Category Archives: Katonah

Housing Market Is On ‘Road Back To Normal’ | Katonah NY Homes

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As more inventory of for-sale homes helped slow previously high rates of appreciation, from December to January, national home values saw the smallest monthly increase since May 2012, according to the January Zillow Real Estate Market Reports.

National home values rose just 0.2% to a Zillow Home Value Index of $169,600.

Nationwide, while inventory remains tight, the number of homes listed for sale on Zillow was up 11.1% annually in January on a seasonally adjusted basis – the fifth straight month of rising year-over-year inventory.

Inventory rose year-over-year in 22 of the nation’s 35 largest metro areas covered by Zillow, with the largest inventory gains coming in some of the areas that were hit hardest by the housing recession, including Las Vegas (up 42.8%); Phoenix (up 30.5%); and Sacramento, Calif. (up 26%).

Those metros also experienced significant cooling in the pace of home value appreciation in January, Zillow notes, as buyers had more homes to choose from and were less apt to engage in the kinds of bidding wars that helped drive prices up so quickly last year.

“Last year, tight inventory contributed to very rapid home value appreciation. Now, more inventory is helping to moderate home value increases in many areas,” comments Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.

 

http://www.mortgageorb.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.15068

London House-Price Surge Drives U.K. Values in Spring Bounce | Katonah NY Real Estate

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London house prices surged this month, helping national values post their best annual increase since before the financial crisis, Rightmove Plc said.

Asking prices in the U.K. capital jumped 5.2 percent to an average 541,313 pounds ($905,500) from January, the operator of Britain’s biggest property website said in a report today. On the year, they rose 11.2 percent. Nationally, values rose 3.3 percent from the previous month and 6.9 percent on the year, the best annual performance since November 2007.

“This month’s large rise is exacerbated by being a rebound from the festive-season lull,” said Miles Shipside, a director at Rightmove. “The spring moving season is traditionally the busiest time of the year, so that means agents are likely to advise new sellers to aim high, with the best-selling months ahead of them and strong buyer demand in many areas.”

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-17/london-house-price-surge-drives-u-k-values-in-spring-bounce.html?cmpid=yhoo

Lawn Care Tips for Busy People | Katonah NY Homes

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A beautiful home is not only achieved through stylish interior design, but also through smart lawn care. Your lawn is the first thing that people notice about your home. Keeping a clean and healthy-looking lawn demands a lot of time and maintenance that may seem like a full-time job. In the fall you will want to have a 4 stroke leaf blower, to make it easier to get rid of all those leafs. To achieve a lush green lawn, you need to commit to mowing it on a weekly basis to prevent the grass from turning yellow and dry. Lawn mowing also keeps your grass from growing too high and thwarts pests (e.g. weeds and animals such snakes and other vermin) from invading your yard.

Professionals barely have enough time to maintain even just a healthy lawn. Although we can’t add time to our busy schedules, we certainly can make smart changes to common lawn maintenance practices through these tips:

  • Know when to feed your lawn and stick to the seasonal feeding schedule. Do not feed your lawn daily so the grass will stop growing faster according to King Green Lawn Care.
  • Don’t overuse your lawn mover. Allow a healthy growth of herbs in your lawn and use an effective lawn weed killer.
  • When mowing the lawn, try to cut them a little longer and allow herbs such as thyme to grow. This makes the lawn look greener, especially during dry spells.
  • Remove hard-to-mow areas or those areas that can’t be accessed by the mower. If you want to easily maintain your lawn, especially these tricky areas, consider using gravel to give your lawn more dimensions.
  • Get a high-powered mower that can do heavier tasks for you. Look for a machine that does most of the work in a single press of a button.
  • Leave some of the cuttings, but not all of them. These will provide enough nutrients in the soil and will help the grass to grow stronger and greener.

If you are a beginner, a gardener or an individual who does not have much time taking care of your lawn, at least prioritize these three maintenance tasks:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/lawn-care-tips-busy-people-204228333.html

Mortgage Rates Slide Again, Putting Pressure on Buyers | Katonah NY Homes

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Mortgage rates are falling fast again, and would-be buyers have to start thinking: Can I afford to wait six months to buy a home with interest rates this low?

And low they are, as evidenced by a slew of mortgage rate data out early this week.

First up is the BankingMyWay Weekly Mortgage Rate tracker, which shows 30-year fixed mortgage rates sliding from 4.40% last week to 4.21% this week.

One-, three- and five-year adjustable-rate mortgages are also in full retreat this week, with the benchmark three-year ARM rate falling from 3.46% to 2.85%.

The BMW rate tracker also shows 15-year fixed-rate mortgages falling, from 3.58% to 3.43%.

Freddie Mac is out with new mortgage rates as well, and they pretty much mirror the BMW figures. Freddie Mac has current 30-year fixed mortgage rates at 4.23% and 15-year fixed loan rates at 3.33%.

While rates are well above where they were last year at this time (at 3.53% for the 30-year rate), mortgage interest costs have dropped significantly in recent weeks.

“Mortgage rates fell further this week following the release of weaker housing data,” says Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, at Freddie Mac.

He notes the U.S. pending home sales index declined by 8.7% in December, to its lowest level since October 2011. “Fixed residential investment negatively contributed to GDP in the fourth quarter for the first time since the third quarter of 2010,” he says. “Also, the Institute for Supply Management reported a significant slowing in growth in the manufacturing industry in December than the market consensus forecast.”

 

http://www.thestreet.com/story/12326974/1/mortgage-rates-slide-again-putting-pressure-on-buyers.html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

 

Canada housing agency sees stable starts, prices in 2014 | Katonah NY Real Estate

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Canada’s federal housing agency nudged up its forecast for housing starts and prices in 2014 and said sales and construction will be steady to higher in 2015 as an improving economy tempers the impact of rising mortgage rates.

The view from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp suggests the nation’s once-roaring housing market is settling into a soft landing, with construction moderating to more sustainable levels and sales and prices ticking slowly higher.

The CMHC said on Thursday housing starts will be in a range of 176,600 and 199,800 in 2014, with a point forecast, or most likely outcome, of 187,300 units, relatively unchanged from 187,923 units in 2013. That is up slightly from CMHC’s October estimate of 184,700 starts.

The agency said there will be 163,200 to 206,600 units started in 2015, with a point forecast of 184,900.

Both forecasts represent a sharp slowdown from the 214,827 starts of 2012, when the market was at record highs and the government intervened to tighten mortgage lending rules.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/06/canada-economy-housing-idUSL2N0LB0V520140206

 

Can home prices record 23 months of increases? | Katonah NY Real Estate

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Home prices maintained their course and increased 11% in December 2013 compared to a year ago, recording the 22nd consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices nationally, according to the latest December CoreLogic Home Price Index.

Month-over-month, home prices, including distressed sales, dipped by .1% in December compared to November.

Home prices, excluding distressed sales, jumped by 9.9% in December compared to a year prior and .2% month-over-month compared to November.

“Last year, home prices rose 11%, the highest rate of annual increase since 2005, and ten states and the District of Columbia reached new all-time price peaks,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

“We expect the rising prices to attract more sellers, unlocking this pent-up supply, which will have a moderating effect on prices in 2014,” Fleming added.

Looking ahead, the HPI forecasts that January homes prices, including distressed sales, will increase 10.2% year-over-year from January 2013. But on a month-over-month basis, home prices are projected to dip .8% from December 2013 to January 2014.

 

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28839-can-home-prices-record-23-months-of-increases

Some 86% of Banks Have not Relaxed Mortgage Lending Standards | Katonah NY Homes

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Despite reports of banks relaxing requirements for getting a mortgage, some 86 percent of banks that originate residential mortgages have either not changed or tightened their lending standards, according to a national annual survey conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Some 11 percent of banks said they had eased standards, up from 10 percent in 2012.  Eleven percent said that they have tightened them up. Home equity loans also saw tighter standards.

The survey which concluded in June 30, 2013 and covered the previous 18 months, did not reflect changes in standards over in the past seven months.  Ellie Mae reported median FICO scores for purchase and refi loan fell from 742 in June to 727 in December and median loan to value ratios rose from 80 to 82 percent.

The OCC found banks were relaxing underwriting for both commercial and other retail products at a faster pace than residential mortgages.  Large banks as a group reported the highest share of eased standards. Want to get more information? The Atlantic Union Bank has a lot of information that can be very useful.

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/01/some-86-of-banks-have-not-relaxed-mortgage-lending-standards/