Tag Archives: Bedford Corners NY Luxury Homes

Economists and Experts Expect 2014 Price Increases to Average 4.4 Percent | Bedford Corners Real Estate

More than 100 housing economists and experts participating in a quarterly survey expect nationwide home values to appreciate 4.4 percent through the end of this year. The most optimistic group of panelists predicted a 5.8 percent annual increase in home values this year, on average, while the most pessimistic predicted an average increase of 3.2 percent.

.Panelists said they expect home value appreciation to slow to 3.8 percent by the end of 2015, on average, and to 3.4 percent through 2016. During the pre-bubble years from 1987 to 1999, home values grew at 3.6 percent per year.

On average, panelists said they expected U.S. median home values to exceed their pre-recession peaks by Q1 2018. The most optimistic panelists predicted home values would rise roughly 12.6 percent above their 2007 peaks by the end of 2018, on average, while the most pessimistic said they expected home values to remain about 5.9 percent below 2007 peaks.

The second quarter findings represented a slight decline from the first quarter survey, when the expert consensus called for a 4.5 percent price increase in 2014.

“After narrowing over the past year, in this quarter, the spread between the forecasts of the most optimistic and pessimistic groups not only expanded, but widened by a degree we have not seen in the four-year history of this survey,” said Terry Loebs, Founder of Pulsenomics. “These data are consistent with a growing uncertainty about how and when conditions in U.S. housing markets will normalize. Time will tell whether Washington’s unfolding plan to expand mortgage credit will have a durable, positive impact on home values, housing confidence, and market expectations.”

Experts were split on the root causes of mounting housing affordability concerns in several large housing markets nationwide. Panelists were asked to identify the primary cause of declining affordability from a list of five choices. Responses that gained the largest support among those with an opinion were stagnant income growth (28 percent), abnormally high rates of home price and rent appreciation (27 percent) and an abnormally low supply of homes currently available for sale or rent (21 percent). Many also pointed to a generally insufficient number of homes (13 percent) and tight credit (11 percent).

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2014/05/economists-and-experts-expect-2014-price-increases-to-average-4-4-percent/

Here’s a Circa-1940 Peek Inside Huguette Clark’s Mansions | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Photo via the book Empty Mansions

Snagged from the pages of Empty Mansions, a book all about the many old money homes of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark, are these incredible photos of the interiors of Bellosguardo, the family’s estate in Santa Barbara, and, above, the old Clark Mansion on Fifth Avenue. In their NYC palace, the dining room boasted 167 vertical panels carved from a single piece of black oak. The ceilings, according to the Huffington Post, were laced with gargoyles and classical figures. Since her death in 2011, the 17,000-square-foot mansion has been sold off in piecemeal slivers.

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/05/16/welcome-back-to-monochromes-a.php

Top Shanghai real estate agents downsize as sales slowdown takes a toll | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Shanghai’s top real estate agent has been forced to downsize, hurt in part by a delay in commission payments from property developers in a market facing increasing liquidity pressure and a slowdown in sales.

Hong Kong-based Centaline Property, which has around 470 branches in Shanghai, told Reuters it has imposed a hiring feeze in the commercial capital and has been reviewing leases at some of its branches since the fourth quarter of last year.

“For agents and shops that can’t meet quotas, we would let staff go through natual attrition and stop renting,” said Clement Luk, Centaline’s chief executive of east China.

“April’s transactions in Shanghai were around 20 percent lower than March; looking at the momentum now, April may not be the bottom yet, May and June could still be on a downtrend.”

Another leading agent in Shanghai, Dooioo Real Estate, said it was also cutting staff, although it still planned to increase its number of branches in the city to 250 by the end of the year from 206 now.

Chinese media reported on Monday that the two real estate agents were cutting staff by 5 to 10 percent, citing internal sources. Dooioo said its staff cuts would be less than that figure, while Centaline said only it was letting staff go.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/china-economy-property-layoffs-idUSL3N0NY3VD20140513

Look at the Lost Landmarks of This 1934 Map of the Village | Bedford Corners NY Homes

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Tony Sarg, a German American puppet master from the 1920s and ’30s, is known primarily for two things: popularizing old-world marionette techniques in the United States (he has been called “the father of modern puppetry in North America”) and inventing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade floats. But in addition to all that, Sarg was a well-known illustrator, and one of his works, a whimsical map of Greenwich Village from 1934, appears in a new book from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Of course, out of the places on this map there isn’t much left to preserve, but it’s still plenty fun to look at. And you could compare it to another historic map of the Village from 1961, to see just how quickly things changed back then. You could also compare it to a less-fun -but-probably-more-accurate 1926 map from printer Lew Ney (pointed out by an Ephemeral New York commenter).

Miami mansion once owned by drug lord Escobar garners nearly $10 million | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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A Miami businessman on Thursday purchased a waterfront mansion once owned by Colombian cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar and said he plans to raze the coral pink house that federal officials seized in the late 1980s.

Christian Berdouare, the owner of a chain of casual Miami restaurants, paid $9.65 million for the 7,300-square-foot (680- square-meter) home in an affluent Miami Beach neighborhood, saying the location was its main attraction, not its history.

“If anything it’s a negative,” he said, referring to the property’s link to Escobar. “I don’t particularly like drug dealers and I don’t want to have their energy close to me.”

U.S. marshals seized the property in 1987 along with nearly $20 million of the Medellín Cartel’s Florida real estate assets.

Also included in the seizure was a 45-unit apartment complex, a three-bedroom condominium near a high-end Miami mall, a horse ranch in central Florida and a 240-unit rental complex near Fort Lauderdale then worth $9.6 million.

Miami attorney Roger Schindler bought the mansion from the U.S. government in 1990 for $915,000.

Escobar, along with members of the Ochoa family who sat atop the cartel, were among the world’s most wanted drug traffickers in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Escobar was gunned down in 1993 in Colombia with the help of U.S. counter-narcotics agents.

It is unclear if Escobar ever visited the Miami Beach home.

“According to neighbors and real estate agents he was definitely there,” said Mirce Curkoski with ONE Sotheby’s Realty who represented Berdouare in the sale.

What younger first-time homebuyers want | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Is the next generation a bunch of rootless renters, or will they too follow the patterns of previous generations?

Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group sought to better understand what housing choices younger renters prefer – and what financial constraints they see – in order to shed light on the challenge of fulfilling housing aspirations in a financially sustainable way.

The team noted that potential first-time homebuyers face credit standards that have risen since the housing crisis. Overall, the total number of renter households has been increasing since the housing crisis, as the number of owner households has decreased. Still, analysis of data from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey shows that most younger renters prefer owning both for lifestyle and financial reasons.

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29922-what-younger-first-time-homebuyers-want

Shirley MacLaine’s $18M New Age Refuge Offers ‘Inner Peace’ | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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After 20 years nestled among the mountains in Abiquiú, N.M., Shirley MacLaine is selling her 7,450-acre Plaza Blanca Ranch retreat. Despite the fact that the psychics she consulted (as one does) told her to aim for $30M, the Terms of Endearment star listed the place for “a more complete” $18M for spiritual reasons, which is rather fitting considering the massive ranch is set in what MacLaine calls “the New Age capital of the country.” The property centers around a 9,000-square-foot, nine-bedrooms main house with an indoor spa and a massive, sunny greenhouse—all equipped with solar panels. Underneath the home, there’s an additional apartment modeled after underground Native American rooms used for spiritual ceremonies. There estate also offers a caretaker’s cottage, a horse barn, a “yurt,” a swimming pool, a wind generator, and, of course, tons of secluded desert land that, according to MacLaine, provides “inner peace” and “a refuge from a very confused and conflicted world.” Take a healing look, below:

http://curbed.com/archives/2014/04/29/shirley-maclaines-18m-new-age-refuge-promises-inner-peace.php

Old things have a history and beauty all their own | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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All of the best things are not necessarily shiny and new — think of the gorgeous patina on an antique chest, the gleam of old silver and the complex flavor of a really special aged bottle of wine. So why does it seem like we’ve been trending toward disposable furniture and away from well-made old stuff? It may be easy to fill a home quickly with goods from a chain store, but we may be missing out on some pretty spectacular benefits by going all-new. Here are five reasons to consider adding vintage pieces, antiques and good old hand-me-downs to your home, and to appreciate the old stuff you already have.

Laura Garner

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1. Old things are unique and make your home more personal. Yes, those glossy catalogs are gorgeous, and designed and styled to entice us and your neighbors and friends, too — meaning that many of our homes end up looking strikingly similar simply because we have ordered furniture and accessories from the same places. But when you hunt down something in an antiques store or at a flea market, chances are you won’t see the same thing in your friend’s home. Working old stuff into your rooms also forces you to get more creative, coming up with interesting ways of putting things together you never would have considered if you were shopping solely at one or two stores.

Duffy Design Group

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Style tip: Rethink heirlooms. This table from a Paris flea market is so interesting — and it may very well be that your children or grandchildren will covet it more than a traditional box of fancy china. And regardless of whether you have kids, wouldn’t it be nice to own things that are bound to keep or increase their value?

Sarah Greenman

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2. They preserve a slice of history. Whether what you have is a valuable antique or a fun vintage find, old stuff is bound to be wrapped up in a story. It could be the personal story of how you found the piece (wandering the aisles of a seaside flea market), a family tale about the person who gave it to you (your great-aunt who used to haul the brass bed outdoors on hot summer nights), or a larger historical story about the era when it was made (a creamer used on an old steamship during the golden age of travel).

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/26469738?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u494&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery1

Building a Fire Pit | Bedford Corners Homes

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You could just build a fire somewhere, then put it out when you’re done. Or you could buy one of those metal basins at a place like Williams-Sonoma. But by actually digging into the dirt and constructing a pit whose sole purpose is to contain a campfire — by permanently incorporating it into the tiny speck on the earth that belongs to you — you are making a commitment. A commitment to your family, a commitment to your friends, and a commitment to having fun.

1. Decide whether or not to check if local laws permit the building of a fire pit in your yard.

2. Pick a location. Not under a tree. Some corner of the yard where you envision friends sitting around reminiscing about old times with love and friendship, plus old jealousies bubbling just beneath the surface.

3. Measure the hole. The diameter should be four feet or five feet. Make an X, with the axis at the center of what will be your fire pit. Use string to mark a circle on the grass around your X. Measure all of these with a tape measure or your feet, which are probably about a foot long if you have big feet.

4. Dig the hole. It should be about ten inches deep, with the sides gently angled out, like a bowl with a flat bottom.

Realtor.com developing successor to AgentMatch search tool | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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AgentMatch — the agent search tool from realtor.com that ranked agents by their multiple listing service transaction stats before trials in two test markets were suspended last year — will soon have a successor.

The new version of the consumer tool will still have agent transaction history data, including active listings, but will not include some of the most controversial components of the original AgentMatch site, like average days on market or list-to-sale-price ratio, according to Ernie Graham, who led the development of AgentMatch as realtor.com’s senior director of product management.

The new version will have five pillars, Graham told Realtor Magazine: Experience: including transaction history, but not list-price-to-sale-price ratio or average days on market. Expertise: Realtor certifications and designations, types of properties often sold, blogs or social networks that demonstrate specific knowledge, and showing activity in an area.

Personal connections: reveal consumers’ social media connections to agents, bios and recommendations from clients. Brand: brokerage info and whether the agent is part of a team. Responsiveness: details average response time to consumer inquiries.

“We want to [create] rich agent profiles and let consumers choose what is most important to them,” Graham said.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2014/04/16/realtor-com-developing-successor-to-agentmatch-search-tool/?utm_source=20140416&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinespm#sthash.WYZLwtoV.dpuf

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Tag Archives: Bedford Corners NY Luxury Homes

Economists and Experts Expect 2014 Price Increases to Average 4.4 Percent | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Here’s a Circa-1940 Peek Inside Huguette Clark’s Mansions | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Top Shanghai real estate agents downsize as sales slowdown takes a toll | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Look at the Lost Landmarks of This 1934 Map of the Village | Bedford Corners NY Homes

Miami mansion once owned by drug lord Escobar garners nearly $10 million | Bedford Corners Real Estate

What younger first-time homebuyers want | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Shirley MacLaine’s $18M New Age Refuge Offers ‘Inner Peace’ | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Old things have a history and beauty all their own | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Building a Fire Pit | Bedford Corners Homes

Realtor.com developing successor to AgentMatch search tool | Bedford Corners Real Estate