market is the highest it’s been since before the mortgage crisis.

Sounds like you should consider selling, right? The short answer is “maybe”, but there are several factors to consider in determining whether it is the right time to sell for you.

Location: What’s going on in your local market? Before deciding to put your home on the market, it is very important to contact a local realtor (or a few) in order to see what’s happening where you live.

Maybe smaller homes are selling but larger, more expensive homes are sitting on the market for six months or more.  Maybe there is a high amount of inventory of homes like yours on the market, which generally creates more pressure to lower the asking price. In many coastal areas, markets are at a standstill due to the ongoing drama regarding flood insurance.

On the other hand, maybe your particular type of home is very popular in the area you live in.  Maybe condos are in high demand where you live.  Maybe a new large employer opened up and homes nearby are in high demand.

The point is there is a tremendous variety of real estate markets in the United States, and there is no way to determine the level of demand for a particular property just by looking at national statistics

 

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/02/09/is-now-the-right-time-to-sell-your-home.aspx