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Mortgages will remain hard to get until common sense returns | Katonah Real Estate

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Long-term rates stayed about the same this week, mortgages just above 4.5 percent for most products. There are many things to write about this week, but the most important news for most Americans is the first retreat from Dodd-Frank toward common sense.

Economic data stayed in pattern — reasonable growth without acceleration. Overall orders for durable goods fell 7 percent in July, but excluding volatile orders for airplanes and such gained 0.6 percent. Pending home sales fell 1.3 percent in July, but from an improved level.

Second-quarter GDP was revised up from 1.7 percent to 2.5 percent annualized, but net of accounting gyrations still two-ish — way under the Fed’s forecast, as is inflation, barely 1 percent annualized. Consumer spending and incomes in July rose 0.1 percent versus forecast gains of 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

The threat of action against Syria is still suppressing rates, but that won’t last long. A brief hail of Tomahawks won’t change anything, serious regional upset unlikely.

 

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http://www.inman.com/2013/08/30/mortgages-will-remain-hard-to-get-until-common-sense-returns/#sthash.FoyRu0C5.dpuf

CoreLogic: Prices to Rise 12.3 Percent in August | Katonah Real Estate

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The housing recovery will keep rolling right along   through August as price increases continue to score in the double digit range   and rise for the 18th straight month, according to CoreLogic’s   pending sales index.

 

Home prices   nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 12.4 percent on a year-over-year   basis in July 2013 compared to July 2012. Prices are rising   even faster than they did in the first half of the year, when they averaged   10 percent from January through June.     On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices   increased by 1.8 percent in July 2013 compared to June 2013,

Excluding distressed   sales, home prices increased on a year-over-year basis by 11.4 percent in   July 2013 compared to July 2012. On a month-over-month basis, excluding   distressed sales, home prices increased 1.7 percent in July 2013 compared to   June 2013. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO)   transactions.

The CoreLogic Pending   HPI indicates that August 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, are   expected to rise by 12.3 percent on a year-over-year basis from August 2012   and rise by 0.4 percent on a month-over-month basis from July 2013. Excluding   distressed sales, August 2013 home prices are poised to rise 12.2 percent   year over year from August 2012 and by 1.2 percent month over month from July   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 prices   continued to surge in July,” said Dr. Mark Fleming, chief economist for   CoreLogic. “Looking ahead to the second half of the year, price growth   is expected to slow as seasonal demand wanes and higher mortgage rates have a   marginal impact on home purchase demand.”

“Home prices   continue to climb across the nation in July with markets hit hardest during   the downturn leading the way,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO   of CoreLogic. “Nationally, home prices are now within 18 percent of   their peak levels reached in April of 2006.”

Highlights   as of July 2013:

  • Including        distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price        appreciation were: Nevada (+27 percent), California (+23.2 percent),        Arizona (+17 percent), Wyoming (+16.4 percent) and Oregon (+15 percent).
  • Including        distressed sales, this month only one state posted home price        depreciation: Delaware (-1.3 percent).
  • Excluding        distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price        appreciation were: Nevada (+24.2 percent), California (+20.2 percent),        Arizona (+14.9 percent), Utah (+13.5 percent) and Florida (+13.5        percent).
  • Excluding        distressed sales, no states posted home price depreciation in July.
  • Including        distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI        (from April 2006 to July 2013) was -17.6 percent. Excluding distressed        transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period        was -12.9 percent.
  • The        five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including        distressed transactions, were Nevada (-43 percent), Florida (-37.4        percent), Arizona (-32.5 percent), Rhode Island (-29.7 percent) and        Michigan (-27.7 percent).
  • Of        the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population,        99 were showing year-over-year increases in July, equaling the measure        in June 2013.

*June data was   revised. Revisions with public records data are standard, and to ensure   accuracy, CoreLogic incorporates the newly released public data to provide   updated results.

July HPI for the   Country’s Largest CBSAs by Population (Ranked by Single-Family Including   Distressed):

CBSA

July 2013     12-Month HPI

Change by     CBSA

Single-Family     Including Distressed

Single-Family     Excluding Distressed

Los     Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA

22.6%

20.1%

Riverside-San     Bernardino-Ontario, CA

22.5%

21.1%

Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale,     AZ

18.1%

15.7%

Atlanta-Sandy     Springs-Marietta, GA

15.6%

13.7%

Houston-Sugar     Land-Baytown, TX

11.1%

11.9%

Dallas-Plano-Irving,     TX

10.0%

10.7%

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria,     DC-VA-MD-WV

9.1%

9.0%

Chicago-Joliet-Naperville,     IL

8.6%

10.7%

New     York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ

7.8%

8.2%

Philadelphia,     PA

4.3%

4.8%

Source:   CoreLogic.

 

 

 

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http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/09/corelogic-prices-to-rise-123-percent-in-august/

 

120 Marketing Tactics for Blogging Success | Katonah Realtor

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Blogging success can seem like a distant dream when you start out. You aren’t  quite sure what to blog about. The choice of technology can be overwhelming.  Then learning to use the features and functions of your blogging software is a  maze of confusion and confronting choices.120 Marketing Tactics for Blogging Success

What plugins do I choose? How do I optimise for search engines? What are  widgets and how do I use them?

Then you start and draft  your first post.

Then more doubt sets  in.

How do I write those awesome headlines that will draw attention? What marketing  tactics should I focus on to achieve the best results?

Then the killer doubt.

Why would anyone want to hear what “I” have to say?

So you push past the fears and you hit the publish button. You tweet and  share it with your 500 best friends on Facebook. You have started.

Six months into your blogging journey more nagging fears arise. Yes, I have a  few readers. People are starting to leave comments and I am attracting some  attention.

But world domination is felt to be more a fantasy than reality.

Persistence is key

This is maybe what you don’t want to hear. You need to persist. Success is  almost never overnight but a journey of a thousand steps.

It is a matter of keeping the faith in yourself.  Friends and family can  be your worst enemies. Passion, purpose and belief need to come from within.

Press on.

My secret sauce recipe

So what’s worked for me?

What has sustained me and kept me ahead of the blogging curve can be  summed up with three words, reading, writing and doing. Mundane but  necessary.

  1. Read as much as you can offline and online. Blogs, news and books. Watch TED  talks.
  2. Writing drives discovery and research so it accelerates the learning  process. The art of expression facilitates in structuring and making sense of  the incoming information.
  3. Doing is where the rubber  hits the road. My blog is my social media, marketing and digital laboratory.  Helping other brands both corporate and personal keeps also keeps me real and  connected.

A trait to be treasured

But there is one small  human trait that is sometimes overlooked.

Curiosity.

Will that headline work? How do I grow my Twitter followers? How do I make  this blog rock?

Stay curious.

Marketing tactics for blogging success

So what are some tactics that you need to start applying to achieve blogging  success?

Here are some of the key nuts, bolts and tools to put in your blogging  marketing toolbox. This is maybe the longest infographic in the world but it has  some awesome tips to make your blog rock.

 

 

 

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/08/23/120-marketing-tactics-for-blogging-success/#H7sCZx7wLRubsyd6.99

5 Cool Apps to Save You from Social Media Overload | Katonah Realtor

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Do you need a break from  social media overload?5 Cool Apps to Save You from Social Media Overload

Your friends and colleagues  are constantly learning about something new, and it’s hard to keep up. The only  way to stay connected was to waste time going through piles of social media  websites, blogs and news feeds.

This torrent of data and  information is a big problem in life today. In order to be connected with the  world around you, keeping across it all and obtaining an understanding is  important.

Curation and control of this data explosion is necessary to keep your  sanity.

Luckily, developers have  been hard at work creating some pretty cool social news apps that will help you  to stop wasting time and to stay connected with what really matters.

Here are 5 cool apps to save you from what sometimes seems to be a social  media overload.

1. LikeHack

LikeHack  is available now and is an intuitive approach to social news. This social news  reader is designed for people who value their time, and it goes beyond a  glorified RSS feed and really delivers some interesting benefits.

LikeHack is appropriate for professional and people who need their news from  many places and quickly.It is designed for busy people because it saves and  stores posts you’ve shared and liked on Facebook and Twitter and learns what is  most interesting to you.

What do I really like about LikeHack?

  • Saves time by collecting everything for you
  • Helps to make sure you only see interesting content
  • Allows you to read the news even without internet access
  • Lets you only use one app for multiple sources of content

Facebook is a busy place, and it is easy to get overloaded and frustrated,  especially with friends posting everything they find online. LikeHack makes  sense of all the information going through your feeds and can figure out what  would be most interesting for you. While doing this, it is also able to get rid  of the annoying filler articles that take up space, which the BBC picked up on  when they wrote.

“Likehack filters out the noise to provide a digest of interesting stories  based on your typical sharing history.”

Lifehack 5 Apps that will change your social media

LikeHack offers a good selection of sources for news including Facebook and  Twitter, but also many industry blogs, which is almost obligatory nowadays.

Even though it is still in the beta stage, Likehack really does deliver what  it says. For social media specialists, entrepreneurs, and people who simply  value their time, Likehack is something worth trying.

 

 

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http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/08/19/5-cool-apps-to-save-you-from-social-media-overload/#kGpAlR6rRiDMORqq.99

Katonah NY Weekly Real Estate Report | Katonah Homes for Sale

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Katonah   NY Weekly Real Estate Report8/15/13
Homes for sale53
Median Ask Price$899,000.00
Low Price$359,000.00
High Price$18,995,000.00
Average Size3754
Average Price/foot$415.00
Average DOM131
Average Ask Price$2,081,011.00

16 Social Media Marketing Tips From the Pros | Katonah Realtor

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Are you looking for the latest social media marketing tactics?

Do you want to know what the social media marketing pros are doing today?

Keeping up with the latest social media changes is not always easy, and our social media marketing tactics may need to be refreshed.

We asked 16 social media pros to share the best marketing tactics worth doing today.

Here’s what they have to say.

#1: Host Social Media Events

Mari SmithMari Smith

You can build a loyal, raving community by hosting online events that put the focus on your fans.

A fun and effective online event is hosting a “Fan Page Friday”—it’s essentially a virtual networking party where you allow all your fans to share links to their own pages on your page.

The event can last as long as 24 hours or more and is a great way to discover new businesses, get more fans, and build tremendous community while increasing your EdgeRank (news feed visibility), too.

Many page owners launch a Fan Page Friday event every week; however, I find it much more effective to host one about every four to six weeks, as it has a bigger impact. On my last virtual party, several thousand page owners participated, many of whom picked up as much as a hundred or more new fans as a result.

Be sure to include a hashtag like #FacebookFriday and schedule your initial invitation to go out very early in the morning. Then add another couple of invitations throughout the day.

Facebook Friday is a great way to build your community.

 

Another example is to host live webinars where you give away great content. You can monetize your time and effort by making a great offer on the webinar. Many businesses both large and small use this model well.

By way of example, my latest Facebook marketing webinar had over 13,000 registrations; I like to provide ongoing access to the replay as well. Whether your fans ever purchase from you as a result of one of these webinars, you’ll find a good percentage become evangelists for your brand and love to help spread the word to their own community.

Mari Smith, author of The New Relationship Marketing and co-author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day.

 

 

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http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/16-social-media-marketing-tips-from-the-pros/

R.I. real estate market continues recovery; prices up 10 percent, sales up 15 percent | Katonah Real Estate

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The real-estate market continued to recover in Rhode Island throughout the second quarter of this year, and the median house price reached $209,900, up 10 percent compared with April, May and June 2012.

The number of houses sold increased by 15 percent in the second quarter, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.

In the first six months of 2013, 3,968 houses were sold in Rhode Island. Of those sales, 881, or about 22 percent, were distressed, meaning they were foreclosures or short sales.

During the same period in 2012, nearly 30 percent of the house sales — 1,083 of 3,636 — were distressed, according to association statistics.

“The supply of homes for sale has dropped, eliminating the excess of homes for sale, particularly those sold through foreclosure and short sale,” association president Victoria Doran said. “Sellers need to understand, however, that the decrease in distressed sales is what is elevating the median price. Homes sold through conventional means still need to be reasonably priced.”

Rhode Island’s median house price peaked at a high of $282,500 in 2006, but fell to $199,900 in 2009 and dropped to $190,000 in 2012. But the association said that Rhode Island’s real-estate market “has been gaining strength since January.”

The condominium market also had a strong second quarter, with a 19-percent jump in the median sales price, to $202,750, and a 28-percent increase in sales volume; 18 percent of the 474 condo sales were distressed.

The multifamily market, the segment most affected by foreclosures and short sales, also continued to rally in the second quarter. The median price increased by 5 percent, to $126,000, and the sales volume increased by 2 percent. The association said that the “bulk of the multifamily market … changed hands in prior years as investors snapped up distressed sales.” In the second quarter, 38 percent of the 347 multifamily sales were distressed.

 

 

R.I. real estate market continues recovery; prices up 10 percent, sales up 15 percent | Breaking News | providencejournal.com | The Providence Journal – The Providence Journal.

American Home Prices Are Still Way Off Of Their Highs | Katonah Real Estate

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For all the promising data  we’ve seen about the so-called “housing recovery,” it’s important to realize it  is just that — a recovery.

Though some are calling the spike a housing bubble 2.0, home prices are  still way off their 2006 highs (which is good, since that was a bubble of epic  proportion).

“Overall, the recovery has  been rather uneven, with states that enjoyed the largest home price increases  before the recession still far from their prior peaks and states that missed the  housing boom closer to recovering their losses,” writes  CoreLogic’s Kathryn Dobbyn in a  new report.

CNBC’s  Diana Olick highlights this chart from CoreLogic:

home price appreciationCoreLogic

 

Dobbyn notes that Arizona, which has recently seen huge home price  appreciation, is still 45.6  percent from the peak it hit 7 years ago. Even if the state maintains its  current appreciation rate, it would still take another 35 months for Arizona to  get back to its highs.

“Speculating on a new bubble is likely premature,”  concludes Dobbyn.

Read more:  http://www.businessinsider.com/state-home-price-change-from-peak-map-2013-7#ixzz2ZVStRP81

Surprise: Shiller, NAR differ on the MID | Katonah NY Real Estate

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Homeownership has helped Americans who might otherwise be unable to scrape together a nest egg do just that, Yale economics professor Robert Shiller noted in a New York Times editorial over the weekend. But the Swiss do just fine amassing household savings and have a much lower homeownership rate, Shiller noted, arguing that it’s time to take away some of the “enormous subsidy to homeownership” provided by Uncle Sam — such as the mortgage interest deduction.

Not surprisingly, National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun believes that Shiller has missed some “obvious facts.”The housing crisis, Yun notes, “arose from easy lending,” and “did not happen because of the mortgage interest deduction.” Eliminating the mortgage interest deduction “will result in home price declines of about 15 percent,” Yun claims.

Shiller might be willing to concede some or all of those claims. His main point is less about the role housing subsidies played in creating the conditions that led to the downturn, and more to do with whether there are societal drawbacks to relying so heavily on homeownership as a mechanism for household savings.

There are, Shiller notes, advantages to being a renter in today’s economy. Renters, he says, “are more mobile. That means they are more likely to accept jobs in another city, or even on the other side of a large metropolis.” –

See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/16/surprise-shiller-nar-differ-on-the-mid/#sthash.1HV2fWzB.dpuf

Surging interest rates could slow housing’s recovery | Katonah Real Estate

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A sharp rise in mortgage rates is threatening to slow the momentum that has driven the housing market sharply higher in the past year.

 

Rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage have spiked in the past two months as the Federal Reserve signaled the coming end of a massive bond-buying program designed to stimulate the economy by keeping rates low.

 

Someone who today takes out a $220,000 loan — the median sale price for a traditional home in the Twin Cities — will pay at least $100 per month more on the mortgage than someone who locked in an interest rate on May 1.

 

“It’s been a pretty impressive increase in rates,” said Keith Gum­binger, vice president of HSH.com, a mortgage information firm. “If that increases monthly payments by, give or take, 10 to 15 percent, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see sales back off by perhaps that much.”

 

U.S. home prices were up 12 percent in May from a year earlier, and Twin Cities prices were up 14.8 percent, in part thanks to demand fueled by rock-bottom ­interest rates. Since home purchases often translate into sales of garden hoses, lawn mowers and washing machines, as well as construction jobs, the likelihood that rates will continue to rise should temper economic growth.

 

The irony is that what’s driving up rates is, ultimately, an improving economy. Rates are as low as they are because the Federal Reserve has been buying $85 billion in mortgage-backed securities per month, a program known as quantitative easing that’s meant to stimulate borrowing.

 

The Fed’s purchases create demand for mortgage-backed securities and so drive down interest rates for borrowers. The strategy has been effective. Rates for 30-year mortgages were as low as 3.3 percent in November, a number that inspires awe in anyone who took out a mortgage in decades past.

 

But rates started to rise in mid-May when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke first hinted in a Congressional hearing that the economy might be strong enough for the central bank to contemplate slowing its asset purchases. After a Bernanke news conference on June 19, rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage rose from 4 percent to 4.6 percent in five days, while the stock market faltered.

 

Surging interest rates could slow housing’s recovery | StarTribune.com.