Category Archives: Mount Kisco

Highest level of home equity loans since June 2009 | #MtKisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

A total of 797,865 home equity lines of credit were originated nationwide, up 20.6% from a year ago and the highest level since the 12 months ending June 2009, according to RealtyTrac.

The report also shows HELOC originations accounted for 15.4% of all loan originations nationwide during the first eight months of 2014, the highest percentage since 2008.

“This recent rise in HELOC originations indicates that an increasing number of homeowners are gaining confidence in the strength of the housing recovery and, more importantly, have regained much of their home equity lost during the housing crisis,” said Daren Blomquist. “Nearly 10 million homeowners nationwide, representing 19% of all homeowners with a mortgage, now have at least 50% equity in their homes, according to RealtyTrac data. Meanwhile the percentage of homeowners with severe negative equity has decreased from 29% in the second quarter of 2012 to 17% in the second quarter of this year.

“The rise in HELOCs also reflects a natural evolution for a lending industry looking for products they can offer to homeowners who have already refinanced their first position loan into a low fixed rate,” Blomquist added. “A HELOC enables homeowners to leverage additional equity they may have gained since refinancing while still preserving the rock-bottom interest rate on their first position loan.”

Among the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas with HELOC data available, 49 posted year-over-year increases in HELOC originations in the 12 months ending in June 2014. The only metro area with a decrease was Rochester, N.Y., where HELOC originations decreased 1%.

Metro areas with the biggest year-over-year increase in HELOC originations were Riverside-San Bernardino in Southern California (87.7% increase), Las Vegas (85.1% increase), Cincinnati (81.0% increase), Sacramento (65.1% increase), and Phoenix (60.1% increase).

Major metros with the smallest increases in HELOC originations from a year ago were Minneapolis-St. Paul (0.2% increase), Louisville, Ky., (3.3% increase), Philadelphia (3.6% increase), Virginia Beach (4.3% increase), and St. Louis (5.6% increase).

Despite the year-over-year increases, HELOC originations were well below their peaks from the previous housing boom. Nationwide, the 797,865 HELOC originations in the 12 months ending in June 2014 were 313% below the previous peak of 3,299,007 in the 12 months ending June 2006. The 15.4% share of HELOCs year-to-date nationwide was also below the 24.7% share in 2005.

HELOC originations were below their previous peaks in 49 out of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas. The only exception was Pittsburgh, where HELOC originations reached a new peak in the 12 months ending in June 2014.

Major metro areas with the biggest decrease in HELOC originations in 2014 compared to their previous peaks were Riverside-San Bernardino (down 1324.9%), Las Vegas (down 1307.3%), Miami (down 1228.3%), Tucson, Ariz., (down 1214.0%), and Orlando (down 1177.6%).

 

 

 

read more….

 

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31650-credit-nation-helocs-up-206-year-over-year

Mount Kisco Restaurants Will Participate In ‘An Evening In Good Taste’ | Mount Kisco Homes

Leave a reply

Donate to charity on Thursday, Oct. 16, while enjoying delicacies from some of the region’s top restaurants and caterers at the Food Bank for Westchester’s 24th Annual Celebration of “An Evening in Good Taste” to end childhood hunger.

The event will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 1133 Westchester Avenue, White Plains.

The signature annual event will feature more than 20 local chefs who donate their time, talents and delectable treats, as well as assistance from more than 100 volunteers for an event that attracts some 700 guests.

“We look forward to ‘An Evening in Good Taste’ every year and are always happy to have our local restaurants participate,” said Ellen Lynch, executive director of the Food Bank for Westchester.

“This year we welcome several new restaurants to our event.It’s a great way for the community to enjoy delicious food and support a great cause. The Food Bank for Westchester is confident that with the support of these restaurants the evening will be a success.”

 

read more….

 

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/events/food-bank-westchester-names-restaurants-evening-good-taste

 

You Know It’s a Tough Market When Ben Bernanke Can’t Refinance | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Ben S. Bernanke, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Ben S. Bernanke said the mortgage market is so tight that even he is having a hard time refinancing his own home loan.

The former Federal Reserve chairman, speaking at a conference in Chicago yesterday, told moderator Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics Inc. — “just between the two of us” — that “I recently tried to refinance my mortgage and I was unsuccessful in doing so.”

When the audience laughed, Bernanke said, “I’m not making that up.”

“I think it’s entirely possible” that lenders “may have gone a little bit too far on mortgage credit conditions,” he said.

Bernanke, addressing a conference of the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care in Chicago yesterday, said that the first-time home buyer market is “not what it should be” as the economy in general strengthens.

“The housing area is one area where regulation has not yet got it right,” Bernanke said. “I think the tightness of mortgage credit, lending is still probably excessive.”

 

 

read more….

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-02/you-know-it-s-a-tough-market-when-ben-bernanke-can-t-refinance.html

Mortgage applications decreased last week | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

Mortgage applications decreased 0.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 26, 2014.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.  On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 0.4 percent compared with the previous week.  The Refinance Index decreased 0.3 percent from the previous week.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index remained unchanged from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week and was 11 percent lower than the same week one year ago.  The seasonally adjusted conventional purchase index increased 1.3 percent to the highest level since July 2014.

The refinance share of mortgage activity remained unchanged at 56 percent of total applications from the previous week.  The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.6 percent of total applications.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.33 percent from 4.39 percent, with points decreasing to 0.31 from  0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $417,000) decreased to 4.28 percent from 4.30 percent, with points decreasing to 0.15 from 0.22 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 4.07 percent from 4.08 percent, with points decreasing to 0.04 from 0.09 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 3.55 percent from 3.56 percent, with points remaining unchanged from 0.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans.  The effective rate decreased from last week.

 

read more….

 

http://www.mortgagebankers.org/NewsandMedia/PressCenter/89532.htm

For $2M, Buy an Uncompromising Bastion of ’80s Terribleness | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

The brokerbabble for this slice of L.A. county real estate calls the structure a “custom neoclassical estate,” but one peek at the listing photos reveals it’s much more likely to be, say, the set of an L.A.-based Wolf of Wall Street and American Psycho crossover. The listing text touts the 4,444-square-foot house’s “historical statues and carvings,” but that’s just scuffing the surface. The foyer is a shiny marbled expanse with no less than 12 white columns and a sculptural centerpiece of one Greco-Roman figure or another. (Mercury? Hard to tell.) There’s also an art gallery, several million-pound crystal chandeliers, bedrooms double dipped in ’70s-ish patterns, and, in the stunning prose of Curbed LA, “four glittery-disco baths.” The six-bedroom listed and re-listed a lot in the last decade (at one time asking as much as $9M!) though now it could all be yours for just $1.995M.

 

 

read more….

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/09/29/1980s-house-on-the-market-950-avonoak-terrace-glendale.php

 

Are Home Values Back to Normal? | Mt Kisco Homes

Leave a reply

Have you ever asked yourself, “Are home prices over- or undervalued today?” If so, you have been comparing current prices to prices over the long-term trend, which is known as intrinsic value.

Many of the best investors in the world tout intrinsic value as the most important metric for long-term investing. Buy when prices fall below intrinsic value and don’t buy when they rise above. The difficulties come in determining your opinion of intrinsic value and having the patience and courage to withstand what can sometimes be very long periods when prices are over- or undervalued.

Last week, we sent our values to our clients, and just this week John presented the methodology at a mortgage industry conference in DC. The reception has been fantastic.

To cut to the chase, we believe a long-term view of housing dictates that homes are overvalued today by 3.5%—but range from 11% undervalued to 20% overvalued depending on the MSA. This is not a bearish view on housing simply because:

  • 3.5% income growth will solve the problem, and
  • we used a 6.0% mortgage rate for our calculation, and rates are much lower today.

We also assumed that the best long-term ratio of housing costs / income* is 31.4%, ranging from 21.0% in Atlanta to 79.5% in San Francisco. In 29 of the top 30 markets, we used a ratio that is higher than the historical average over the last 20 years because we believe US housing has become slightly more expensive. Determining this ratio by market was difficult, particularly in markets that seem to be undergoing permanent changes in homeownership demand, both positively and negatively.

 

read more….

 

http://investorextreme.com/have-home-values-finally-normalized/

 

10 places where home prices have fallen the most | #MtKisco #RealEstate

Leave a reply

Let’s call it cause for optimism. After one of the worst housing collapses in history seven years ago, price declines have pretty much halted across every major metropolitan area in the U.S. Alas, these 10 U.S. Census metro areas with population of more than 250,000 still had small drops (-0.71 percent to -4 percent) in existing single-family home prices for the year ending June 30. Prices come from CoreLogic, a data and analytics company.

In many of these cities, the housing markets never really boomed nor busted. Most of them have ample supply of homes and relatively cheap prices, which should favor buyers. But many also have low wage bases, or declining or aging populations. Others rely on an employment sector that hasn’t fully recovered from the recession. A couple of them are still burdened by a large share of distressed sales.

Benchmark statistics nationally (all are medians): One-year change in home prices: 7.5 percent. Median home price: $185,038. Change in price since 2006 peak: -12.9 percent. Months’ supply of homes: 5.5 months. Unemployment rate: 6.1 percent (seasonally adjusted), 6.3 percent (non-adjusted). City-specific unemployment rates that follow are non-adjusted. Rate of job growth: 1.8 percent. Distressed sales: 15.5 percent.

 

read more…

 

 

http://realestate.msn.com/10-places-where-home-prices-have-fallen-the-most

Here’s an Inside Look at North Korea’s Dystopian Architecture | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

 

 

 

 

22.jpgAll photos by Julia Leeb courtesy of teNeues

Ballsy German photojournalist Julia Leeb has just dropped a stunning collection of photographic work exploring one of the most restricted places on earth. The book, North Korea: Anonymous Country, documents Leeb’s travels, peeling back the shroud that covers the country and stealing moments to take testimony for the rest of the world. Because architecture is so often used and commissioned as a symbol of wealth and power, the buildings of North Korea, a state founded in the aftermath of World War II, tell the story of dystopia—one filled with icons of dictators, dizzying towers of communal housing, and a hotel that, despite once being in the running for world’s tallest building, remains nothing but an empty shell.

Read on. >>

1Untitled-1.jpgIn many ways, North Korea is a time capsule of former era, both as one of the last remaining Communist strongholds and as an utterly isolated territory.

After Japanese occupation during World War II, the Soviet Union installed a new dictatorial government in 1946, and red nations across the globe helped rebuild the bombed-out capital city of Pyongyang. Monumental architecture presents a united front for the government’s public image; museums dot the city featuring falsified exhibits that proclaim the dominance of the country’s innovation and industry. That elaborate artifice is exactly what makes Leeb’s book so fascinating. Intrigued?

 

 

 

read more….

 

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/09/18/north-korea-architecture.php

 

Mount Kisco Medical Group Partners With Mount Sinai Health System | #MtKisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

 

The Mount Kisco Medical Group (MKMG), a multi-specialty practice serving Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, announced Wednesday an expansion of its existing clinical affiliation agreement with the Mount Sinai Health System, increasing the commitment of both parties to providing integrated and coordinated care for the communities they serve.

The physicians and leadership from both Mount Sinai and MKMG will work together to define and deliver best practices in coordinated and continuous care. The relationship will include clinical service enhancement and coordination, research and education.

Mount Sinai and MKMG will also cooperate on developing Centers of Excellence in select specialties. The Mount Kisco Medical Group will continue to operate as an independent entity.

“As an integrated health system, the Mount Sinai Health System strives to provide high quality, accessible care, and we’re pleased that the nationally renowned Mount Kisco Medical Group will partner with us in those efforts,” said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, chief executive officer and president of the Mount Sinai Health System. “We look forward to working with our new partners at MKMG in furthering our goals of enhancing clinical care, as well as medical education and research.”

Scott D. Hayworth, MD president and CEO of the Mount Kisco Medical Group, echoes Davis’ sentiments.

“As a leading provider of ambulatory care in the Northeast, MKMG is pleased to partner with a nationally ranked institution to continue providing outstanding, cost-effective care to our patients,” said Hayworth.

 

 

read more….

 

 

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/news/mount-kisco-medical-group-partners-mount-sinai-health-system

National Weather Service: Mount Kisco’s Winter Won’t Be So Bad | Mt Kisco Real Estate

Leave a reply

Despite several reports of doom and gloom about the upcoming winter, the National Weather Service is forecasting average temperatures and average precipitation for the season.

The National Weather Service is forecasting roughly average temperatures for much of the country with the exception of below average temperatures in southwest Texas and above average highs in the northern great plains and Pacific Northwest.

Precipitation estimates are expected to be around the typical norm as well in the Northeast.

The National Weather Service has also said that predicting long-range weather is far from an exact science. While prevailing weather patterns like El Nino do have an impact on weather trends, the week-to-week shifts play a much larger role and thus make long-range forecasting little more than guess work.

The National Weather Service, does, however, remind residents to be prepared when the snow starts to fall. This is, after all, still the Northeast.

 

read more…

http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/news/national-weather-service-westchesters-winter-wont-be-so-bad