Tag Archives: Cross River NY Homes for Sale

U.S. pending home sales jump, end losing streak | Cross River Real Estate

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Contracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes rose in March for the first time in nine months, in the latest sign the housing market was stabilizing after a recent wobble.

The National Association of Realtors said on Monday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, increased 3.4 percent to 97.4. The increase beat economists’ expectations for a 1.0 percent advance.

These contracts become sales after a month or two, and March’s rise suggested home resales could rebound in the months ahead after stumbling last summer following a run-up in mortgage interest rates.

“After a dismal winter, more buyers got an opportunity to look at homes last month and are beginning to make contract offers,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist.

“Sales activity is expected to steadily pick up as more inventory reaches the market, and from ongoing job creation in the economy.”

Existing home sales in March fell to their lowest level in more than 1-1/2 years, but details of the report suggested the downward trend in sales had probably run its course, with housing inventory rising and more first-time buyers coming into the market.

 

 

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-pending-home-sales-jump-140000344.html

Housing is in danger of overheating again: Zillow’s Stan Humphries | Cross River Homes

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Home values in more than 1,000 U.S. cities are expected to surpass their pre-2008 levels within the year, according to a new report released today by Zillow.

“It’s definitely a mixed bag of news,” says Humphries in the video above. “On the one hand you’re happy that home prices are recovering so nicely. On the other hand home values were definitely overvalued in 2006 and the fact that just so shortly after the greatest housing recession of the century we’re already seeing a lot of metros return to their peak levels is a sign for how robust the recovery is…but some markets are definitely in danger of overheating again.”

He continues: “In some markets, people are spending more of their incomes on a mortgage than they did during the 15 years before the housing runoff,” says Humphries. “Broadly speaking though, at a national level we think homes are still very affordable.”

Another issue that’s affecting home buyers: lending requirements. Now that the volume of refinancing has decreased, banks are getting searching for new ways to make money: they’re lowering down payment requirements, targeting lower credit-score borrowers and more.

A recent Wall Street Journal article reveals that mortgage standards are becoming more lax. Within the past year, one in six homebuyers made down payments of less than 10%, which is the highest share since 2008 (excluding FHA mortgages). But in early 2007 that figure was more than 44%.

 

 

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http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/housing-is-in-danger-of-overheating-again–zillow-s-stan-humphries-122948058.html

Vacation homes are back in vogue | Cross River Homes

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Vacation home sales rose strongly in 2013, while investment purchases fell below the elevated levels seen in the previous two years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

NAR’s 2014 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, covering existing- and new-home transactions in 2013, shows vacation-home sales jumped 29.7 percent to an estimated 717,000 last year from 553,000 in 2012.

Investment-home sales fell 8.5 percent to an estimated 1.10 million in 2013 from 1.21 million in 2012.

Owner-occupied purchases rose 13.1 percent to 3.70 million last year from 3.27 million in 2012. The sales estimates are based on responses from households and exclude institutional investment activity.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun expected an improvement in the vacation home market. “Growth in the equity markets has greatly benefited high net-worth households, thereby providing the wherewithal and confidence to purchase recreational property,” he said. “However, vacation-home sales are still about one-third below the peak activity seen in 2006.”

Vacation-home sales accounted for 13 percent of all transactions last year, their highest market share since 2006, while the portion of investment sales fell to 20 percent in 2013 from 24 percent in 2012.

Yun said the pullback in investment activity is understandable. “Investment buyers slowed their purchasing in 2013 because prices were rising quickly along with a declining availability of discounted foreclosures over the course of the year,” he said.

“In 2011 and 2012, investment property was a no-brainer because home prices had sharply over corrected during the downturn in many areas, creating great bargains that could be quickly turned into profitable rentals. With a return to more normal market conditions, investors now have to evaluate their purchases more carefully and do their homework,” Yun added.

The typical vacation-home buyer was 43 years old, had a median household income of $85,600 and purchased a property that was a 180 miles from his primary residence.

Buyers plan to own their recreational property for a median of six years, down from 10 years in 2012.

 

 

http://www.rew-online.com/2014/04/10/report-vacation-homes-are-back-in-vogue/

 

Plunge in refinancing hits mortgage applications | Cross River Homes

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The volume of mortgage applications fell last week despite a steady average rate on the commonly used 30-year fixed mortgage.

A large drop in refinances pushed the overall volume lower, but applications to purchase a home rose 3 percent from the previous week, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Purchase applications, however, are still down 14 percent from a year ago, when mortgage rates were a full percentage point lower.

Refinance activity has been falling steadily since the rate rise early last summer. Applications to refinance fell 5 percent last week from the previous week and are now at their lowest level since the end of 2013. The average contract rate on the 30-year fixed conforming mortgage held steady last week at 4.56 percent.

 

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101566721

Consumer credit ticks higher in February | Cross River Real Estate

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Consumer credit edged higher in February, increasing at a seasonally adjusted rate of 6-1/2%, the latest report from the Federal Reserve said.

In addition revolving credit decreased at an annual rate of 3-1/2%, while nonrevolving credit grew at an annual rate of 10%.

“Consumer credit rose a sharp $16.5 billion in February but the revolving component, where credit cards are tracked, continues to be very soft, down $2.4 billion in the month,” analysts with Econoday said.

“Strength once again is entirely in the non-revolving component, up $18.9 billion and reflecting demand for car loans as well as the government’s acquisition of student loans. The consumer, still hesitant to use credit cards, hasn’t been a leading force for the economy,” Econoday added.

 

http://www.housingwire.com/articles/29586-consumer-credit-ticks-higher-in-february

Celine Dion Chops Price By $9.5M, Private Water Park Included | Cross River Real Estate

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16 images

Mizz Celine Dion has knocked almost $10 million off the price of her Jupiter compound, lazy river, water slides, zero-entry pools and all, according to Gossip Extra. The now $62.5 Million house is 10,000 square feet, has ten bedrooms, and comes with a lot of beachfront on 5 1/2 acres of land.

 

 

 

http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2014/04/02/celine-dion-pricechop.php

Menachem Stark did not leave a will | Cross River Real Estate

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Brooklyn developer Menachem Stark, whose slaying has yet to yield an arrest, did not have a will, according to court records. His widow Bashie Stark was appointed yesterday as administrator of the estate, which will be required to list all of Stark’s assets in bankruptcy court as well as surrogate’s court. Bashie’s seven children have been named as beneficiaries.

“The assets of the estate are unknown,” Seth Rubenstein, a lawyer for the widow, said. “The administrator must appear in a bankruptcy proceeding whose resolution may or may not bring assets into the estate.”

The 39-year-old developer’s body was found in a Long Island dumpster in January. Stark owed several million dollars to multiple creditors and was the defendant in several lawsuits. Investigators said earlier this week they are closing in on a suspect in the killing.

 

 

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/04/02/menachem-stark-did-not-leave-a-will/

Rising Home Prices May Not Tell the Whole Story | Cross River Real Estate

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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.

 

 

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/real-estate/rising-home-prices-may-not-tell-whole-story?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

Here Now, The 10 Richest Neighborhoods In New York City | Cross River Real Estate

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[Original image via Curbed Flickr Pool/Vivienne Gucwa]

Following the example set by our sister-site, Curbed LA, we too are dissecting the Higley 1000, a list that uses information from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2006-2010 to rank the nation’s most affluent neighborhoods according to their mean household income. In their coverage of the list, Atlantic Cities notes that denser urban areas are subject to more variance than the suburbs, whose large-lot exclusionary zoning keeps them the territory of the uber-wealthy. So only somewhat surprisingly, NYC environs far outshone city neighborhoods to take the list’s top spots. Coming in at the most affluent neighborhood in the nation on the Higley 1000? Greenwich, Connecticut’s “Golden Triangle,” where a mean household income is $614,242 annually. The first New York City ‘hood to appear on the list ranks 90th. Think you can guess what it is?:

10) Upper East Side: ($278,040)

9) Cobble Hill: ($281,303)

8) Beekman Place: ($283,316)

7) Forest Hills: ($288,699)

6) Dumbo: ($295,153)

5) Tribeca: ($332,138)

4) Carnegie Hill: ($333,067)

3) Flatiron District: ($347,688)

Lawsuit claims real estate agents used dating sites to land clients | Cross River Real Estate

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A lawsuit against 14 Japanese real estate agencies and loan companies claims that real estate agents used dating sites to woo at least a dozen singles — most of them women — when their true intention was to talk them into buying a condo. One victim bought three, the lawsuit alleges

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/lawsuit-claims-real-estate-agents-used-dating-sites-to-land-clients/?utm_source=20140228&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinesam#sthash.aLMbChWp.dpuf