How would you grade the Obama housing recovery? | 2014-01-10 | HousingWire.
How would you grade the Obama housing recovery? | Pound Ridge Real Estate
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Tag Archives: Pound Ridge Luxury Real Estate
Cuomo Supports Property Tax Freeze, With Conditions, In State Of State | Pound Ridge Homes
Four Big Things in Real Estate That WONT Happen in 2014 | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate
If your inbox is like mine, it’s chock full of predictions and forecasts for 2014. If recent history is any guide, a sizable percentage of them won’t come true-perhaps that’s a result of living in extraordinary times. However, here are some things that you can be certain won’t happen again in the year ahead.
1. Inventory shortages like the one last year are history.
Unusually conditions came together last year to create a real estate perfect storm. Millions of potential sellers underwater on their mortgages when the season began. Millions more were in positive territory by prices hadn’t risen enough to generate enough profit to move. Four million houses once owned by families are no longer on the market; they’re now single family rentals. Couple that with a generation of first-time buyers scared stiff by reports of soaring prices and rates and you got a recipe for a real estate pandemonium, which happened in some Northern California markets.
Not a chance of a repeat in 2014. Rising values pushed another 30 percent of homeowners above the surface last year. They are continuing to rise even as inventories are normalizing, though not as quickly. Markets across the nation have returned to better balance between supply and demand.
2. If interest rates dip below 3.5 percent, its time to move to China.
Rates on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage bottomed out a year ago below 3.5 percent and they remained low through the first of this year despite widespread predictions from the Mortgage Bankers Association on up that higher rates were right around the corner. A crappy economy kept folks guessing until June, when the cork popped out of the bottle and rates blew above 4 percent.
With the economy starting to return to life and the Fed talking about tapering, not if but when, it’s pretty obvious that rates aren’t going back and the 3 percent days are a thing of the past, unless we hit a depression. The question to ask today is not if rates will rise, but how far and how fast.
3. Discounted deals on distressed sales are a thing of the past in the sand states, except for Florida.
The guys who hang out at auctions in Phoenix and Vegas long ago said goodbye to the big discounts on forecloses that made rehabbing and flipping almost a no brainer. The hedge funds got the blame but the real culprit was tight lender standards. No more toxic loans, no more toxic foreclosures. In 2014, however, it will still be possible to do some flipping in places like Jersey City, Albany, Columbus O, and Baltimore where judicial state laws extend the foreclosure pain on homeowners and lenders alike. As for Florida, please email me if you understand the Florida foreclosure picture. I think only Jack McCabe can explain it to the rest of the nation.
http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/12/four-big-things-in-real-estate-that-wont-happen-in-2014/
Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino: Roads are passable, but dangerous | Pound Ridge NY Homes
News 12 spoke on the phone with Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino about today’s winter storm.
Astorino said that the roads were passable, but still very dangerous, and that crews are trying to clear them as fast as they can.
He says he is thankful there were minimal outages during the storm, which was due to the lighter, fluffier snow that fell.
Read More: Westchester Top Stories
The Bee-Line bus system is suspended until further notice, which he says is to ensure the safety of the drivers and passengers.
http://westchester.news12.com/news/westchester-county-executive-rob-astorino-roads-are-passable-but-dangerous-1.6721359
Elliman, Corcoran, Halstead leaders named Inman influencers | Pound Ridge Real Estate
Several of the top names in New York City-area real estate cracked Inman’s annual list of the 100 most influential real estate leaders, released today.
The list — which spotlights industry leaders “whose ingenuity, strength, conviction, power and persistence are driving change” – included brokerage chiefs such as Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman, Halstead Property CEO Diane Ramirez, Corcoran Group CEO Pamela Liebman, Douglas Elliman Development Marketing CEO Susan de França and Madison, N.J.-based Coldwell Banker CEO Budge Huskey. Century 21 CEO Richard Davidson was recognized for guiding the brokerage as it broke into the Manhattan market, as well as internationally – in Kosovo, Austria, Croatia and Slovenia.
Other locals recognized included Warburg Realty agent Nicole Beauchamp, Douglas Elliman associate broker Maria Babaev, and Matthew Shadbolt, Corcoran’s director of interactive products and marketing. There was also Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff, Urban Compass’ Robert Reffkin and Redfin’s Glenn Kelman.
HARP for Second Homes or Investment Properties | Pound Ridge Homes
Since HARP, the Home Affordable Refinance Program, was made available in 2009, more than 2.9 million* homeowners have used the program to refinance their properties. But over the years, HARP has seen significant enhancements, and there are now many eligible borrowers whose properties are not their primary residences. Today, 1 in 6 HARP refinances are for a second home or investment property.
People have second homes or investment properties for a variety of reasons. Maybe you wanted a vacation home to get away or decided to join the investment property business. Sometimes a home becomes an “accidental rental” due to an unexpected or unplanned move, and you were unable to sell because of the drop in home value. Regardless of the reason, you are encouraged to look at HARP as a refinance option. You may be financially stable and are making your monthly mortgage payments, but you are making payments on a loan that no longer matches the value of the home.
HARP is a unique program created by the federal government for people in your situation. If your property — primary residence, second home or investment property — is valued at less than what you owe, take advantage of the program and get a better rate and/or terms on your loan; you may be able to build equity faster. You’re doing everything right, so visit HARP.gov to learn more and talk to your lender.
The same rules apply
To qualify a second home, it must be a single unit or condo; for an investment property, it must be a 1- to 4-unit home. Otherwise, all requirements for the primary home also apply to the second home or investment property:
- Your mortgage has to be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and acquired before June 1, 2009.
- You must be current on your payments (no 30-day+ late payments in the past six months and no more than one in the past 12 months).
- Your loan-to-value ratio (the amount you owe versus the amount your house is currently worth) must be greater than 80 percent.
*Numbers based on reported refinance data from FHFA Refinance Report October 2013.
http://www.zillow.com/blog/2013-12-26/harp-second-investment-properties/
Mapping the 20 Most Expensive Sales of 2013 | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate
While 2013 was undoubtedly a huge year for New York City real estate, with prices climbing rapidly, luxury towers springing out of the ground, and a plethora of blockbuster deals, that’s not necessarily indicated in this map of the Biggest Sales of the Year. That’s mainly because, despite the excess of record-breaking megadeals, at One57, 432 Park Avenue, Walker Tower, 10 Madison Square West, etc. almost none of them have actually closed yet. All that means, though, is that next year’s map is going to be crazy, so let’s all agree to meet back here in one year’s time and if we’re all still single, get married look at a map of hugely expensive apartments.
And don’t worry, because there were still a whole bunch of fancy, pricey apartments that were sold this year, from Rosario Candela-designed apartments on Central Park, to West Village townhouses, to other Rosario Candela-designed apartments on Central Park.
http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/12/23/mapping_the_20_most_expensive_sales_of_2013.php
Irish House Prices Rise for Eighth Month | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate
Irish home prices rose for the eighth successive month in November, led by increases in Dublin, according to official data released Monday, providing evidence that the country’s six-year housing slump is easing in the capital at least.
The government sees the rising prices as one more sign the country is recovering from the devastating economic crisis that erupted with the bursting of its housing bubble. The government exited its 2010 bailout this month and now relies on bond markets for funding.
Nationwide, residential prices rose 0.6% in November and were 5.6% higher than a year earlier, the Central Statistics Office said. In Dublin, residential prices increased by 1.3% in November and were 13.8% higher than a year ago.
Outside the capital, prices were flat on the month and 0.6% lower than in November 2012.
On average, home prices are 46.5% lower than at their 2007 peak, and prices won’t match those of the boom years any time soon. At best, property price gains will help damaged banks cut some of their huge losses.
The European Union plans to carry out scenario-specific bank audits next year, known as stress tests, to determine whether lenders in countries including Ireland have enough funds.
Murky Real-Estate Market Comes Into Focus | Pound Ridge Real Estate
Regulators are about to shine a light on an expanding but opaque corner of the real-estate investment market.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Wall Street’s self-regulator, is planning rule changes that would require so-called nontraded real-estate investment trusts to improve disclosure on fees and to more quickly report on changes in the value of properties in their portfolios.
The move comes amid a boom in demand for these types of funds, which buy office buildings, stores and other commercial real estate and send most of the properties’ income to shareholders. Unlike typical REITs, shares in these funds don’t trade on public exchanges, making them less liquid.
Alan Gerboc, a retired marketing executive who collects contemporary photography, invested $100,000 in a nontraded REIT in 2006. Emily Berl for The Wall Street Journal
Investors are on pace to buy $20 billion of new shares in these funds this year, according to Robert A. Stanger & Co., an investment bank based in Shrewsbury, NJ. That is the highest amount ever and almost twice the $10.3 billion raised last year. Many investors are attracted by dividends that can top 7% a year for some nontraded REITs, according to Blue Vault Partners LLC, a Georgia research firm.
But Finra believes investors aren’t getting a clear enough picture of the performance of their funds, according to Joseph Price, Finra’s senior vice president for corporate finance.
These funds and their brokers can charge fees and expenses of as much as 12%, yet that cost isn’t required to be taken into account when the funds value their stock in reports to investors.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304403804579264552406913102
The Best of West Chelsea at the New AVA High Line | Pound Ridge NY Real Estate
AVA High Line, located alongside the High Line Park, offers some of West Chelsea’s best new rental apartments, plus a host of unique amenities, all within easy walking distance of the neighborhood’s cutting-edge galleries and restaurants. Opening in December—and now accepting lease applications—the pet-friendly AVA High Line includes studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments.Residents can hang in the Chill Lounge or the nearby backyard fire pit. And inside the apartments, it gets even better, with features like sliding barn doors, stainless appliances and wood plank flooring. Don’t just take our word for it, check it out for yourself. Now renting for immediate move-ins. Visit AVA High Line at 525 West 28th Street (28th Street and 11th Avenue).>>