Number of homes for sale in December up just 1 percent from year ago | Inman News.
Number of homes for sale in December up just 1 percent from year ago | North Salem Real Estate
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Tag Archives: North Salem Homes
Ultra-Mod Robert Gurney Renovation in DC Asks $2.75M – House of the Day | North Salem Real Estate
Wells Fargo gives 3 predictions for the mortgage bond market | North Salem NY Real Estate
Somebody Just Bought Annie Leibovitz’s Compound for $28.5M | North Salem Real Estate
Security measures that burglars loathe | North Salem NY Homes
Every December, we look back at our most popular stories of the year. We’ve had some terrific inspirational ones recently, like the amazing artist who hand-carves soaring, swirling caves where none existed before; and the architect who, hit by foreclosure, built a tiny house for $11,000; and the young artists who quit jobs to build glass cabin in the woods. But some of our biggest hits offer practical advice, like this story we published in May. We think its lessons are particularly relevant during the holiday season, when so many shiny new temptations are around for the criminal-minded. ]
If you think you’re not at risk of being a victim of burglary, think again. If there’s an opportunity to invade your home, no matter who you are or where you live, burglars will take the chance.
“Burglaries are considered ‘crimes of opportunity’ because the criminal is looking for the easy way to get into your home – the unlocked door, open garage door or open window,” says Charlene Miller, Crime Prevention Neighborhood Watch director at the Boise Police Department.
Fortunately, “There are practical security measures you can take to make it so difficult for burglars that they’ll go somewhere else,” Miller adds.
Want to learn what these measures are? Here are nine things you can do to make burglars think twice before trying to enter your home.
#1 – Secured Doors and Windows
In approximately one-third of home burglaries the burglar comes in through an unlocked door or window, according to the “Burglary of Single Family Houses”guide, published by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). Getting invisi-gard doors will help keep burglars out.
“The first line of defense in your home’s security is having solid core security gates and exterior doors with high quality grade 1 or 2 deadbolt locks,” Miller states. “French doors can be secured with a quality deadbolt lock and a slide bolt penetrating the upper or lower doorframe.”
http://homes.yahoo.com/news/protect-home-from-burglars-005405786.html
US loan delinquency rate edges up 2.63% | North Salem NY Homes
The U.S. loan delinquency rate edged up a bit in November, but has been on the decline for most of the year, with delinquencies down more than 10% year-to-date, Lender Processing Services (LPS) said.
Foreclosure inventory also fell, edging down another couple of points to 2.5% in November and 29% year-over-year, LPS noted Monday morning.
The overall U.S. foreclosure inventory now stands at 1.256 million loans in foreclosure, according to LPS’s First Look Mortgage Monitor Report.
The total U.S. loan delinquency rate is hovering at 6.45% — including all loans 30 or more days past due or not in foreclosure.
The delinquency rate year-over-year fell 9.41%, while the month-over-month change in the foreclosure presale inventory rate fell 1.72% while the year-over-year rate declined 28.81%.
States with the highest percentage of non-current loans included Mississippi, New Jersey, Florida, New York and Louisiana.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28385-lps-us-loan-delinquency-rate-edges-up-263
City Going to Demolish Landmarked Bronx School | North Salem NY Real Estate
[Photo via Lehman College]
On November 8, the city ordered an emergency demolition order for P.S. 31 in the Bronx, citing the extensive water damage that the building has incurred since it was vacated in 1997, the vertical crack that extends the full height of the building and into the basement, the 15-year-old timber that is shoring up the south part of the structure, and the fact that pieces of the facade habitually fall into the street. “It is truly a public hazard,” said assistant commissioner of the Buildings Department Tim Lynch.
But, before they can tear down the landmarked building, city officials had to present their case to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the catch being that that’s all they had to do, as the LPC’s role in this matter is only advisory. So, even though the Commission ended up telling the Department of Housing Preservation & Development that they would really rather the city not demolish an individual landmark that they have neglected and left to rot for the better part of two decades, that is exactly what’s going to end up happening.
“It has been a disgraceful stewardship by the Department of Education,” said commissioner Elizabeth Ryan. Commissioners also grilled Lynch and co. about why a proposed redevelopment plan from Bronx company SoBRO had not been allowed to proceed. SoBRO’s Phillip Morrow testified to the commission that he had gotten independent reports from three different engineers, all of whom had disagreed with the city’s findings and said that the building could be salvaged. Lynch demurred, saying that the redevelopment would take too long, while the building remained a significant public safety hazard.
Members of the Mott Haven community were also hurt and angered by the loss of one of their iconic buildings. One resident said that, along with Yankee Stadium, the “Castle on the Concourse,” as it is known, is the Bronx skyline. “The destruction of this building would really not be allowed anywhere else in the city,” said another resident. · Department of Buildings Told by Landmarks Preservation Commission Efforts Must be MAde to Save PS 31 [Welcome2theBronx] · P.S. 31 will face the wrecking ball [NYDN] · P.S. 31 coverage [Curbed]
Canadian home sales remain flat | North Salem NY Homes
Canadian home sales remained mostly flat in November compared to October, but were up 5.9 percent from a year ago, The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) reported.
“National sales activity in November stood 3.4 percent below the peak reached in September, providing further evidence that activity in the later summer and early fall was likely boosted by homebuyers with preapproved mortgages at lower-than-current interest rates jumping into the market before their preapprovals expired,” the trade group said in a statement.
The number of newly listed homes also increased 1.8 percent month over month in November, representing a supply of homes that would take six months to sell, the same level as the previous month.
Meanwhile, the MLS Home Price Index (HPI) edged up 0.3 percent month over month in November, and was up 4.1 percent year over year.
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/canadian-home-sales-remain-flat/?utm_source=20131216&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyheadlinespm#sthash.tQ6rFuU7.dpuf
Senate confirms Mel Watt as next FHFA director | North Salem Realtor
It’s official: Congressman Mel Watt, D-N.C., will lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency after the U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination Tuesday afternoon.
Senators confirmed Watt as Ed DeMarco’s replacement, with a majority of the chamber’s legislators voting in Watt’s favor. The congressman easily obtained 57 votes, with 41 Senators voting against the appointment.
Ed DeMarco, who has served as acting director of the FHFA ever since the GSEs entered conservatorship, has long staved off attempts to use the agency as an instrument for enacting principal write-downs to help underwater borrowers.
The market has had plenty of time to get used to a Watt appointment, but he’s still viewed as a major sea change for the conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Housing advocates praised the move on the grounds that Watt is more likely to grant some form of additional housing aid, either through an expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program or principal write-downs. But the mortgage industry — especially investors in residential mortgage-backed securities — remain guarded about the prospect of Watt at the helm.
“The FHFA director has the power to help rebuild local economies and communities through direct action and administrative reforms, and we’re confident Mel Watt will do just that,” said Alan Jenkins, executive director of The Opportunity Agenda, a group that advocates for expanding homeownership.
Elyse Cherry, CEO of Boston Community Capital, a firm that successfully enacted a principal reduction-shared appreciation program to help underwater borrowers, is a strong supporter of Watt’s.
“I am glad the Senate is moving forward with Mr. Watt’s confirmation to the FHFA,” Cherry said. “For too long, our policy at this agency has been headed in the wrong direction for the wrong reasons, and Mr. Watt’s nomination is a chance to turn things around.”
But the Watt nomination certainly drew its fair share of skeptics from day one. With Mel Watt often viewed as more of a political figurehead, the mortgage industry was less receptive to the president’s pick at first.
Several months ago, when Watt was first in consideration, Edward Mills, a senior vice president at FBR Capital Markets, said the president’s DeMarco replacement pick would raise eyebrows on Wall Street.
“One of the hallmarks of the DeMarco tenure is that he was a nonpolitical figure before accepting this job,” said Mills. “Since then, he has taken his stand as conservator very seriously and has been resistant to pressure from the Hill,” he added.
Analysts prep for extended foreclosure timelines, fewer loan modifications | North Salem Homes
The January launch of the ability-to-repay rule and the associated qualified-mortgage definition will raise the overall cost of originating home loans, with borrowers taking the brunt of the financial hit, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services said Tuesday.
A few things won’t change, credit analyst Jack Kahan with S&P noted, but the new rules will increase expenses, extend foreclosure timelines and prompt servicers to select the foreclosure option over loan modifications and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure in future circumstances.
S&P, which looked deeply into how the January launch of the rules will impact mortgage finance, warned that more borrowers are going to have a hard time accessing mortgage credit. And when they do, it will take longer and cost more in some cases.
While originators and aggregators are expected to continue in their origination of non-agency loans using existing credit standards, some originators are going to insist on limiting their risk to only loans that meet the qualified mortgage’s ‘safe-harbor standard’, to ensure the underlying underwriting standards shield the company from litigation risk.
So who will be most impacted by the rules?
S&P says borrowers wanting interest-only products are likely to experience a slowdown in the borrowing process. And, under new underwriting standards, a very specific class of borrowers — those with high net-worth and non-wage incomes — may find it takes a bit more work to get through the originations process in 2014.
The end result will be a market where some lenders have no choice but to originate a few non-QM loans.
Raj Date, a former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau official, recognized room in the non-QM space earlier this year and launched Fenway Summer, a firm that hopes to offer lending solutions to borrowers who fall outside QM.
But no matter how firms respond, the January shift is going to have some impact.
Any expenses related to the changes will be passed onto borrowers, nullifying the basic principal of protecting homeowners from unexpected losses, S&P said when analyzing the slew of new rules.
Prices are expected to go up to cover new processes completed by originators in the underwriting process, the ratings firm said.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28140-new-lending-rules-set-to-raise-the-cost-of-borrowing-sp