| Sales | |
| Armonk | up 7% |
| Chappaqua | up 80% |
| Pound Ridge | down 25% |
| Bedford Corners | even |
| Bedford Village | up 17% |
| Bedford Hills | up 9% |
| South Salem | up 7% |
| Katonah | up 2% |
| North Salem | up 11% |
| Mt Kisco | down 12% |
Nearly half of all sellers in a recent survey are worried that rising mortgage rates will tank buyer demand, a doubling of concern since the first quarter.
Some 47 percent of sellers now are concerned that rising rates would cause a decrease in buyer demand, up from 23 percent in the second quarter, though 32 percent said they had no major concerns about selling.
“Of course home sellers are worried about interest rates, but the reality is that many buyers believe that rates will continue to go up,” said Los Angeles real estate agent Eric Tan. “They know if they don’t move now, they might be kicking themselves all over again in three months.”
Despite increasing concerns over interest rates, 48 percent of sellers believe now is still a good time to sell, up from 45 percent in the second quarter. Interestingly, belief that now is a good time to buy was up one percent from last quarter. Although slight, this increase in buying confidence is the first in more than a year.
However, only 17 percent of respondents believe that home prices will rise “a lot” in their area in the next 12 months, up from 15 percent in the second quarter; 85 percent of respondents believe that home prices will rise in their area in the next 12 months, unchanged from last quarter.
“Results from our seller survey point to growing confidence in the US economy, and recognition that broad economic gains could erode sellers’ advantages in the housing market as mortgage rates rise,” explained Redfin economist Ellen Haberle.
The survey, by Redfin, was based on responses from 1,448 homeowners across the U.S. who had used Redfin in the last three months. Data was collected from July 19 through 21.
Nearly half of all sellers in a recent survey are worried that rising mortgage rates will tank buyer demand, a doubling of concern since the first quarter.
Some 47 percent of sellers now are concerned that rising rates would cause a decrease in buyer demand, up from 23 percent in the second quarter, though 32 percent said they had no major concerns about selling.
Despite news that the 30-year fixed rate has surpassed the 4% mark, economists continue to be cautiously optimistic about the housing market.
“Increases in rates would not be occurring if there wasn’t economic growth,” Steve Blitz chief economist at ITG Investment Research told Forbes last month. “If people thought the economy was heading south, even with absence of quantitative easing, the rates wouldn’t rise.”
Over the past few months the 30-year fixed rate, which has been hovering well below 4% has been trending upward, creating concern that recovery has halted.
Before the rate increase, April home prices rose 12% over a year ago with signed contracts in May at the highest level since 2006. However, by June existing home sales dropped 1.2% as rates started to rise. As of the end of July, the 30-year fixed rate stood at 4.31%, which is a drop from 4.37%.
Market specialists expressed concern that after months of recovery, that rising rates might hamper growth and overall recovery. However Blitz says that the housing market rebound is more of a symptom of recovery and not indicative of its overall direction. “There may be pent up demand, but there’s no pent up wealth to go buy a house. Housing will not lead the economy as it did from 2004-2006,” Blitz adds. “Instead, it will grow with the economy and not lead it.”
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing homes sales stand at its highest level since November 2009. In fact NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun refers to growth as “overwhelmingly positive.”
Mike Corn, CEO and co-founder of CU Realty Services says that data released by the U.S. HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau show an increase in builder confidence and that CoreLogic expects home prices to continue to rise.
Although rates and prices have inched up, Corn says that he believes the market will continue to improve and that this trend may drive more consumers to consider a credit union mortgage loan. “As more sellers list their homes to take advantage of improving market values, many will become buyers in need of a mortgage,” he says in a statement. “And with loan rates slowly creeping up, many home buyers are looking to purchase sooner rather than later. For credit unions with the right marketing strategy in place, there’s a great opportunity to provide homebuyers with the mortgages they need.”
Rising Rates Appear to Have Little Impact on Housing Recovery.
Swimming in tax foreclosures, Michigan’s Wayne Countytreasury office is planning to bundle hundreds of dilapidated tax foreclosure properties into one package at its fall auctions, reported Crain’s Detroit Business.
In the past, the treasurer’s office has experimented with bundling for cases such as subdivision projects that fell apart. This would be the first time the county has bundled so many properties, however.
The bundling is part of a strategy to best position the properties for the future. The idea is to make the bundle appear so unappealing that the properties don’t sell. Many of the properties have dilapidated structures that should be demolished, said the chief deputy treasurer, Dave Szymanski.
The number of bundled properties could be as little as 400 or as high as 1,000. Solitary dilapidated structures that sit in an otherwise solid block of residents would be at the top of the list, as opposed to several dilapidated structures in a largely vacant block.
Swimming in tax foreclosures, Michigan’s Wayne Countytreasury office is planning to bundle hundreds of dilapidated tax foreclosure properties into one package at its fall auctions, reported Crain’s Detroit Business.
In the past, the treasurer’s office has experimented with bundling for cases such as subdivision projects that fell apart. This would be the first time the county has bundled so many properties, however.
The bundling is part of a strategy to best position the properties for the future. The idea is to make the bundle appear so unappealing that the properties don’t sell. Many of the properties have dilapidated structures that should be demolished, said the chief deputy treasurer, Dave Szymanski.
The number of bundled properties could be as little as 400 or as high as 1,000. Solitary dilapidated structures that sit in an otherwise solid block of residents would be at the top of the list, as opposed to several dilapidated structures in a largely vacant block.
Builders’ sales offices are being filled on weekends byhomebuyers looking to purchase a house before prices and interest rates climb higher in the Phoenix metro area. While more homes are being built than in 2012, the pace of the recovery is not accelerating as fast as had been anticipated, according to AZ Central.
Housing mini bubble begins to deflate | 2013-08-04 | HousingWire.
In the world of high-end New York real estate, actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell is a regular. Now she’s at it again, listing two Big Apple properties.
Most recently, she has listed her 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath luxury apartment for $2.25 million in The Platinum, a full-service, award-winning condominium. Located at 247 W 46th St APT 2203, New York, NY 10036, the 22nd-floor unit (shown above) features floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the Midtown Manhattan cityscape.
According to The New York Times, O’Donnell signed a contract to buy the place for $1.97 million in 2007, with property records showing she closed the deal a year later. She has since been privy to The Platinum’s five-star, resort-quality amenities, including a golf simulator, fitness center, yoga studio, sauna, lounge and outdoor terrace. Times Square, Broadway theaters and the 45th Street headquarters for her public school program, Rosie’s Theater Kids, are also just a few blocks away.
The listing is held by The Corcoran Group‘s Ric Swezey.
Meanwhile, reports have been circulating that fashion designer Michael Kors has his eye onO’Donnell’s Greenwich Village duplex that she purchased for $8 million last year. The 130 West 12th St penthouse is now on the market for $10.95 million.
“Penthouse 11A is one of the most unique private residences situated in the heart of Greenwich Village,” listing agent Dennis Mangone of Douglas Elliman wrote in the listing description. Spanning more than 3,200 square feet, the 11th-floor suite has 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, spacious living and dining rooms, a chef’s kitchen and private terrace. The building has a 24-hour doorman and concierge as well as other resident-only amenities.
Here are some of the top stories this week in Chappaqua.
Potential Parking Solutions Tops This Week’s Chappaqua News | The Chappaqua Daily Voice.
Social media marketing is moving from its exciting adolescent phase to a more mature grownup status.
Online social media obsession driven by social web hormones and testosterone that drove social networks to hyperactivity are being replaced by tried and now proven activities and mature business processes. Digital marketing responsibility is now in the driving seat.
The dreaded phrase “what is the return on investment” is now seen as a conversation that needs to happen.
The dinner party conversations are no longer about Facebook or Twitter. An announcement about Instagram providing 15 second videos barely makes a ripple in the blogosphere. Social media is now part of the woodwork and is embedded in the web.
The after work and cocktail bar chats are now about when you are commencing a start up, designing your online store or launching an app.
Despite its move from sexy to staid and impending “ho hum” status, social media is embedded and integrated into almost all digital and even traditional marketing activities.
Learning to use social media effectively is now essential and required if you aren’t going to be “disrupted” by your competitors and fast growing start-ups.
So let’s look at it in context in the digital marketing ecosystem, consider core essentials and tips and tactics. These will help you get started and also optimize your current social media marketing activities.
The initial attraction of social media beyond connection and engagement was that is was “free”. Social networks allowed anyone to publish and market for free with ease.
Search engines also provide this advantage and being found on Google can be done two ways.
Earn the right to appear on page one of a search engine with optimized content and search engine optimization and it can make a large difference to your sales and inquiries. The clicks from earned search sits at around 75% of all search engine result page clicks.
This is called organic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Now let’s quickly cover how to pay for appearing on the first page of Google
Google AdWords allows you to accelerate your brand discovery and click-throughs by paying to appear on page one for selected keywords and phrases. Stop the campaign and the traffic no longer turns up to your website or landing page.
It all comes down to measuring whether paying produces a positive return on investment. Spend a dollar and get a profit of two dollars means that it is an activity worth pursuing despite the cost.
Social media marketing is following the same route.
Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/07/29/social-media-marketing-tool-box-62-tips-and-tactics/#LfJf7urcf0Ejgkvt.99
Social Media Marketing Tool Box: 62 Tips – Jeffbullas’s Blog.
U.S. home prices posted their best year-over-year gain since March 2006 in May, according to the latest reading from the S&P/Case-Shiller indexes.
Each of the 20 cities that make up the 20-city composite index posted annual and sequential gains, paced by the Southwest and West. San Francisco posted a 24.5% seasonally-adjusted gain over the prior year, followed by Las Vegas’ 23.3% gain and Phoenix’s 20.6% gain. New York posted the weakest annual gain, up 3.3%.
Home Prices Post Another Big Gain In May, Best Boost Since 2006 – Forbes.
More than $987.7 million was spent on real estate in Hampden County from July 2012 until the end of last month, a 2.1 percent increase from the prior year and another sign of a improving real estate market, according to Donald E. Ashe, Hampden County register of deeds.
The total amount spent on real estate in Hampden County in the previous fiscal year July 2011 to June 2012 was $967.2 million, according to data released Wednesday by Ashe.
“The real estate market is getting better,” Ashe said. “But it is slow, hampered by persistent unemployment.”
In neighboring Hampshire County, the total spend on real estate was $498 million, according to the registry office there. That’s up 2 percent from $488.3 million in the previous fiscal year.
In Franklin County, the total was $160.9 million, that’s down 1.7 percent from $163.7 million last year but up from $150.4 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Ashe said the figures are based on the total consideration paid for all real estate, including homes, commercial properties and vacant land.
Hampden County is still a long way from the go-go days of the real estate boom. Before 2011, the amount spent on real estate hadn’t been less than $1 billion for a fiscal year since 2005. It was $1.128 billion in fiscal 2010, and $1.085 billion in fiscal 2009.
Real estate market in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties continues growth | masslive.com.