Category Archives: Pound Ridge

Mortgage debt relief extension closer to reality | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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The Senate Finance Committee has passed a two-year retroactive extension of a law that allowed homeowners to avoid being taxed on debt forgiven in a short sale or through a principal reduction, Realtor Magazine reported.

The extension still needs to be passed by the full Senate and by the House of Representatives. The federal Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 expired on Dec. 31, 2013, despite strong bipartisan support.

In addition to mortgage debt relief, there are some promising signs that Congress may pass extensions of other popular housing-related tax benefits sometime this spring, including write-offs for energy-saving improvements and mortgage insurance premiums.

Source: realtormag.realtor.org

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/mortgage-debt-relief-extension-closer-to-reality/?utm_source=20140404&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.rEHB52Ud.dpuf

This Is What A Totally Green, Sustainable NYC Could Look Like | Pound Ridge Homes

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New York City is many things, but sustainable it is not.

The people of New York City require some 4 million acres of food-producing land — roughly the size of the entire state of Connecticut — just to produce all the food they eat annually, according to Terreform Research Group, a sustainable architecture firm. That’s a problem, especially since the energy used to transport foods from around the globe to American dinner plate is a significant contributor to climate change.

Even food grown within North America travels more than 1,200 miles on average from where it was grown. Those so-called “food-miles” are why researchers at Terreform set out to determine what the biggest city in the U.S. would look like if it could produce all the food and energy needed to power itself.

And in a city with so little available space, it’s no surprise that figuring out how to pack all that food production within the city limits proved quite a challenge.

What they developed was the New York (Steady) State project, a self-described “thought-experiment” that envisions a wholly self-sufficient New York.  In this dream scenario, the city meets the needs of its citizens by repurposing structures into food-producing towers.

Their architectural renderings reflect a New York that produces all that food within the five boroughs using a “cradle-to-cradle” system with minimal pollution. (The team assumed that New York’s 8.5 million residents each require 2,500 calories per day.)

For now, the tremendously ambitious plan remains a pipe dream. But the design firm’s president, Michael Sorkin, said it provides the city with an “encyclopedic” roadmap to a more sustainable future.

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/24/sustainable-nyc_n_4886443.html?1395675104&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

Wings, Wind and Water Inspire a Bathroom | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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When Sara Baldwin’s family built a house outside of Eastville, Virginia, in a pine forest on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, it only made sense that she would design the bathrooms. Baldwin is the owner of New Ravenna Mosaics, a leading designer and manufacturer of custom mosaic tile, and has access to all kinds of materials that can make a sublime bathroom.
To design her daughter’s bath, Baldwin found herself channeling memories of her childhood on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, where she grew up on her family’s farm. Her parents shared the land with her grandmother, Dorothy McCaleb, a woman who loved nature — especially birds. “We had swallows nesting in a birdhouse and under the eaves of our house,” Baldwin says. “In the evenings, as they zoomed around eating bugs, my grandmother and I would watch them.”

Fast-forward to the present day during the construction of Baldwin’s own house, and the designer found herself drawn to slabs of Azul Macaubas, a dramatic blue stone from Brazil. She purchased a number of slabs at a trade show and used some of them to line the back wall of her daughter’s bathroom, for reasons both practical and design-minded.
“I didn’t want the room to be too girly, and I wanted it to work for her as she grew up,” Baldwin says. “Plus, the lines of the stone reminded me of undulating wind currents in the sky.”
Functionality and aesthetics also drove her design of a one-legged mahogany vanity. “I love the way it looks,” she says. “But I also thought another leg close to the wall would be hard to clean around.”
With the sky-colored palette set and with memories of her grandmother in her head, it only made sense for Baldwin to use New Ravenna’s Flight stone mosaic in the surround encircling the tub and shower.
Bath hardware: .25 Collection, Waterworks
The tile pattern will look familiar to anyone who has watched swallows ride the wind like so many avian kites.
“Our tile is customizable, so you can pick the size, number and position of the birds,” says Baldwin. “I wanted them to look natural, like the snapshot of a flock I had in my head.”
Looking closer, you can see that the birds are also made of Azul Macaubas — which is fitting. “When you examine a bird’s feathers, there is sort of an iridescence and so many amazing blue undertones,” says Baldwin.
In a homage to the nearby waterfront, Baldwin chose tiles that have a striped effect that reminds her of boating. To coordinate with the strong blues in the room, she chose 3- by 6-inch tiles with cerulean tones and separated them with white strips of Thassos marble. Because of the dearth of soft surfaces in the room, she opted for a shower curtain over a glass door.

Is homeownership a smart investment again | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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One year ago, Trulia’s Rent vs. Buy Report, released by online real estate aggregator Trulia, found it was 44% cheaper to buy a house than to rent. Today, the gap has narrowed, due in part to rising interest rates and home prices. The newest edition of the report finds that buying a home is now 38% cheaper than renting. The report compares costs for a seven-year period using five calculations:

 

1. The average rent and sale prices for an identical set of properties;

2. The initial total monthly costs of owning (assuming 20% down and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.5% interest, as well as annual maintenance, insurance, utility, and property tax expenses) and renting (monthly rent plus renter’s insurance);

3. The future total monthly costs of owning and renting;

4. One-time costs and proceeds (for owning, this includes closing costs and capital gains tax of 15% for gains above the $500,000 annual exclusion; for renting, this includes one month’s security deposit); and

5. The net present value to account for opportunity cost of money (this compares cash flows over time).

According to the report, homeownership remains cheaper across the nation and in all of the 100 largest metro markets. However, these findings speak broadly to the national market, and there are several situations where it still makes more sense to rent. Here, we look at some of the reasons why it’s a good time to buy for many Americans, and circumstances when it might make more sense to rent.
Reasons to Buy
Peggy Jennings, a Broker/Realtor with Prudential Great Smokys Realty in Sylva, North Carolina, cites favorable interest rates, good inventory and relaxed loan requirements as good reasons to buy now. “Interest rates are still good. The inventory is improving as more people are deciding it’s time to sell. There’s going to be a lot of good inventory coming up, especially since the foreclosures from a couple years ago are now rehabbed and ready to sell,” says Jennings.

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/is-homeownership-a-smart-investment-again–215619685.html

Bullish consumers, rising home prices brighten U.S. growth picture | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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U.S. consumer confidence surged to a six-year high in March and house prices increased solidly in January, positioning the economy for stronger growth after a weather-induced soft spot.

The upbeat outlook, however, was dimmed somewhat by other data on Tuesday showing new home sales at a five-month low in February, partly because of cold temperatures.

“The economy is showing signs of shaking off the weather effect. We are going to get a big lift to second-quarter growth from the weather,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester Pennsylvania.

The Conference Board said its index of consumer attitudes rose to 82.3 from 78.3 in February. That is the highest level since January 2008, just as recession started to take hold, and it beat economists’ expectations for a reading of only 78.6.

The jump in confidence bodes well for the economy’s prospects, even though consumers were less upbeat about the labor market.

U.S. stocks and the dollar rose in response to the confidence report.

An unusually cold and snowy winter has held back the economy, disrupting activity ranging from hiring to spending and manufacturing. Growth in the first quarter is expected to have slowed considerably from the fourth-quarter’s annualized 2.4 percent pace.

Separately, the S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.8 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis. It followed a similar increase in December. Prices rose 13.2 percent from a year ago.

 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/25/us-usa-economy-idUSBREA2O10I20140325

Twelve of 20 tracked cities post drops | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. home prices slipped in January for a third straight month after a particularly harsh winter, according to data released Tuesday, as strong year-over-year appreciation showed signs of moderating.

U.S. home prices ticked down 0.1% in January, with 12 of 20 tracked cities posting drops, according to S&P/Case-Shiller’s 20-city composite index. After seasonal adjustments, home prices in January rose 0.8%. Separately, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that prices rose 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis in January. The FHFA bases its home-price gauge on information from mortgages sold or guaranteed by Fannie Mae/quotes/zigman/226360/delayed/quotes/nls/fnmaFNMA+2.63% and Freddie Mac/quotes/zigman/226335/delayed/quotes/nls/fmccFMCC+2.65% .

On a year-over-year basis, home prices rose 13.2% in January, down from 13.4% in December and a recent peak of 13.7% in November, according to the Case-Shiller data.

“The housing market is showing signs of moving forward with more normal price increases,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement.

Including January, prices remained about 20% below a 2006 peak.

 

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-decline-for-third-month-in-january-2014-03-25?siteid=yhoof2

New U.S. home sales drop 3.3% in February | Pound Ridge NY Homes

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New U.S. homes sold at an annual rate of 440,000 in February, down 3.3% from January’s one-year high, the government said Tuesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch forecast sales to total a seasonally adjusted 440,000 last month. Sales climbed 37% in the Midwest after plunging in January, while sales fell in the Northeast, South and West. The median price of new homes edged up 0.4% to $261,800 last month. The supply of new homes on the U.S. market rose to 5.2 months at the current sales pace from 5.0 months in January. New home sales are 1.1% lower compared to one year ago, reflecting weaker demand because of higher mortgage rates and home prices as well as a bitterly cold winter.

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-us-home-sales-drop-33-in-february-2014-03-25?siteid=yhoof2

 

U.S. existing home sales edge down in February | Pound Ridge Homes

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U.S. home resales dropped slightly in February to a 19 month-low as cold weather and a shortage of homes for sale continued to sideline potential buyers.

The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday home sales dropped 0.4 percent to an annual rate of 4.60 million units, the lowest level since July 2012, and in line with economists’ expectations. January’s sales pace was unrevised at 4.62 million.

Even though temperatures remained chilly in February, pinching sales, a modest improvement in inventory on the market indicates buyers are expected to jump in soon.

“The weather surely cannot get any worse,” NAR economist Lawrence Yun told reporters. “The new supply will help tame price growth.”

The median existing home price rose 9.1 percent in February to $189,000 from the same month in 2013.

Mortgage rates have risen almost a full percentage point in the past year and the increase in house prices has far outpaced income growth, making home-buying less affordable.

In addition, there has been a shortage of homes for sale on the market. Home resales have declined in six of the last seven months, having peaked in July.

The number of previously-owned homes available for sale at the end of February represented a 5.1 months’ supply, still tepid but up from 4.9 months’ worth in January. A healthy market has about a six-to-seven month supply.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-existing-home-sales-edge-140005910.html