Tag Archives: Cross River NY Real Estate

Survey: Americans apply for mortgages 24/7 | Cross River Real Estate

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Time is money, and more Americans are adjusting their schedules to complete tasks at the most convenient time.

The mortgage space is just one of many industries adapting to this reality.

In an analysis by Mortgage Marvel of more than 650,000 online applications submitted to 1,100 lending institutions, it became clear that more people are applying for mortgages at all hours of the day, including the workday.

Technology has come a long way, allowing people to do almost anything from almost anywhere.

The survey found that in 2012 only about 15% of applications came in on Saturday or Sunday. This means more people are conducting business remotely during the hectic work week.

Additionally, of the applications coming in during weekdays, about 60% are submitted between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., Mortgage Marvel said.

Rick Allen, chief operating officer of Mortgage Marvel, said, “Technology has given us more flexibility in all aspects of our lives. People appreciate being able to complete an application on their schedule and at their pace.”

He added, “We expect the number of online applications to continue to grow for many years to come.”

 

Survey: Americans apply for mortgages 24/7 | HousingWire.

Freddie: Borrowers strengthen their household budgets with refis | Cross River Real Estate

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Borrowers who refinanced their homes in the first quarter will save approximately $7 billion in interest over the next 12 months, Freddie Mac said in its first-quarter 2013 quarterly refinance report.

The enterprise’s quarterly report is culled from data on sample properties in which Freddie Mac has funded two successive conventional, first-mortgage loans, with the second being a refinancing.

The overall data shows consumers strengthening their balance sheets by using low mortgage rates to move into reduced monthly payments. In other cases, they are refinancing into shorter loan terms or obtaining a safer long-term, fixed-rate mortgage.

Freddie says in the first quarter $8.1 billion in net home equity was cashed out during the refinancing of conventional prime-credit mortgages. This figure is virtually unchanged from the previous quarter, but substantially down from the peak cash-out refinance volume of $84 billion in the second quarter of 2006.

Of those borrowers who refinanced during the first quarter, 28% shortened their loan terms, 68% kept the same loan terms as the loan they paid off and 3% chose to lengthen their loan terms, Freddie Mac said.

About 85% of those who refinance a first-lien home mortgage maintained the same loan amount after refinancing their mortgage or lowered their principal balance by putting more down at the closing table.

About 95% of refinancing borrowers selected a fixed-rate loan in 1Q.

In fact, 87% of borrowers with a hybrid ARM selected a fixed-rate loan when going through a refi in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Freddie says the Home Affordable Refinance Program has helped 2.5 million borrowers refinance since its inception through March of 2013.

HARP loans represented more than 20% of the first-quarter refinance loans acquired by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

For all those loans refinanced through HARP in 1Q, the median depreciation in property value hit 28%, with the prior loan having a median age of 6 years.

 

Freddie: Borrowers strengthen their household budgets with refis | HousingWire.

How Rising Mortgage Rates Could Affect The Housing Recovery | Cross River Real Estate

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Mortgage interest rates are rising. In the week ending May 30, the 30-year fixed rate mortgage clocked 3.81%, its highest level in a year, according to Freddie Mac. That’s 15% higher than the 3.31% record low set in November of 2012 and almost 14% higher than the 3.35% rate logged in the beginning of May. The 15-year fixed rate jumped as well to 2.98%.

The increase from the start of May through the month’s final week translates into an extra $20 per month for every $100,000 of debt accrued. If rates continue their upward march, mortgages will become more expensive.

Since cheap financing has been a notable driver of the housing recovery, could those rising rates derail the momentum? To answer that question, let’s first take a look at what low interest rates have done for housing and why they’re increasing now.

Compared to decades past, today’s rates (even at 3.81%) are unprecedentedly — and artificially — low.  They’re the direct result of a Federal Reserve-funded fiscal stimulus plan, better known as the third round of quantitative easing or QE3, aimed at hastening the recovery in housing and the economy as a whole. Through the program the Fed has been buying $85 billion worth of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities per month, a process that has tamped down interest rates, making mortgages more attractive to prospective consumers.

The low rates have enabled qualified home buyers (and owners looking to refinance) to access cheap financing, adding to already-record-high levels of home affordability. It’s helped bolster a surge in both home sales and price increases (since lower rates help make larger principals possible).

Rates are climbing now due to both stronger economic data and to speculation: recently Fed chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the central bank may start slowing its bond buying within the next several months. The news has caused bond investors to begin selling out of their 10-year Treasury positions, driving yields for these bonds above 2%. Since mortgage rates correlate closely with Treasury yields, they have followed suit, rising about a quarter of a percentage point in just a week.

 

How Rising Mortgage Rates Could Affect The Housing Recovery – Forbes.

Saving property values in the wake of foreclosure | Cross River Real Estate

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Asset management firms are in a constant race to preserve local home values through the effective upkeep of vacant properties.

At HousingWire’s Real Estate Expo (REX Annual) on Monday, experts spoke on the subject of “Help Us Save Our Neighborhoods.” The idea behind the discussion was to visit code compliance issues, revealing effective ways to ensure property values are not weighed down by troubled and vacant properties.

Members of the panel included: Robert Klein, chairman ofSafeguard Properties; Jim Taylor, senior vice president withWells Fargo Home Mortgage; Kelvin Beene with the City of Fort Worth; Jeannie Fantasia, vice president of SecureView; and Eric Miller, executive director with the National Association of Mortgage Field Services.

Taylor said, “If you look at the REOs we sold last year, on average the customer has not made a payment in 16 months. If that is the case, that customer is really in distress.”

If we cannot help the borrower, we try to find ways to help them move on while attempting to get the house back on the market, Taylor explained. But to do so, the house has to be in the best shape possible.

“We cannot stop the situation but there are ways that we can improve the communication. One of the things that has been a constant is the stigma that is tied to a boarded property,” added Jeannie Fantasia with SecureView.

To stay abreast of how property preservation firms are coming along in preserving home values, Taylor with Safeguard announced the creation of a grading system that will score houses to show how they have progressed from REO to the day the home is sold.

REO homes take longer to get back on the market, so in the process, it is imperative that communication about the home’s status is clear and up-to-date, the panelists suggested.

 

Saving property values in the wake of foreclosure | HousingWire.

Redskins’ star purchases new $2.5 million home | Cross River Real Estate

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The home – complete with the one amenity that will make life easier on that pummeled set of legs and body: an elevator – is situated in Creighton Farms in Loudon County, about 30 miles east of D.C.

The neighborhood has a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course as its centerpiece, meaning that the high-energy Griffin will have a place to swing his clubs when he’s not strengthening that busted knee or trying to talk Shanahan into letting him go for it on fourth down.

 

Redskins’ star purchases new $2.5 million home | HousingWire.

Study finds attractive Realtors sell more | Cross River Real Estate

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To measure this effect, Sean Salter, associate professor of finance atMiddle Tennessee State University and co-author of a study on how an agent’s looks affect property sales, along with co-authors Franklin Mixon of Columbus State University and Ernest King of theUniversity of Southern Mississippi asked 402 people to rate agents, both male and female, on a scale of 1 to 10, from very unattractive to very attractive, based on online head shots. The researchers then looked at the agents’ property transactions over a seven-year period, writes The Wall Street Journal.

The findings: Every one-point increase in a listing agent’s attractiveness score added $10,989, on average, to the home’s list price. Every one-point increase in a selling agent’s score added $8,467 to the home’s sale price.

 

Study finds attractive Realtors sell more | HousingWire.

Calgary and Edmonton buck national housing market trend of declining sales | Cross River Real Estate

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A soft landing is underway in the Canadian housing market and should continue but Calgary and Edmonton are bucking the trend with sales rising compared with a year ago, says a new report released Tuesday by BMO Capital Markets.

The report, by Sal Guatieri, senior economist for BMO, said the Canadian housing market is “calming not crashing.”

“In most regions, sales have fallen at double-digit rates this year from high levels last year,” said Guatieri. “But the rate of decline has slowed recently.

“By contrast, Alberta enjoys decent sales growth.”

As of April, the three month moving average of sales in the existing home market was down 10.9 per cent across the country. However, Calgary and Edmonton were the only two major markets to see growth at three per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively.

Also, while the average sale price across Canada rose by only 1.0 per cent, Calgary led the nation with a 7.5 per cent hike. Edmonton was up 3.2 per cent.

Guatieri said Calgary’s resale prices are “supported by good valuations, following the 2008 correction, and strong job growth.”

“The upward trend should continue, as Alberta is expected to lead the nation’s economic performance in 2014,” he said.

According to the Calgary RealEstate Board, year-to-date until May 27, there have been 9,541 MLS sales in the city, up 3.89 per cent compared with the same period a year ago. The average sale price has risen by 6.6 per cent while the median price has increased by 5.51 per cent to $399,900.

At the national level. Guatieri said tighter mortgage ruls have slowed credit growth, helping to cool the housing market in an orderly fashion.

“Lack of pent-up demand, with homeownership rates near 70 per cent, and elevated household debt have abetted the slowing,” he said.

“Nationwide, sales are expected to stabilize this year amid steady job growth. Although long-term interest rates are likely to rise moderately next year, they should remain relatively low for some time.”


 

Calgary and Edmonton buck national housing market trend of declining sales.

Why housing is not boosting the economic recovery | Cross River Real Estate

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The Wall Street Journal writes that those expecting a quick return to the “virtuous cycle” by which rising prices, home sales, and housing construction feeds further consumer spending will have to wait until Americans feel more comfortable borrowing and until banks feel more comfortable extending credit, according to new commentary by Pimco.

The Pimco strategists outline four primary blockages that could restrain the housing sector’s ability to play the traditional role boosting the economy during a recovery. To see them, click here

 

Why housing is not boosting the economic recovery | HousingWire.

Madison Square Garden offers the Street exclusive real estate investment | Cross River Real Estate

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Real estate is one of the hottest investment stories on the Street. That’s because fro the first time in six years, home prices logged an annual gain in 2012, and that momentum has carried into 2013.

But while there is consensus that real estate is rebounding, how to profit is a different story.

The Madison Square Garden Co.  ($59.44 0.02%) is an integrated sports media and entertainment company that provides investors with exposure to a one-of-a-kind real-estate asset: New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

The company is maximizing value and expanding margins with a $1 billion renovation project wrapping up this fall that will enhance fans and performers’ experiences. That includes upgraded seating, more bathrooms, retail space and a wider selection of food. The facility will also receive upgraded lighting, sound and video systems.

 

Madison Square Garden offers the Street exclusive real estate investment | HousingWire.

Troubling Signs In The Housing Market | Cross River Real Estate

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The housing market showed signs of recovery in late 2011, beginning with a sharp upturn in housing stocks in October of that year. This was followed by a small upturn in housing starts and home sales starting in early 2012. While Wall Street economists and the media are avidly reporting that a full-fledged housing market recovery is under way, my view has been that what looks like a “recovery/bull market,” is more akin to a “dead cat” bounce and that the bear market in housing has a lot further to go to the downside.

With that in mind, I wanted to discuss some indicators I like to follow that, if they become full-blown fundamental trends, could be signifying the start of the next leg down in housing.

The first sign is housing starts. While the current crop of new and existing home sales reports hitting the tape are still showing some growth, assuming the seasonal adjustments are accurate, housing starts appear to be signaling possible future weakness. Housing starts should reflect a new homebuilder’s expectations of future sales. April’s starts were 853,000, which was 12% below the number expected by Wall Street economists and 16.5% below March’s revised number. When the housing starts for April were released, it was also reported that the March number was revised lower from 1.036 million to 1.021 million. Not as strong as originally reported.

 

Troubling Signs In The Housing Market – Seeking Alpha.