| South Salem NY Real Estate Report | RobReportBlog | ||
| 2013 | 6 months ending 11/22 | 2012 | |
| 45 | Sales | 36 | up 25% |
| $550,000.00 | median sold price | $567,500.00 | down 3% |
| $190,000.00 | low sold price | $245,000.00 | |
| $1,450,000.00 | high sold price | $1,210,000.00 | |
| 2617 | average size | 2702 | |
| $254.00 | ave. price per foot | $226.00 | |
| 179 | ave days on market | 208 | |
| $639,013.00 | average sold price | $602,737.00 | |
| 96.19% | ave sold to ask | 93.64% | |
In Miami, renting an apartment always had a certain appeal, and was marketed—with reservations—towards tourists. Renting for the winter season was a halfway point between hotels and owning property. A renter was already someone who came to Miami Beach but who wasn’t ready, or perhaps couldn’t afford, to commit to purchasing.
It was a strange middle-space that ad-men marketed to with pretty ads, showing the beautiful spaces one could occupy, but without full embrace, and always next to the much flashier, much bigger, and much more glamorous ads of those spaces one could own. We tore through old issues of the Miami News on the Google News Archives. So here we present, without further ado, a selection of apartment advertisements from some key boom times in Miami’s history, the 20s, the 40s, and the 50s.
http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2013/11/18/dive-into-rental-listings-across-miamis-history.php
Foreclosure backlogs continue to ease in states where courts handle the process as the number of properties headed to the auction block climbed for the 16th month in a row in October, according to the latest report from foreclosure data aggregator RealtyTrac.
Overall U.S. foreclosure activity — filings of default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — rose 2 percent from September to October, but was down 28 percent year over year. Filings came in on 133,919 U.S. properties, or 1 in every 978 units. Florida, Nevada, Maryland, Ohio and Illinois posted the nation’s highest foreclosure rates among states.
But the total number of scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions, or “notices of foreclosure sale,” increased 7 percent on an annual basis last month and 10 percent on a monthly basis to 30,023. Judicial foreclosure states with the biggest annual spikes in auctions included Maryland (up 177 percent), Delaware (up 142 percent), New York (up 98 percent), New Jersey (up 97 percent), Pennsylvania (up 58 percent), Connecticut (up 35 percent), and Florida (up 32 percent), RealtyTrac said.
“The backlog of delayed judicial foreclosures continues to make its way through the pipeline, with many of these properties now being scheduled for the public auction after starting the foreclosure process last year or earlier this year,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, in a statement.
“Lenders are likely moving these properties more rapidly to the public auction given that there is strong demand from institutional buy-to-rent investors at the auction and that rising home prices mean more of the loan losses can be recouped, either by selling to an investor at the auction or by repossessing the property and reselling as bank owned.”
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/11/13/more-properties-going-to-the-auction-block-as-judicial-foreclosure-states-clear-backlogs/#sthash.O8QuuyEh.dpuf
The real estate market is stabilizing, as more foreclosures and short sales leave the market, and mortgage rates look fairly low going forward.
One fly in the ointment: Home prices may be rising, so buyers don’t want to wait too long to lock down a good property before prices rise too high next year — a real possibility.
The evidence? Two reports out signaling lower mortgage rates but higher home prices.
First up is data from the California Association of Realtors, which reports that housing affordability in California has fallen for a sixth-straight quarter.
That could lead to many homebuyers being locked out in a state that includes three of the most visible housing markets in the nation — San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
According to the association, only 32% of Golden State homebuyers can afford to buy a median-priced single-family residence. That’s down significantly from the third quarter of 2012, when that figure stood at 49%.
What does it take to handle a median-price home in California these days? The association estimates it takes at least an income of $89,000 for a new home valued at $433,940. The monthly payment would clock in at $2,230 after a 20% down payment and an interest rateHYPERLINK \l “” of 4.36%.
Compare that with the third quarter of last year, when the median home price in the state wa$339,930 and the bottom-line annual incomeHYPERLINK \l “” to buy a property in that price range was only $65,828.
The association says every major regional housing market in the state saw home prices rise by 10% or more from last year to this year.
That sobering news is countered by data from Toronto’s RateSupermarket.com, a home mortgage Web exchange that shows mortgages rates in the U.S. and Canada should remain low well into next year.
“Canadian and U.S. bond yields remain low due to assurances that economic stimulus will remain for the longer term in both countries,” the company says in a report out this week. “This will lead to continued downward pressure on yields and, as a result, moderate discounts to fixed mortgage rate options.”
A survey of real estate brokers’ attitudes toward national listing portals like Zillow, Trulia and realtor.com shows that while most don’t feel threatend by them, they’re not depending all that heavily on them for new business, either.
The survey, by Bellevue, Wash.-based Imprev Inc., a provider of integrated marketing tools, also found that while brokers are generally satisfied with the quality of “leads” they get from national sites, they’re less thrilled with the job their agents do following up on them.
The bottom line was that brokers still see traditional methods of drumming up business like open houses, yard signs, walk-in business and getting in touch with past clients as a better value than national portals.
The online survey of more than 260 brokers and franchise executives, conducted in October, found that among the top three national listing portals — Zillow, Trulia and realtor.com — realtor.com was seen in the most positive light.
That’s perhaps not surprising, given the site’s formal ties to the National Association of Realtors. Zillow, Trulia and other property search portals not operated by a real estate broker are often referred to by industry insiders as “third-party” websites.
While 24 percent of those surveyed had a “negative” (8 percent) or “somewhat negative” (16 percent) view of realtor.com in terms of how the site impacts or could impact their business, Zillow and Trulia tallied higher “fear factor” scores.
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/11/06/survey-shows-most-brokers-dont-fear-zillow-trulia-and-realtor-com-but-they-get-most-leads-elsewhere/#sthash.uMBIrVjF.dpuf
Mortgage applications spiraled down for the week ending Nov. 1, decreasing 7% from a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.
The refinance index slid 8%, while the purchase index dropped 5% as refinance applications ticked up.
The refinance share of mortgage activity declined to 66% of total applications, slightly down from 67% the previous week.
The average contract interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan limit dropped to 4.32% from 4.33%.
Meanwhile, the 30-year, FRM jumbo rose to 4.37% from 4.46%.
The average 30-year, FRM backed by the FHA grew to 4.07% from 4.06%, and the 15-year, FRM increased to 3.44% from 3.42%.
In addition, the 5/1 ARM tumbled to 3.08%, compared to 3.17% a week prior.
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/27818
| South Salem NY Weekly Real Estate Report | 11/5/2013 | |
| Homes for sale | 75 | |
| Median Ask Price | $699,000.00 | |
| Low Price | $205,000.00 | |
| High Price | $12,200,000.00 | |
| Average Size | 3029 | |
| Average Price/foot | $338.00 | |
| Average DOM | 178 | |
| Average Ask Price | $1,078,984.00 | |
Prices increased on a month-over-month basis in 253 of the top 300 markets, fewer than 293 in July, according to Homes.com’s Local Market Index for August.
The downtrend in the number of markets that gain monthly is likely due to both seasonal trends and the state of recovery for these markets. Of the 47 markets that saw declines last month, 40 percent have fully recovered their decline in home prices from the housing bubble, while another 28 percent were found to be unaffected by the boom-bust scenario, illustrating that the weakness is a result of leveling off in home prices.
As a complement to Local Market Index, Homes.com publishes an exclusive Rebound Report, highlighting how the housing recovery process is unfolding across the country. It measures each market’s peak-to-trough decline in index value, which had been attributed to the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble.
Rising home values in the third quarter saw four more top 100 markets reach full recovery. More than a quarter of the top 100 real estate markets have now fully recovered the value they lost in the housing crash. Nearly half of the remaining markets have recovered 50 percent of their lost value, increasing by four markets from the previous month.
Twenty-two midsized markets showed little to no effect from value lost in the 2007 housing bubble and experienced more stable changes in index values. Half of those 22 bubble-proof markets are from Texas, and more than 70 percent are from energy producing states where typical housing boom-bust scenarios did not occur. The remainder of midsized markets showed 51 markets, or 29 percent, with a 100 percent recovery and 94 markets with a 50 percent or more recovery.
“We found the effects of the housing boom-bust lingering in some areas because of the instability they suffered and the long, steep price slope needed for rebound. While these particular markets are improving somewhat, higher rates of negative equity increase risk of foreclosure and can lock move-up buyers-who are also sellers-out of the marketplace, thus slowing overall recovery in certain local areas. Yet other markets that did not experience the bursting bubble to the same degree are in a better position to take full advantage of the recovery. Their prices are appreciating faster, and they are rebounding earlier,” said Brock MacLean, executive vice president of Homes.com. “The important thing to realize is that all markets are in some form of recovery, and different factors contribute to recovery scenarios across the country. With data from the top 300 markets, the Homes.com Local Market Index and Rebound Report analyze trends in local communities where millions of Americans live-key trends missed by other real estate reports.”
http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/10/6784/
Millions of credit card customers of Barclaycard US, the payments business of Barclays in the U.S., and First Bankcard, the credit card division of First National Bank of Omaha, can now access their FICO credit scores for free.
The two banks are the first to participate in the FICO Open Access Program, which in addition to offering free FICO Scores, allows customers to see the two most important factors affecting their score and provides them with FICO educational materials to help them better understand credit scoring and what behaviors impact their FICO Score. The program is open to all consumer lenders, including mortgage lenders.
“This new program provides individuals with the specific FICO Score used by lenders to make credit decisions regarding an individual customer,” said James Wehmann, executive vice president of scores at FICO, in a statement.
“In 2012 approximately 10 billion FICO Scores were bought by lenders for risk management purposes, and we are prepared to allow all of them to be shared with bank customers without any additional score fee charged by FICO to lenders.”
FICO expects more than 25 million Americans to have access through the program within 12 months.
Source: FICO
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/free-fico-credit-scores-offered-to-millions/#sthash.mMbN7TKy.dpuf
Halloween is upon us and some house hunters out there may be wondering what spooky things have occurred in the homes they’re eyeing. Tales of haunted real estate abound at this time of year, and they are often tied to a particularly traumatic incident in a home’s history. But the reality is that most prospective buyers may not find out about any such incident unless they ask.
In most states, a murder, suicide or other violent crime occurring in a home does not have to be disclosed, Walt Molony, spokesman for the National Association of Realtors, told USA Today.
Most lawmakers agree the psychological damage of such an incident in a home would not be a material defect that should be required to be disclosed to buyers, the paper said.
But at least one case is heading to a state supreme court next month. In 2007, Pennsylvania homeowner Janet Milliken found out her home, purchased the year before, had been the scene of a murder-suicide after experiencing several disturbing incidents in the home, including the sound of a gun clicking.
She filed suit against the former owner of the house and the real estate agents involved in the deal, alleging fraud and breach of the state’s real-estate disclosure law.
Source: USA Today
– See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/gruesome-incidents-may-not-be-disclosed-to-homebuyers/#sthash.CgJAr5ol.dpuf