Tag Archives: Armonk NY

Armonk NY

Generation Y values amenities over square footage | Armonk NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

Generation Y, those of us between the ages of 20 to 34, are playing a large role in the multifamily market and reshaping how it will look moving forward.

“Clearly Gen-Y is having a huge impact on the real estate community. What’s really significant is that real estate developers and the whole community are studying demographics and incorporating it in strategic plans. We didn’t have much of this in the past,” Stan Ross, Chairman of the Board of the University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate, told HousingWire.  “The key thing here is that they’re using it in an analytical way to build their plans as to where and what they develop.”

This generation graduated college and was immediately thrown in a struggling economy with very few jobs. Because of this, many in this group either were forced to move home or live with multiple roommates in order to afford their housing.

Ross says that many in Gen-Y are often surprised when they find out how much a mortgage costs and what an adequate down payment is in order to buy a home.

Analysts at the Lusk Center say that once this group does move into their own place, which is typically a rental at first, the biggest appeal are affordability, on-site amenities, nearby retail and restaurants. Greater square-footage now gives way to easy transit for this generation. “As a developer doing my strategies, I’ve got to really reevaluate the location,” Ross said.

One developer, AMF Development, is taking this into consideration with its first in a series of complexes that caters directly to Gen-Y. Elevé Skydeck & Loft, which will be located in Glendale, Calif., will be a 208-unit multifamily complex expected to open in the early spring of 2013.

“This concept is designed specifically to appeal to young professionals who would rather live in a smaller, yet well designed apartment set in a vibrant, hip and social community,” said Alan Dibartolomeo, chief development officer of AMFD. “Given the pent up demand for this type of housing in Glendale as well as many other urban areas, the timing is right.”

AMF Development, who holds 22 years of history building large multifamily projects, decided to develop this complex based partly on a research project completed for AMFD by The Futures Company. The project revealed that 62% of respondents would prefer to live in a smaller living space alone, than in a larger space with a roommate, even if that meant spending more money.

Elevé will be located within a quarter-mile of more urban amenities than any comparable project outside of New York City, said Greg Parker, CEO of the development company.

“There are 108 restaurants, 161 clothing and accessory stores– both local and national chains, the main public library, 12 churches and two weekly farmers markets all within walking distance,” Parker said.

Those looking to rent in this complex will need to be willing to give up apartment space in lieu of amenities. The Elevé apartments themselves are space efficient, coming in under 400 square feet. This includes a full kitchen, bath, living room and bedroom.

“They’re able to spend less of their total income on the unit and still be in an urban area where they prefer to be,” Dibartolomeo said of potential renters.

Dibartolomeo added that socialization on-site is important to AMF, so a 26,000-square-foot roof level deck called the “Sky Deck” will be included in the development. This space will be designed with semi-private cabanas, a media center, grills, fire pits and a separate deck with hot and cold spas and a fenced dog park.

via housingwire.com

North Castle Approves Town Budget – Cuts Spending | Armonk NY Realtor

Leave a reply

from the Town Supervisor:

On December 12th the North Castle Town Board approved our 2013 Town Budget. Despite a very challenging economic environment, North Castle has approved a budget of $28,901,328 – well below the NY State 2% tax cap and $250,000 less in overall expenses than the 2012 budget. We were able to achieve an overall 1% reduction in expenses notwithstanding the fact that employee pension and health care contributions alone increased $659,517 over 2012 levels.

What does this mean for you? The budgeted tax rate is $155.57 per $1000 in assessed value or a 2.22% increase from 2012. For the owner of a home in North Castle priced at the median market value (approximately $900,000) this represents an increase in your town taxes of $63.86. We believe this to be among the smallest if not the smallest tax increase of any town in Westchester.

I am particularly gratified that we ended the year with a budget surplus of $800,000. These savings will go first towards much-needed infrastructure projects – road repairs, building repairs, a new generator…projects put off in previous years. Second, we will look to rebuild our fund balance, the goal being to restore the Town’s credit rating which was downgraded in 2009 from Aaa to Aa1.

The 2012 surplus did not happen by accident. As I promised, I have managed North Castle like a business. This included bidding out all contracts, holding the line on hiring, passing an employee Compensation and Benefits Manual, reducing departmental costs and initiating financial best business practices. One of my major goals has been to increase our real estate values by restoring North Castle’s property tax advantage over other Westchester Towns. We made good progress this year and I am optimistic about 2013.

I want to thank all our dedicated Town employees. They are truly doing more with less. We should all applaud their efforts.

Thank you all for your support in 2012 and I wish you and your families a healthy and peaceful holiday season.

Sincerely,

Howard B. Arden

via trulia.com

Armonk 2012 Sales up 31% | Median Price down 17% | RobReportBlog

Leave a reply
Armonk NY Sales
2012 2011
92Sales700.31UP
$862,500.00Median Price$1,050,000.000.17DOWN
$150,000.00Low Price$325,000.00
$9,300,000.00High Price$2,950,000.00
3668Ave. Size3809
$328.00Ave. Price/foot$310.00
207Ave. DOM209
0.9372Ave. Sold/Ask0.9378
$1,264,648.00Ave. Sold Price$1,184,917.00
via trulia.com

2012 Prices End With a Whimper | Armonk NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

As the year draws to a close, the median asking price for listings has fallen to just 2.6 percent above the level of a year ago, significantly below the year-over-year high for the year of 3.8 percent recorded in April on the housetracker.net database.

The national median list price fell to $223,492 as of December 24, down 2.4 percent from a month earlier.  The national media price was down 3.3 percent from the year’s high in April.  List prices on houstracker.net are not seasonally adjusted.

The decline listing prices will likely be reflected in other indices when they are released.  Year-over-year prices reached 4.3 percent in the October S&P Case Shiller 20-City Composite, the most recent report available.  Sellers’ asking prices recorded on the MLS listings used by the housingtracker database are generally higher than final sales prices used by Case-Shiller.

Though slightly higher than last year, this year’s prices are far below the peak reached during the housing boom.  The median asking price on housetracker.net for homes in the US peaked in June 2006 at $319,459 and is currently $93,817 lower, a peak-to-current decline of 29.4 percent.  From a low of $211,844 in January 2011, the median asking price in the US has increased by $13,796, or 6.5 percent, in nearly two years.

While price increases in 2012 were not dramatic, inventory shortages were.  Since this time last year, the national inventory of homes for sale has decreased by 23.6 percent and it has decreased 6.6 in the past month.  Housing inventory, which is typically highest in the spring/summer and lowest in the fall/winter, peaked at 1,560,162 in October 2007. The lowest housing inventory level seen was 695,660 in December 2012.

via realestateeconomywatch.com

Sarasota judge finds U.S. Bank found in contempt over foreclosure case | Armonk Homes

Leave a reply

Attorneys for Dimitri Jansen, a local schoolteacher whose former home in North Port is in foreclosure, said such the contempt order against Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank, is “unprecedented.”

Jansen says his mother’s name was mistakenly added to the mortgage he obtained in 2006, that the bank has ignored requests to remove her name from the foreclosure documents and thus wrecked her credit history, and that the bank held up a pending short sale.

Another Sarasota judge, apparently frustrated with U.S. Bank, had ordered the bank’s president to be present in court on Friday. The bank instead sent a senior representative, who declined to comment.

Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Charles Williams found the bank in indirect civil contempt. It is unclear what, if any, sanctions the bank will face at the next court hearing in February 2013.

“Fundamentally, they refused to respect the court,” Jansen’s attorney, Matt Weidner, said of U.S. Bank. “What this shows is willful negligence.”

Like many other foreclosure cases throughout the country, Jansen’s is a tale of paperwork mistakes.

In addition to his regular mortgage, Jansen applied for an additional $10,000 loan that is designed to be forgiven if the homeowner stays in the house for 30 years, through a special state program for teachers. BB&T, the original lender, told him he had to have a co-signer on that loan.

The bank reversed course a couple of months later, saying they were mistaken about the need for a co-signer and that Jansen’s mother was not eligible to sign anyway because she was not going to be living in the home. Jansen signed new mortgage paperwork and the loan was later sold to U.S. Bank.

The home went into foreclosure in 2007 after Jansen was laid off. Jansen believes that when the mortgage was sold, the old paperwork with his mother’s name on it went into the file, resulting in confusion.

After two years of fighting, U.S. Bank agreed in 2009 to a court order to remove Jansen’s mother’s name from the documents.

Jansen negotiated a short sale for the home in August, but when he contacted the bank, he was told his mother was still on the mortgage documents and she would have to sign off on the sale. The requirement from the bank has held up the short sale, Jansen said, and the family that is waiting to move in.

He will also have to pay taxes on the property if the sale does not go through before the end of the year.

Jansen said the case has been hard on his elderly mother, and they have had difficulty getting credit agencies to remove the blemish from her record. He was not surprised the president of U.S. Bank did not appear in court on Friday.

“That’s really the attitude that they’ve conveyed throughout the last five years, that they’re not responsible for anything,” Jansen said of the bank.

In court documents, the bank argued that it would be “logistically impossible” for the president to appear in court.

Jansen’s attorneys called the judge’s decision a victory for homeowners in foreclosure who have been victimized by banks.

“It’s unusual for a court to hold an institution in civil contempt,” said Elizabeth Boyle, an attorney with Gulfcoast Legal Services. “But it’s appropriate in this case because of the lawless actions of the bank.”

via heraldtribune.com

Homeownership Seen Threatening New Apartment Construction | Armonk NY Real Estate

Leave a reply

Record housing starts, bolstered by multifamily construction, is a sign that demand may not keep up with capacity and strengthening homeownership will threatening the boom in multifamily construction, according to one of the nation’s leading ratings services.

U.S. home building climbed to the highest level in 19 months during November and last month increased 9.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 from October, the Commerce Department said yesterday. The results were better than forecast. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected housing starts would rise by 0.3% to an annual rate of 630,000.

The increase with most of the increase in housing starts coming from multifamily construction in November was driven by a 25.3 percent increase in multi-family homes with at least two units, a volatile part of the market. Construction of single-family homes, which made up about 65 percent of the market, rose only 2.3 percent.

But the Commerce Department data confirmed Fitch Rating’s expectation that the housing market continues to gain traction, increasing the likelihood of moderating multifamily demand growth. Housing permits, a proxy for future construction, were up 27 percent and 4 percent higher on a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter basis, respectively, for November 2012.

In a report issued last week (”U.S. Equity REITs: The Key Issues for Multifamily”), Fitch estimated that 80 percent of the growth in demand for multifamily properties from 2009-2011 was attributable to the decline in the home ownership rate. Looking forward, Fitch expects decreasing rental affordability and the increasing relative/absolute attractiveness of home ownership will cause multifamily demand and operating fundamentals to more closely track economic growth. Today’s data supports Fitch’s expectation that a recovery in housing is underway.

via realestateeconomywatch.com