Tag Archives: Cross River NY Homes

Home prices were up 12% in September year over year but growth is slowing | Cross River Real Estate

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Home prices were up 12% in September year over year but growth is slowing, market researcher CoreLogic says.

From August, home prices were up just 0.2%, marking the smallest month to month gain since January.

Price gains will slow further, to 0.1% from September to October, CoreLogic says.

Slower appreciation of home prices was expected by many economists given very rapid gains earlier this year, which fueled fears of housing bubbles forming in some markets, along with higher interest rates since late spring.

Year over year, the states with the highest home price appreciation in September were Nevada, up 25.3%; California, 22.5%; Arizona, 14.6%; Georgia, 14.4% and Michigan, 13.9%, CoreLogic says.

September marked the unofficial five-year anniversary of the start of the housing crisis. Given the strong home price gains for more than a year, average home prices in nearly half the states are now within “striking distance” of their pre-downturn peaks, says Anand Nallathambi, CoreLogic CEO.

Still, it may take longer to make up the rest of the ground.

Asking prices, whose trends lead sale prices by several months, were up 0.6% in October from September, on a seasonally adjusted basis, shows data from market researcher Trulia. That’s the second-slowest monthly gain in seven months.

Despite smaller monthly gains, prices are still rising because the inventory of homes for sale is still tight in many markets. Also, buying still looks cheap relative to renting in many markets, Trulia says.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/11/05/corelogic-september-home-prices/3435687/

 

 

 

 

Average rate on 30-year mortgage at 4.1% | Cross River Real Estate

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Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell for the second straight week and are at their lowest levels in four months.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the 30-year loan declined to 4.10% from 4.13% last week. The average on the 15-year fixed loan eased to 3.20% from 3.24%.

Rates have been falling since September when the Federal Reserve surprised investors by continuing to buy $85 billion a month in bonds. The purchases are intended to keep long-term interest rates low.

Rates had spiked over the summer when the Fed indicated it might reduce those purchases later this year. But hiring has slowed since then. Many now expect the Fed won’t taper until next year.

The average on the 30-year loan has now fallen about half a percentage point since a hitting two-year high over the summer. The lower rates appear to be sparking a surge in activity by prospective homebuyers and homeowners looking to refinance. Many home owners get personal loans for people with bad credit so they are able to pay their high interest rates on their mortgage.

Mortgage applications jumped 6.4% in the week ended Oct. 25 from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications for purchases rose 2% from a week earlier, while refinance applications soared nearly 9%.

U.S. home prices rose in August from a year earlier at the fastest pace since February 2006, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index. But the price gains slowed in many cities from July, a sign that the spike in prices over the past year may have peaked.

To calculate average mortgage rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday each week. The average doesn’t include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1% of the loan amount.

The average fee for a 30-year mortgage declined to 0.7 point from 0.8 point. The fee for a 15-year loan rose to 0.7 point from 0.6 point.

The average rate on a one-year adjustable-rate mortgage increased to 2.64% from 2.60%. The fee eased to 0.4 point from 0.5 point.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/10/31/mortgage-rates/3325943/

Montlake Spite House in Seattle sells | Cross River Real Estate

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This is the home’s narrowest point, 55 inches wide. Down the path on the left is the front door. Click to go to …Did you spot the Spite House? It’s the wedge-shaped house in the upper left. Click to go to a slideshow.You might think that a little wedge-shaped house built explicitly to aggravate someone would be a tough sell.

Not in Seattle. Listed at $397,500, the home was just snapped up over the weekend, the real estate agent told Yahoo Homes, after spending only a couple of weeks on the market. “We had quite the interest!” she told us. (A local news story published Tuesday and picked up internationally might have helped the quick sale.)

Click here or on a photo to go to a slideshow.

Locals call it the Montlake Spite House. Legend has it that the home, on a mere sliver of a lot, was built by:

• A woman who won only a bit of yard in a divorce settlement, while her ex got the rest of the property, including the (normal-shaped) house they’d shared. Or …

• A landowner who was furious when the neighbor who owned the adjacent (normal-sized) lot made him a lowball offer on the sliver. Or …

• A traveler who, while visiting Germany, gave permission for someone to build on the lot — with the provision that enough land be left for a second house. When the traveler returned, he discovered that the new house took a lot more space than he’d expected, so, “out of spite, he [the landowner] built that funny little pie-shaped home” as an obstacle, the current homeowner told KPLU-FM’s Martha Kang. “I also heard that back when it was first built, the side that was facing the neighbor had been painted black.”

The house at 2022 24th Avenue East has 830 square feet, and it’s just 55 inches wide at its narrowest point. The house is shaped like a right triangle with its sharpest point slightly blunted — that’s the 55-inch-wide edge, where a mudroom and exit door lead into the yard. The longest side of the triangle (the hypotenuse) faces the street, with the entrance placed roughly at its center.

Click here or on a photo to go to a slideshow.

Lisa Horton, the current homeowner, told KPLU that the shape of the house was never much of an impediment, except when she was cooking: The kitchen is toward the narrow end of the house, so you can’t stand in front of the oven when you open it; you have to stand to the side.

 

 

http://homes.yahoo.com/blogs/spaces/montlake-spite-house-seattle-sells-231552209.html

Never be locked out again: KeyMe app creates digital copies of keys, stores them in the cloud | Cross River Real Estate

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KeyMe‘s smartphone app lets you scan digital copies of your keys, so that you can obtain new ones without paying a locksmith to break your lock, and more easily manage or share them.

Drawing on a user’s key scan, the app generates instructions that any locksmith may follow to create a physical copy of a key.

KeyMe users in New York City can also take advantage of special kiosks — a number of which are already deployed around the Big Apple — to print new keys themselves, using either a digital or physical copy of a key.

 

 

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/10/25/never-be-locked-out-again-keyme-app-creates-digital-copies-of-keys-stores-them-in-the-cloud/#sthash.ELpFFhT3.dpuf

Historic Firehouse-Turned-Modern Mansion Wants $5.25M | Cross River Real Estate

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28 images

Location: San Francisco, Calif. Price: $5,250,000 The Skinny: Renovated from 2006 to 2008 into a breathtaking modern home, Historic Firehouse 44 in San Francisco’s Noe Valley is an undeniably impressive residence, but the 5,814-square-foot house has still had quite a bit of trouble landing buyers in the past. It was listed for $6.375M in May 2008, and, after numerous price reductions, finally sold in 2011 for $4.05M. Now, the new owner has already returned it to market, with a brand new asking price—$5.25M. The house, which was, pre-renovation, home to artists Mark Adams and Beth Van Hoesen, now features a four-story atrium with glass-and-wood stairs, an elevator, “numerous bars,” and original firehouse details, including a pole and rear metal staircase. The whole place is also wired with sound, lighting, and media systems. You can see a lot more of the house, and listen to some dramatic piano music, in this video tour.

 

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2013/10/03/historic-firehouseturnedmodern-mansion-wants-525m.php

Florida Foreclosure Sales Bring Chinese Drywall Homes to Market | Cross River Homes

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The biggest court cases have been settled, and contractors have been working to fix houses built with defective contaminated Chinese-made drywall for years. But houses that contain the malodorous material are still appearing for sale on the Florida real estate market — with the problem undisclosed by sellers and unsuspected by buyers. That’s because homeowners facing foreclosure may have lost their homes — or simply walked away — without addressing, or even knowing about, the contaminated drywall, reports the Bradenton Herald-Tribune (“Bad drywall still a problem for home investors,” by Josh Salman).

“Surging demand from buyers has pushed lenders to rush distressed homes onto the market, many of which were built during the mid-2000s real estate boom, at a time when inexpensive Chinese-made drywall was abundant,” the paper reports.

Estimates of the number of houses containing the bad material don’t reconcile well with the amount of drywall known to have been imported into the country. “An investigation by the Herald-Tribune and the watchdog journalism organization ProPublica found that nearly 7,000 U.S. houses were built with bad drywall, yet enough material was imported to build at least 100,000 homes,” the paper reports.

Now, houses are coming onto the market that have never been inspected to determine whether they have the bad material—even though left in place, it can destroy air conditioner coils, plumbing, wiring, and electronics. “I’m bidding on houses and I keep finding out they have Chinese drywall,” Bob Tarlowski, an investor and contractor who buys and repairs homes in North Port, told the paper. “After I turn them down, they stay up for bid. The banks don’t disclose it, and there’s no recourse.”

 

 

http://www.jlconline.com/drywall/florida-foreclosure-sales-bring-chinese-drywall-homes-to-market.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=jump&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=COCO_082713&day=2013-08-27

Neiman Marcus Offers a Night at the Glass House for $30K | Cross River Real Estate

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glasshouselead.jpgPhotos via Neiman Marcus

Well, we’ve made it about a week into October before the ritzy department stores started rolling out the obscenely expensive holiday fare, and Neiman Marcus, everyone’s favorite peddler of totally unnecessary gifts—$100K Versailles chicken coop, anybody?—is leading the charge, having unveiled yesterday its annual holiday Fantasy Gifts guide. In previous years, this esteemed and gloriously mockable index has included $1.5M Dale Chihuly Pool Sculpture Installations custom-made for the swimming pool and $75K yurts outfitted with pillows made from 18th-century tapestries and hand-made crystal chandeliers. In its 87th holiday catalog? Oh, you know, a $150K “Bespoke Global Falconry Companion”, a Neiman Marcus Aston Martin, a $2.64M outdoor entertainment set-up, and—the perfumed scented clouds part, a warm glow suffuses the scene—a single night at The Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, Conn., which can be had for $30K.

Johnson’s 1949 Glass House is not just another utterly beautiful, privacy-eschewing glass residence, it’s the modernist icon that made Connecticut a hotspot for architectural minimalism and a structure that became the textbook definition of perfect form and proportion. Johnson and his longtime partner, art critic and curator David Whitney, lived at the weekend retreat for 58 years, cultivating a pristinely edited collection of art and midcentury furniture, so what Neiman Marcus has on offer is undeniably an incredible opportunity, though at $30,000 for one night (plus the opportunity to invite 10 friends over for dinner), it’s totally debatable whether this buy is anything approaching a value. That said, there’s a good cause involved: all the proceeds of the purchase are siphoned directly to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

 

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2013/10/09/neiman-marcus-offers-a-night-at-the-glass-house-for-30k.php

 

Greenwood Nursery Ideas for October | Cross River Real Estate

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What to do in the yard this month:
  • Frustrated with leaves falling in your yard? Get the mower out and mow them down. It will chop the leaves up into mulch which can be used around plants or tilled into the ground (if not too thick).
  • Bring in houseplants and tropical plants when the temperatures begin to drop into the 40’s.
  • Plant bare root trees and shrubs. Fall planting requires less waterings and is less stressful on the plants (zones 5 to 10).
  • Time to attack the broadleaf weeds in your yard.
  • Decorate with pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks and hay bales for fun, festive entrances.
  • Remove damaged/broken branches from trees and shrubs.
  • Pull out annuals that are dead or already dying.
  • Plant containers with small sized evergreens, ground covers, ornamental grasses, and colorful perennials to go through the fall and winter seasons.

 

 

Greenwood Nursery | 1-800-426-0958

 

September Regional Reports: Prices, Sales Drop Sharply | Cross River Real Estate

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Fall came faster than expected to Western and Midwestern markets in two new September market reports from online brokerages.

For the month ended Sept. 15, median list prices in 24 metropolitan areas were 14 percent above pries a year ago but down from a nearly 16 percent annual gain in August. Median price increases shrank in 19 out of 24 markets. The median sale price of about $272,000 in mid-September was also about 2% lower than in mid-August 2013, according to Lanny Baker, CEO and President of ZipRealty.

“Further moderation in trends was evident in sold-to-list price ratios, new listings volume, pending sales volume, and days on market data for mid-September,” said Baker. “The median number of days on market inched up from 28 in mid-August to 30 in mid-September, though houses are still selling faster this year than last year in every city except Phoenix.”

In September, home sales, prices, and inventory all dropped from August, according to Redfin’s analysis of 19 largely West Coast markets. Prices had their third consecutive month-over-month drop, falling 2.2 percent. Home sales dropped 18.8 percent from August, and inventory fell 3.4 percent. Year over year, prices are up 15.9 percent and home sales up 8.1 percent.

September 2013Month-Over- Month ChangeYear-Over-Year Change
Median Sale Price$330,470.00-2.20%15.90%
Total Homes Sold73,781-18.80%8.10%
Total Homes For   Sale234,670-3.40%-17.50%

Redfin reported that

  • Eighteen of the 19 cities measured saw home prices increase year over year; eight saw month-over-month increases.
  • Las Vegas led the price gains with a 30.3% year-over-year increase. Philadelphia was the only market without a year-over-year gain; prices were flat at 0.0 percent.
  • Chicago saw the biggest sales gains, with home sales up 25.9% from September 2012.
  • Sacramento’s sales volumes took the hardest hit with a 8.9% drop from a year earlier.
  • Inventory came in at 234,670 total listings across the 19 metro areas studied.
  • Las Vegas had the largest inventory drop at 46.6%. The only market with a yearly increase in homes for sale was Phoenix, with a 1.7% bump.

According to ZipRealty, the top 10 markets based on percentage median price growth as of Sept. 15 were:

MetroYear-Over-Year Price   Growth
1)Sacramento33%
2)Las Vegas31%
3)Los Angeles26%
4)San Francisco Bay   Area25%
5)Phoenix23%
6)Orlando21%
7)San Diego21%
8)Orange County20%
9)Portland15%
10)Chicago15%

 

The 10 ZipRealty markets with the greatest number new listings as of Sept. 15 were:

MetroYOY Increase in   New Listings
1)Denver19%
2)Tucson &   Orange County15%
3)Baltimore14%
4)Washington,   DC/Northern Virginia & Richmond, Va.11%
5)San Diego &   Seattle10%
6)Raleigh9%
7)Dallas8%
8)Chicago &   Orlando7%
9)Houston &   Sacramento6%
10)Los Angeles5%

 

 

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/september-regional-reports-prices-sales-drop-sharply/

 

CoreLogic Sees Even Higher Prices in September | Cross River Homes

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In its forecast for September year over year home prices, CoreLogic is ignoring predictions for a slowing down of the recovery with the end of the 2013 home buying season and predicts a 12.7 percent price hike in September after reporting August prices reached 12.4 percent.

If the September forecast proves true, September will be the 18th consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices for the CoreLogic Home Price Index.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased on a year-over-year basis by 11.2 percent in August 2013 compared to August 2012. On a month-over-month basis, excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 1 percent in August 2013 compared to July 2013. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 0.9 percent in August 2013 compared to July 2013*.

The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that September 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, are expected to rise by 12.7 percent on a year-over-year basis from September 2012 and rise by 0.2 percent on a month-over-month basis from August 2013. Excluding distressed sales, September 2013 home prices are poised to rise 12.2 percent year over year from September 2012 and by 0.7 percent month over month from August 2013. The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes for the most recent month.

“Home price gains were negligible month over month in August-an expected decrease in the pace of appreciation as housing enters the off-season,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “While prices increased more than 12 percent on a year-over-year basis, the month-to-month change is more telling of this year’s late summer trend.”

“After a strong run, the rate of home price appreciation slowed in August. In addition to normal seasonality, the recent sharp rise in mortgage rates off their historic lows was a clear driver behind the slowdown,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “We anticipate moderate gains in home prices over the balance of this year, supported by the recent downward trend in rates and continued tight supplies of homes in many markets.”

 

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/corelogic-sees-even-higer-prices-in-september/