A fluke? Housing prices dip in St. Louis area | Bedford NY Homes
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Tag Archives: Bedford NY Homes
Westchester Taxpayers Still Footing Bill For I-287 Repairs | Bedford NY Real Estate
New York State’s massive reconstruction of I-287 in Westchester may have been completed in August, but the price tag associated with the work continues to rise, according to LoHud.com.
State legislators recently approved another $1.1 million in cost overruns, including $738,000 in additional costs since the project officially ended on Aug. 14. LoHud.com reported.
To date, the 14-year project has cost $558 million and has gone approximately $81 million over budget, according to LoHud.com.
http://bedford.dailyvoice.com/news/westchester-taxpayers-still-footing-bill-i-287-repairs
Naples Real Estate Professional Recognized in Luxury Marketing Competition | Bedford Homes
Watch an Entire Kitchen Remodel in 3½ Minutes | Bedford NY Real Estate
ver wonder what remodeling a kitchen looks like? So did this homeowner. Only he put his tech-savvy skills to work. For his new kitchen, designed by Main Line Kitchen Design, he recorded the entire three-month-long construction process, then edited the footage down into a three-and-a-half-minute time-lapse video that makes the whole thing look like an organized dance routine.
Workers tear down the old kitchen in a matter of seconds. Oak floors swiftly drop into place board by board like in a smooth game of Tetris. Contractors gracefully slide cabinets and appliances into place as if they were floating from their fingertips. If only the actual process were so flawless and quick.
Check out the video, then see the cost breakdown:
Ex-Deputy Mayor’s Upper West Side Townhouse Asks $13M | Bedford NY Real Estate
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Dan Doctoroff isn’t a name you hear all that often, but in his role as one of Bloomberg’s deputy mayors from 2001 to 2007, he oversaw the development of some of the city’s most high-profile projects, including the World Trade Center, Atlantic Yards, Governor’s Island, the High Line, and Brooklyn Bridge Park. Now, he’s selling his Upper West Side townhouse and asking an impressive $13 million. The 25′-wide, five-floor limestone mansion was built in 1896 by Clarence True, architect of the landmarked Leech House. Doctoroff and his wife bought the place out of foreclosure for $1 million way back in 1994 and spent millions on a full gut renovation. A “low stoop” townhouse, it features big wrought-iron doors at street-level, plus a formal dining room with high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling bay windows in the living room, a wet bar, gas and wood-burning fireplaces, and a fully landscaped garden. New amenities include an elevator, central air, and a finished basement with a gym.
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/11/23/
Red Flag Warning Is In Effect For Wildfires In Bedford | The Bedford NY Realtor
Realtors Now as Old as Congressmen | Old Bedford NY Realtor
The median age of Realtors now is the same as the median age of members of the current US House of Representatives, according to the latest member profile from the National Association of Realtors.
Since 2007 the median age of Realtors has increased steadily, reaching 57 this year, the oldest on record. The 111th Congress, which took office in 2009, is the oldest in the nation’s history, with an average age of 57 in the House and 63 in the Senate.
Forty-one percent of Realtors are more than 60 years old, while only 2 percent are under 30 years old. The incremental increase in age may be attributed to professionals staying in real estate longer and putting off retirement, NAR said.
http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/11/realtors-now-as-old-as-congressmen/
Declining Prices of U.S. Homebuilder Stocks an Indicator Something Not Right with Housing Market | Bedford NY Homes
The direction of prices in the housing market has historically been dependent on the direction of mortgage interest rates. If mortgage rates start to increase, it makes homes less affordable for those who want to buy. The math is simple: the higher the mortgage interest rate, the higher the mortgage payment is going to be for the home owner and the more difficult it becomes to keep up with payments—something we learned in the housing market crash of 2007.
Mortgage interest rates are rising, and I believe the U.S. housing market will suffer as a result. Of course, interest rates are nowhere close to what they were in the 1980s, but they are up significantly this year from their lows. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate tracked by Freddie Mac stood at 4.19% this past October. In the same period a year ago, the rate was sitting at 3.38%. (Source: Freddie Mac web site, last accessed November 12, 2013.)
The effects of demand for housing given higher interest rates can be seen in the chart below. The number of new homes sold in the U.S. housing market has been declining since the beginning of the year.
Declining Prices of U.S. Homebuilder Stocks an Indicator Something Not Right with Housing Market Chart courtesy of www.StockCharts.com
In early 2013, the annual rate of new homes sold in the U.S. housing market was close to 460,000 units. This number came in at just 421,000 units in August, down eight percent.
The weakness in the housing market can be seen in the statistics being released by new home builders. For example, D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE/DHI), a large U.S. homebuilder, said that in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2013 (which ended on September 30) the cancellation rate (that’s the rate of home buyers canceling their purchase contracts) stood at 31%. (Source: D.R. Horton, Inc., November 12, 2013.) Last fiscal quarter, the company’s cancellation rate stood at 24%, and in the second fiscal quarter, it was 19%! The number of people walking away from deals at DR Horton is skyrocketing, and if we checked the rates of other homebuilders, I’m sure we’d see the same trend.
Corcoran Group CEO Pamela Liebman now on Twitter | Bedford NY Homes
In what Matthew Shadbolt described as a “HUGE day for Corcoran on Twitter today,” Corcoran Group CEO Pamela Liebman is now on the microblogging site.
Handle: @PamelaBLiebman.
Source: twitter.com – See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/corcoran-group-ceo-pamela-liebman-now-on-twitter/#sthash.BqXATIO4.dpuf
JPMorgan settlement gives glimpse into mortgage machine | Bedford Real Estate
The historic settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) over the bank’s mortgage practices offers a unique look at how the bank packaged and marketed the mortgages it sold as securities, according to The New York Times:
At the heart of the civil settlement, which materialized after months of wrangling, is a statement of facts negotiated with the government that provides details into how JPMorgan assembled mortgage securities sold from 2005 through 2008. While the bank did not admit any violations of law, its decision to approve the statement was one of a few critical concessions it made in order to strike the deal.
The statement shows that as JPMorgan packaged the residential mortgages into complex securities, the bank promised to alert investors to any flaws that might raise questions about the loans, according to the statement.
Of course, the real news about the settlement is that it isn’t really about JPMorgan Chase at all. It’s about the crappy loans sold by Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual:
Many of the mortgage securities included in the settlement are not JPMorgan’s. Instead, they belong to Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, which JPMorgan bought in 2008.
On a conference call on Tuesday, Marianne Lake, the bank’s chief financial officer, said that roughly 80 percent of the losses at issue in the settlement stem from Bear Stearns.
Bet JPM feels great about those purchases right about now.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28047-jpmorgan-settlement-give-glimpse-into-mortgage-making