Über-Lavish, Highly Gilded Miami Penthouse Asks $8.9M – House of the Day – Curbed National.
Über-Lavish, Highly Gilded Miami Penthouse Asks $8.9M | Armonk Homes
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Tag Archives: Armonk Homes for Sale
10 Best-Kept Secrets for Selling Your Home | Armonk NY
Ridiculous Brownstone in Brooklyn Heights Asks $16M | Armonk Real Estate
↑ We might as well end the Brooklyn Townhouse Roundup, because this completely unreal brownstone in Brooklyn Heights makes the rest of this week’s entries look like a bunch of crackhouses. Located right above the Promenade, 192 Columbia Heights—a designated landmark built in 1859—is 25′-wide with 14′ ceilings, two terraces, a landscaped backyard, and some pretty spectacular views of New York Harbor. It has three working fireplaces with period mantels, floor-to-ceiling bay windows, a walnut-and-cherry staircase, original oak parquet flooring, and walnut wainscoting. Oh, and according to The New York Times, Norman Mailer once had a “private writing aerie” on the fifth floor. It’s asking a whopping $16 million, which would set a record for single-family homes in Brooklyn Heights. Yikes yikes yikes.
North Castle Hosting Zero Waste Day | Armonk Real Estate
The Town of North Castle is showing why it is one of the most environmentally friendly towns in Westchester.
The town is hosting its 10th Zero Waste Day on Saturday, April 26 behind North Castle Town Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Residents can donate gently used items to be reused and also recycle scrap metal and electronic waste. A shredder will be on hand to shred personal papers.
Groups like the Community Center of Northern Westchester, Adopt-a-Dog, Recycle-a-Bicycle and Furniture Sharehouse.
The event used to be held twice a year, but the recycling committee decided to hold it once a year to increase participation.
“This is all for a good cause,” Linda Trummer-Napolitano, the co-chair of the North Castle Recycling Committee said. “It keeps things out of the waste stream.”
http://armonk.dailyvoice.com/news/north-castle-hosting-zero-waste-day
1 in 3 homes is unaffordable and a bubble is forming | Armonk Real Estate
More than half the homes currently on the market in seven major American metros are currently unaffordable for local residents, and one-third of homes for sale are unaffordable by historic standards.
That’s the conclusion from a Zillow (Z) analysis of income, mortgage and home value data in the fourth quarter of 2013, which puts to question the regular industry claim that housing is more affordable than ever because of the current price and interest rate levels coming out of the housing crash.
“As affordability worsens, we’re already beginning to see more of the kinds of worrisome trends we saw en masse during the years leading up to the housing crash. These include a greater reliance on non-traditional home financing, smaller down payments and a greater pressure to move further away from urban job centers in order to find affordable housing options,” said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. “We’re not in a bubble yet, but we’re beginning to see the early signs of one in some areas.”
Homebuyers increasingly have to search on the perimeter of the country’s largest metro markets, as downtown properties become out of reach for buyers of typical means, the report found.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29553-in-3-homes-is-unaffordable-and-a-bubble-is-forming
Fieldstone Divides and Connects a Wisconsin Home | Armonk NY Homes
Housing Prices: Up Or Down? How To Understand Today’s Case-Shiller Data | Armonk Real Estate
Today S&P/Case-Shiller released its monthly housing data report, the leading measure of home prices across the nation. Immediately, reporters posted dozens of stories about January’s numbers–with oddly contradictory headlines.
“US home prices rise in January: S&P/Case-Shiller”, Reuters proclaimed. “Home prices decline for third month in January,” the Wall Street Journal‘s MarketWatch blog wrote. “Case-Shiller sees housing market cooling ever so slightly,” the Los Angeles Times proclaimed.
Which is it? Well, depending which numbers you look at, the answer is both–and all three. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices track home prices across the nation, looking at the data a number of ways. The driver behind the conflicting headlines is whether the reporter is using non-seasonally adjusted numbers (the raw data from that month) or seasonally adjusted (with seasonal peaks and valleys smoothed out).
It turns out that in January, housing prices (not seasonally adjusted) across 20 major American metros collectively dipped by one tenth of 1% compared to the prior month. In both December and November, that was also true: home prices dipped by 0.1% compared to the prior months then as well. Time for hand-wringing.
30-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates Spike Eight Basis Points | Armonk Real Estate
Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages rose last week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace at 4.27 percent, up from 4.19 percent at this same time last week.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate surged early last week, peaking at 4.33 percent on Thursday before dropping down near 4.28 percent, where rates hovered for the remainder of the week.
“Last week, rates surged after the Federal Reserve suggested it might increase the Federal Funds Rate sooner and more significantly than expected, surprising many market observers who look to this rate for guidance on where mortgage rates are headed,” said Erin Lantz, vice president of mortgages at Zillow. “This week, we expect rates will inch up further on the momentum of last week’s direction from the Fed and expectations of positive news from economic data scheduled for release.”
Additionally, the 15-year fixed mortgage rate this morning was 3.22 percent and for 5/1 ARMs, the rate was 2.87 percent.
What are the interest rates right now? Check Zillow Mortgage Marketplace for mortgage rate trends and up-to-the-minute mortgage rates for your state.
http://homes.yahoo.com/news/30-fixed-mortgage-rates-spike-eight-basis-points-181437722.html
Recovery Means You Need to Look at Local Real Estate Markets Again | Armonk NY Homes
Everyone knows rising home prices make it a sellers’ market. Sellers can afford to hold out for top dollar because buyers are rushing to beat higher prices.
Well, not exactly. Zillow.com, the home listing and data firm, has a more refined way of looking at it, defining a sellers’ market as “not necessarily one where home values are rising, but rather one in which homes are on the market for a shorter time, price cuts occur less frequently and homes are sold at prices very close to (or greater than) their last listing price.”
The buyers’ market is, as you’d expect, the opposite: “Homes for sale stay on the market longer, price cuts occur more frequently and homes are sold for less relative to their listing price.
Prices may indeed be rising quickly in sellers’ markets and falling in buyers’ markets, but price change alone is not the key factor.
So whether you are a buyer or seller, with a little sleuthing you can figure out who has the negotiating edge. Lots of this data are under Zillow’s Local Info button.
Zillow’s approach makes for some intriguing conclusions about conditions as the spring selling season gets rolling. The West Coast is a seller’s market, while the Midwest and East Coast favor buyers. In the recent post-crisis years, the whole country tended to move in the same direction, but now, in a return to more typical behavior, local variations are reasserting themselves, Zillow says.
The hottest sellers’ markets: San Jose, Calif., and San Francisco; San Antonio, Texas; and Los Angeles. The hottest for buyers: Cleveland, Ohio; Philadelphia; Tampa, Fla.; and Chicago.
Borrowing again: Mortgage debt increases most in 6 years | Armonk Homes
First mortgages increased 2.8% from the same period a year ago, marking the largest year-over-year increase since September of 2008, according to the most recent Equifax national consumer credit trends report.
The total balance of first mortgages now sits at $7.97 trillion — the highest since December 2011.
Currently, delinquent first mortgages, those 30 or more days past due, represent 5.65% of the outstanding balances, dropping more than 22% from the same time last year.
In addition, the total balance of first mortgages 90-days past due or in foreclosure is less than $27- billion: a six-year low and a decrease of nearly 27% from the same time a year ago.
“The decline in mortgage balances from accelerated amortization and foreclosure write-offs has finally been overcome by increases in mortgage debt due to home purchase lending,” said Amy Crews Cutts, Equifax chief economist.
“This trend should gain additional momentum as we head into the spring and summer home buying seasons, which increases the volume of new loans coming in, while at the same time rising home values and improving employment conditions should push down the incidence of mortgage defaults,” Cutts continued.
Meanwhile, the report also found that the total balance of home finance write-offs year-to-date in February is $17.9 billion, 41% lower than the same time a year ago, and the total balance of home finance write-off dollars in 2013 was $149 billion, a decrease of more than 30% from 2012.
For the first time in four years, the total balance of home finance debt, which hit $8.58 trillion and includes first mortgage and home equity, increased year-over-year for three consecutive months.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29409-borrowing-again-mortgage-debt-increases-most-in-6-years