Tag Archives: Bedford Corners Real Estate

Bedford Corners Real Estate

Home prices surging in Massachusetts; open houses mobbed | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Tom and Sarah Kotowski got all the turnout they could have hoped for at their open house.

Close to 100 people showed up last Sunday to take a look at their three-bedroom Cape listed for $299,900 on a quiet East Weymouth cul-de-sac. Four made offers. By Tuesday, the couple had an agreement.

“For a seller, it’s excellent right now,” Sarah Kotowski said. “Inventory is flying.”

But as the couple looks for a home closer to Tom’s workplace west of Boston, they face the same dynamic.

“I can’t tell you how many open houses we go to and then the next day they’re gone (off the market),” Sarah said.

The strong seller’s market that has emerged this spring is a double-edged sword for families like the Kotowskis, whose house was on the market for less than a week.

Home prices are rising across Massachusetts this spring in a reflection of demand that is outstripping supply. There are fewer than 20,000 single-family homes on the market, down 30 percent from

via patriotledger.com

Homeownership Makes Most Americans Poorer | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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From 2009 to 2011, the mean net worth of the top 7 percent of American households rose by 28 percent, while the mean net worth of households in the lower 93 percent dropped by 4 percent, largely because wealthy Americans have the bulk of their holdings in stocks and bonds while most Americans rely heavily on home equity for their personal wealth.

According to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly released Census Bureau data, from 2009 to 2011, the mean wealth of the 8 million households in the more affluent group rose to an estimated $3,173,895 from an estimated $2,476,244, while the mean wealth of the 111 million households in the less affluent group fell to an estimated $133,817 from an estimated $139,896.

Because of these differences, wealth inequality increased during the first two years of the recovery. The upper 7 percent of households saw their aggregate share of the nation’s overall household wealth pie rise to 63 percent in 2011, up from 56% in 2009. On an individual household basis, the mean wealth of households in this more affluent group was almost 24 times that of those in the less affluent group in 2011. At the start of the recovery in 2009, that ratio had been less than 18-to-1.

During the period of the study, the S&P 500 rose by 34 percent (and has since risen by an additional 26 percent), while the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index fell by 5 percent, continuing a steep slide that began with the crash of the housing market in 2006.  Housing prices have slowly started to rebound in the past year but remain 29 percent below their 2006 peak.

via realestateeconomywatch.com

Housing market on the rise | Bedford Corners NY Homes

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For several years, people in Kokomo and Howard County have been hesitant about purchasing or building a home. Foreclosures flooded the market as the recession hit hard, and the real estate market collapsed.

That’s old news. The Indiana Association of Realtors recently announced that the local housing market is on the mend. In fact, housing prices are up about 16 percent from a year ago. The median price of a home sold in February was $65,500.

The news was welcomed by Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight.

“The home sales gain is positive news for home sellers and buyers who are in the market during a period of historically low interest rates,” said Goodnight. “The recent census data identifying Kokomo and Howard County as gaining 119 new residents, business expansions, and this real estate market report are evidence of a growing local economy.”

According to Amy Pate, executive vice president of the Realtors Association of Central Indiana, there are a number of reasons why this recovery is taking place, but the top reason is also the most obvious one — jobs.

“Overall, the increase in meaningful jobs in our community has more to do with it than anything else,” said Pate. “That, paired with the fact that there is a decrease in inventory and the number of foreclosures are going down, means it is a little less of a buyer’s market than it has been.”

Pate explained that there are certain home price ranges or niches that are so lean on inventory that offers are being made just days after a home hits the market. For sellers in that range, the recovery is paying off immediately. However, it will take time, she said, before appraisals reflect the full impact of the recovery.

In other words, prices are bound to go higher. But even with the increase, Kokomo is a still a bargain.

“In Kokomo, the price increase is relative,” said Pate. “Compared to the rest of the U.S., we’re still an extremely affordable area. Interest rates are still excellent, so the key is what your financial condition is, coming out of the last few years.”

via kokomoperspective.com

Construction job growth hits 7-year high | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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While today’s job’s report was disappointing on nearly all fronts, there was one bright spot that shone through the dismal numbers: sustained construction-job growth.

“The solid increase in construction employment in March, which brought the average monthly gain during the first quarter to 30,000 jobs, the biggest in seven years, supports the view that the housing recovery will continue to march on despite headwinds from fiscal drags,” said Fannie Mae Chief Economist Doug Duncan in a statement. 

Indeed, the economy continues to add construction jobs at a fast clip. At 3.8 percent year over year in March, the growth rate of residential-construction jobs towers over the overall jobs growth rate of 1.4 percent. In the last two years construction has added 317,000 jobs to the economy, with over half of that increase occurring in the last six months, the White House said in a statement on the jobs report. 

Even still, the rate of construction job growth lags far behind growth in actual home construction — which was a whopping 28 percent year over year in February, according to the Census Bureau. Today, Trulia economist Jed Kolko offered an explanation for why this is:

“A key reason for this seemingly slow rebound in construction jobs is that construction activity (in units or dollar value) fell much more than employment did after the housing bubble burst. Economists point to “labor hoarding”: firms often hold on to more workers than they need in temporary downturns if the cost of firing, rehiring, and retraining is high relative to keeping them on,” Kolko wrote in a blog post. “That means jobs declined less than construction activity during the bust and are therefore now rebounding less.”

The number of construction jobs for every housing unit actually appears bloated, Kolko found. In February, there were about 3.7 jobs per unit, up 40 percent from a February 2001 level of 2.6 per unit, he said. 

via inman.com

Bob Vila’s 5 ‘Must Do’ Tasks for April | Bedford Corners NY Real Estate

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Spring is officially underway, and while our focus has swung toward outdoor projects, it’s not all daffodils and sunny skies for homeowners this season.

Avoid basement flooding

The past couple of years — certainly last November with Hurricane Sandy — we’ve seen that in order to undergo serious storm damage, a house does not necessarily have to be located in a flood zone. This spring, water issues are top of mind for many homeowners discovering leaks that developed over the winter. Snowmelt, in combination with seasonal rain showers, can result in overwhelmed culverts, backed-up sewers and flooded basements.

Of course, there’s little you can do about the weather, but you can take some steps to ensure your basement or crawl space remains dry. Having cleared your gutters of debris, position downspouts away from the house and foundation. The goal is to drain storm water at least 3 feet away, so consider running extensions or troughs. If you have below-grade basement windows, install window well covers made of a strong acrylic that will fasten securely to your home’s foundation.

Inspect the exterior foundation and your basement’s walls and floors. Use epoxy to fill any foundation cracks and if warning signs are detected, apply masonry sealer to basement walls. If the problem appears more serious, call in a professional.

If you haven’t had your sewer inspected or your septic tank cleaned, April is a good month to address those concerns. And if you’re operating a sump pump, be certain it’s free of blockage, correctly positioned and connected to a power source. Since a sump pump won’t run if your electricity goes out, a generator may be a long-term investment worth considering.

via zillowblog.com

Lending data reveals no debt crisis | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Home mortgage debt fell to $9.4 trillion at the end of 2012, down from a record of $10.6 trillion in 2008, Bloomberg reported in an article.

According to data from the Federal Reserve, the amount U.S. households have in bank deposits, savings bonds, fixed-income mutual-funds and municipal securities increased $500 billion last year, totaling the most since 2007.

The significant decrease in mortgage debt reflects foreclosures, lower property prices and tighter credit, the article says. Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers froze financial markets in 2008, consumers have pulled back on taking out home loans.

Instead, people funneled $1.04 trillion into Treasuries last year, opposed to only $648 billion in 2011, the article reports.

via housingwire.com

Experts See Soaring Home Values Busting the Bubble | Bedford Corners NY Homes

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A nationwide panel of 118 economists, real estate experts and investment and market professionals expects home values to end 2013 up an average of 4.6 percent and rise cumulatively by 22 percent, on average, over the next five years, according to the first quarter Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey.

Survey respondents predicted home values will rise another 4.2 percent on average in 2014, before moderating somewhat to annual appreciation rates between 3.6 percent and 3.8 percent for 2015, 2016 and 2017. On average, panelists predicted home values to rise 4.1 percent annually from 2013 through 2017, exceeding the pre-housing bubble (1987-1999) average annual appreciation rate of 3.6 percent.

This is the first time the predicted average annual growth rate for the next five years has surpassed pre-bubble levels since the survey’s inception three years ago. “The panel is quite bullish on home prices near-term, considering a pre-bubble average appreciation rate of 3.6 percent per year,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “That said, their expectations are a bit shy of the home value gains of 5.5 percent that we saw in 2012, implying some moderation in the pace of gains. The panel expectations are consistent with continued strong home value growth this year fueled by tighter-than-normal inventory of for-sale homes and robust demand attributable to high affordability and a stronger general economy.”

The most optimistic quartile of panelists predicted a 6.1 percent increase in home values in 2013, on average, while the most pessimistic predicted an average increase of 3 percent. Through 2017, panelists predicted cumulative home value changes of 22 percent, on average. Expectations for cumulative home value change projections ranged from 34.2 percent among the most optimistic quartile to 11.7 percent among the most pessimistic, on average.

The first quarter 2013 Zillow Home Price Expectations Survey asked the panel to indicate their view of a reasonable timeframe for “winding-down” government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The majority of panelists (59 percent) indicated that a reasonable and appropriate timeframe for winding-down the GSEs is within the next five years. On the opposite ends of the spectrum, 13 percent suggested a timeframe within the next two years, and 10 percent said they believe a period of more than 10 years is sensible.

via realestateeconomywatch.com