Category Archives: Lewisboro

Katonah Real Estate | Housing market in San Diego County heating up

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SAN DIEGO – The housing market in San Diego County is heating up. The “for sale” signs you do see often disappear in days or weeks.

Supply and demand are pushing prices through the roof and real estate is on a roll.

Broker Scott Voak, who is with Voak Homes in Rancho Bernardo, says the supply is so low that he does not have any homes to market right now. The demand has created fierce bidding wars.

“It’s insane,” said Voak. “We had the only house in the market under $650,000 and we had 10 offers and sold for $55,000 over the appraisal.”

The latest numbers in San Diego County show inventory is down 40 percent from a year ago. Home prices are up 24 percent for attached homes and 16 percent for detached homes. 

Neighborhoods in the Poway Unified School District seem to be the hottest ticket.

Voak says foreign investors are buying up properties and that all those distressed properties from the collapse are dwindling in supply. It all creates a perfect storm for demand.

“That’s pushing prices up and causing a frenzy with buyers,” said Voak. “A lot of buyers are scared… it’s no fun for buyers.”

However, buyers still have a good interest rate on their side, and many are resorting to what has been coined “love letters.”

via 10news.com

Twenty Percent of Bankers Expect Lending Standards to Loosen | Katonah Homes

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Expectations among bank risk professionals for the relaxation of lending standards increased sharply in the first quarter, rising from 12.1 to 19.9 percent, according to the quarterly FICO/PRMIA) survey.

One out of five bank risk professionals now  expect the approval criteria for loans to become less stringent, the third highest level ever registered for looser lending standards in the three year history of the FICO survey.  The rising expectations for looser standards is a reversal of bankers’ views in the fourth quarter of 2012, when only 12.1 percent expected standards to become less stringent, the lowest level in survey history.

The survey, conducted for FICO by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA), found lenders more bullish on the housing recovery than at any point in three years, with 71 percent of respondents saying home prices are “rising at a sustainable pace” in the context of mortgage lending risk. In addition, 39 percent of respondents are expecting mortgage delinquencies to decrease over the next six months, while another 45 percent expect delinquencies to remain flat and only 16 percent expect an increase.

However, there is also a high degree of concern about the supply of credit that will be available to finance the recovery.  Even though the Mortgage Bankers Association forecasted a 14.5 percent increase in purchase originations in 2013 over 2012, some 42 percent said that the supply of credit for mortgages to buy homes will he either slightly or significantly short of demand.  The survey found that that 60 percent of bank risk professionals expect the supply of credit for mortgage refinancing to meet demand.

“The latest survey results, combined with data that indicates the real estate market is improving in many regions, paint a positive picture for a sector of the economy that has been slow to join the recovery,” said Dr. Andrew Jennings, chief analytics officer at FICO and head of FICO Labs. “Mortgage lenders have been understandably guarded over the past five years. The improvement in their sentiment should be welcome news, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see lenders cautiously expanding their mortgage and home equity lending businesses.”

via realestateeconomywatch.com

Don’t underestimate the impact of housing market on economy | Mt Kisco NY Homes

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When real estate is discussed, the conversation most often turns to the number of homes sold, the median price in the area, available inventory or pending sales. All of those items and the trends they represent are important, but rarely does anyone take a look at the overall impact of the real estate market on the economy.

Economic development efforts sometimes overlook the key impact of the housing market.

Let’s take a look at the economic impact of single-family homes in Greater Nashville just so far this year (not even including condominiums) using the number of closings and median prices already reported. Based on the number of homes sold in the first quarter, at the median price reported in each of the first three months of this year, there have been more than $825 million in residential real estate sales in the Greater Nashville area.

In addition to that, whenever someone purchases a home, there is a significant amount of money put into the economy through the add-on purchases such as appliances, furniture, flooring, cabinetry, lighting, window treatments, landscaping, lawn service and much more.

via tennessean.com

30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates Up Slightly | Cross River Real Estate

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Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages rose this week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 3.47 percent, up from 3.46 percent at this same time last week.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered between 3.44 and 3.5 percent for the majority of the week, dropping to the current rate this morning.

“Mortgage rates fell slightly early last week as markets reacted to economic uncertainty in Cyprus, but later rebounded as the country emerged with a bailout plan.” said Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. “This coming week, we expect some volatility related to political uncertainty in Italy, but with a shortened U.S. trading week, we expect the impact to be muted.”

Additionally, the 15-year fixed mortgage rate this morning was 2.64 percent, and for 5/1 ARMs, the rate was 2.28 percent.

What are the rates right now? Check Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for up-to-the-minute mortgage rates for your state.

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*The weekly rate chart illustrates the average 30-year fixed interest rate in six-hour intervals.

via zillowblog.com