Tag Archives: Westchester Homes for Sale

Westchester Homes for Sale

Home Prices Climb in 87% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Builds | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Prices for single-family homes climbed in 87 percent of U.S. cities in the second quarter as the national housing recovery accelerated amid competition for a limited number of properties on the market.

The median transaction price rose from a year earlier in 142 of 163 metropolitan areas measured, the National Association of Realtors said in a report today. A year earlier, 75 percent of regions had gains.

Values are increasing as homebuyers, encouraged by improving employment, compete for a tight supply of listed properties. At the end of the second quarter, 2.19 million previously owned homes were available for sale, 7.6 percent fewer than a year earlier, according to the Realtors group.

“There continue to be more buyers than sellers, and that is placing pressure on home prices, with multiple bids common in some areas of the country,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said in the report.

The median price for an existing single-family home was $203,500 nationally in the second quarter, up 12 percent from a year earlier. That was the biggest gain since the fourth quarter of 2005, according to the Realtors group.

Cities with tight supplies of homes for sale had the strongest price growth, the Realtors said. Eight markets were added to the report in the quarter.

Biggest Gains

The best-performing areas were Sacramento, California, and Atlanta, where prices jumped 39 percent from a year earlier. Prices rose 36 percent in Fort Myers, Florida; 33 percent in Reno, Nevada; and 31 percent in Las Vegas.

 

 

Home Prices Climb in 87% of U.S. Cities as Recovery Builds (2) – Businessweek.

Mortgage foreclosure filings fall 35% in July | Katonah Real Estate

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Mortgage foreclosure filings in July were about 35% lower than in the same month a year ago in southeast Wisconsin, extending a trend that has helped keep a general recovery in housing on course.

Court records show there were 581 filings in Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha counties last month, compared with 896 in July of 2012. It was the lowest July total since before the housing slump and recession occurred.

Through the first seven months of 2013, mortgage foreclosure filings were down about 37% in the region, to 4,288 from 6,797 during the same span last year.

However, the 581 filings recorded in July were the most for one month since March of this year, when there were 636 filings.

The July filings decreased in all seven counties in southeast Wisconsin.

While bank-owned foreclosures have dropped, the City of Milwaukee is facing an increase in city-owned tax foreclosures. To date, the city holds title to well over 900 properties, with the prospect of several hundred more properties going into tax foreclosure by the end of the year.

The Common Council has taken steps to help homeowners avoid tax foreclosure. Specifically, homeowners have been given more time to pay back special charges owed to the city. The old policy required strapped homeowners to pay back the special charges in full.

 

 

Mortgage foreclosure filings fall 35% in July.

Housing prices drop in real terms in Israel for first time in year | Armonk Real Estate

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The real estate industry does not believe that housing prices are dropping, despite the slight decline recorded in the second quarter of 2013. The Government Assessors Office reported on Sunday that housing prices dropped 0.3% in the second quarter, the first decline in real terms in a year-and-a-half.

“The market is still rising, but the rate of increase is falling,” said Adina Hacham, the CEO of Anglo-Saxon real estate compay. “I believe it will moderate further, but there won’t be dramatic changes.”

Hacham said property investors are still active in the residential real estate market, despite the introduction of new taxes and other restrictions, which, she said, do not offset the continuing shorfall between demand and supply. “Unless something dramatic happens economacally, there’ll be no drama in home prices,” she added.

That opinion was seconded by Ohad Dannus, head of the Israel Real Estate Appraisers Association, who said the govenrment had failed to act on promises to restrain prices. “Until all the promises are translated into action, the market is going to remain strong,” he said. “Buyers who listened to promises by decision-makers and didn’t buy a home paid a penalty of NIS 50,000 to NIS 70,000 in higher prices.”

Moreover, the downtick detected by the assessors office is based on a survey that is so small that the results could be due to statistical error. In any event, in nominal terms, apartment prices rose nationwide in the second quarter, albeit by a slight 1%. The consumer price index rose 1.3% in the same period, meaning that in real terms prices appeared to have fallen. Home prices rose 4.6% in nominal terms from the second quarter of 2012.

The assessor’s survey tracks the prices of three-bedroom homes in 16 cities across Israel. The sharpest rise in the second quarter was in Modi’in, which saw a 5% increase over the previous quarter. Behind Modi’in, there were 3% increases in Ashkelon, Be’er Sheva and Rishon Letzion. Prices in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Petah Tikva, Netanya and Eilat didn’t move, while they actually dropped in nominal terms in Ashdod (2%) and Ramle (1%).

Since the second quarter of last year, home prices have held more or less steady, according to Government Assessor Tal Alderoti. “Its a stagnant trend, with a creeping nominal rise,” he wrote in the second-quarter report. “The big boom hasn’t come. It seems we’ve reached the upper limit, where every home is expensive and price rises have stopped. On the other hand, prices aren’t falling, because the govenment hasn’t succeeded in creating enough supply.”

 

 

Housing prices drop in real terms in Israel for first time in year and a half – Real Estate – Israel News | Haaretz.

HUD Report Questions Westchester Zoning Laws | Mt. Kisco Real Estate

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Seven Westchester municipalities have been accused in a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development report of having zoning laws that keep out and segregate low-income families.

Croton-on-Hudson, Harrison, Lewisboro, the Town of Mamaroneck, the Town of Ossining, Pelham Manor and Pound Ridge were the seven municipalities named in the report recently released from Housing Monitor James Johnson. Johnson is trying to ensure that Westchester County meets the terms of a 2009 anti-discrimination housing settlement that requires the county to build 750 units of affordable housing by 2016, according to a news release.

Johnson said the towns lack zoning laws that provide incentives for or mandate affordable housing.

“Our work made clear (that) seven municipalities did not meet the first standard. I believe more data is required before one can conclude on the second,” Johnson said.

The county settled the anti-discrimination suit with HUD in 2009, but the two sides have butted heads since County Executive Robert Astorino took office in 2010. HUD is threatening to withhold $20 million in federal grants for nonprofits if the county does not meet HUD’s terms.

Ned McCormack, communications director and senior adviser to Astorino rejected the HUD report.

“The county’s comprehensive analysis in eight submissions to HUD – running to thousands of pages of documentation – found no evidence of any exclusionary zoning,” McCormack said in a statement.  “The county executive once again demands that HUD release the $17 million it is arbitrarily withholding from our local communities. There is no reason for HUD to continue to hold this money hostage, which is designed to help our neediest residents.”

 

 

HUD Report Questions Westchester Zoning Laws | The Mt. Kisco Daily Voice.

How to Use Facebook Power Editor, a Detailed Guide | Bedford Realtor

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Are you looking for a better way to manage your Facebook ads?

Do you want access to new Facebook advertising features as soon as they’re available?

Facebook offers a powerful and often overlooked way for marketers to do amazing things with ads.

In this article I’ll show you what Power Editor is, explore its benefits and show you how you can create campaigns using Power Editor.

What Is Power Editor?

The most powerful way to target your ideal audience on Facebook is with Facebook ads.

But clicking the “Boost Post” button and using the self-serve ad tool only scratches the surface. If you want to thrive and direct profits with your Facebook ads, you need to use Power Editor.

facebook power editor

Use Power Editor to have full control over your Facebook advertising.

Power Editor is a free browser plugin created by Facebook that lets you bulk-edit your ads. It was initially created as a Chrome plugin. Although it does sporadically work in other browsers, you’ll likely want to use the Chrome browser when working with Power Editor.

Go to Facebook.com/powereditor to test your browser or install the plugin.

But Power Editor is much more than just a bulk ad editor. It has many advantages over Facebook’s self-serve ad tool used by the vast majority of Facebook advertisers.

Here are the benefits of using Power Editor for your Facebook ads.

#1: Get Access to Latest Features

partner categories

Partner Categories is a feature available within Power Editor.

When Facebook rolls out new advanced features, they’re sent first to the Facebook ads API (which goes to third-party tools) and Power Editor. As a result, marketers using Power Editor tend to get these features well before those who use the self-serve ad tool exclusively.

Here are some examples of features you can currently find in Power Editor, but not in the self-serve ad tool:

Partner Categories: Facebook has partnered with three data-mining companies (Axciom, Datalogix and Epsilon) that collect mounds of data on users related to purchase history and lifestyle. Facebook uses this data to let advertisers do some powerful ad targeting with more than 500 categories.

 

 

How to Use Facebook Power Editor, a Detailed Guide | Social Media Examiner.

1 in 3 buyers would bid above asking price | South Salem Real Estate

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One in 3 buyers are willing to bid higher than a home’s asking price, according to a survey conducted by Trulia in partnership with Harris Interactive.

That was just one of several other findings of the survey that appear to show that homebuyers are feeling the squeeze of market conditions that are significantly altered from those of a year ago. At the same time, they capture improved sentiment towards the housing market.

Today’s tight home inventory appears to be pushing some buyers to use aggressive tactics to beat out competing buyers, the survey found. In addition to a third of buyers being willing to make above-market offers, 1 in 4 said that they would offer to pay a seller’s closing costs.

“Tight inventory means slim pickings for buyers. Even though inventory is starting to expand, and rising home prices should bring more for-sale homes onto the market, people who actually want to buy within the next year are feeling the pressure of competing buyers and limited inventory,” wrote Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko in blog post about the survey.

Also seemingly a symptom of today’s limited housing stock, homebuyers who plan to buy within the next year said that finding a home that they like is their biggest worry.

And highlighting two other defining characteristics of today’s market, consumers who said they might buy someday indicated that their two greatest fears were that mortgage rates and home prices would rise further.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/25/one-in-three-buyers-would-bid-above-asking-price/#sthash.rgSe8GhB.dpuf

 

 

1 in 3 buyers would bid above asking price | Inman News.

Housing helps jobs with increased construction employment | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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What’s happening in housing is often an indicator of what’s happening in the economy. According to a report released today by the Department of Labor, the economy created 162,000 jobs in July, missing forecasted estimates. In other words, housing is helping jobs more than jobs are helping housing.

Trulia (TRLA) Chief Economist Jed Kolko noted that, despite a slow quarter for construction activity, residential construction employment continues to outpace employment overall. Year-over-year, residential construction is up 4.5% — ahead of overall national employment growth of 1.7% — an indicator that housing is putting more jobs on the market.

From its previous peak, construction employment is down 38%, while construction activity has dropped 56% from its previous peak.

However, job growth remains slugging for young adults, who are key to household formation, and job growth remains behind normal numbers in the metros that were hit hardest in the housing bust, aka the job market isn’t improving enough to give a strong boost to housing demand.

 

 

Housing helps jobs with increased construction employment | 2013-08-02 | HousingWire.

Home prices continue to ramp up nationwide | Armonk Real Estate

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Representing a new post-bubble high, Las Vegas experienced a 31.2% jump in annual home prices in July, becoming the first metro to surpass 30% growth since the beginning of the recovery.

In the latest home data index released by Clear Capital, July home price trends continued to be strong both nationwide and when broken down between the nation’s four major regions.

Nationally, home prices grew 9.3% from last year, and were up 1.6% over the previous quarter. Interestingly enough, national home prices remained 33.4% below peak values, indicating the new norm for the nation’s housing.

“While July home prices continue to ramp up throughout the country led by Las Vegas posting more than 30% yearly growth, let’s not forget a healthy recovery means moderation as the new normal takes hold,“ said Alex Villacorta, vice president of research and analytics at Clear Capital.

Over the last half of 2013, Clear Capital continues to call for a moderation in home price trends. “A rising price floor will dampen some potential homebuyers’ appetites, particularly as recent gains bring many markets back into pre-bubble equilibrium,” Villacorta added.

 

Home prices continue to ramp up nationwide | 2013-08-06 | HousingWire.

How to Integrate Social Media and Email Marketing | Chappaqua Real Estate

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The problem with social media is that you don’t own it. The shareholders of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram do.How to Integrate Social Media and Email Marketing

Building a community of social media is tricky. You have to play to their tune. And if a big social media network changes the rules then your lead generation, traffic and sales can plummet. In fact they can shut you down… no questions asked.

So it’s okay to take advantage of social media, but be careful, and don’t rely on it. Placing all your eggs in one basket is risky.

Mike Stelzner recently interviewed DJ Waldow about the synergy between email and social. DJ explains well why marketers should use both channels. He uses social media, but he explains that if Facebook decided to change their terms of service, then the connection with your friends and followers could disappear.

Even Facebook uses email, they have over 100 email notifications.

Use social but don’t rely on it

  • If your business model is about building a community, you should not rely on social networks solely, but you will want to own a platform, like a blog.
  • If your business model is about selling goods to customers, you will want to find the shortest way to reach them. In business that is still with email.

Email addresses stick with you. You should work on having more and more potential customers on your email list who you can engage with and convert to paying customers.

Let’s look at how to integrate social media and email marketing.

#1. Turn fans to email subscribers with contests and sweepstakes

Contests, sweepstakes and giveaways are perfect to motivate people to sign up to your list, to turn fans to email subscribers. At these promotions the condition of entry is to give your name and email address.

 social media and email

This toy shop is running a sweepstakes every weekend, where kids and parents are on Facebook.

Let’s see which promotion type is good for what.

#2. Use sweepstakes for email capture and lead generation

Sweepstakes are chance based promotions when one or more lucky entrant(s) can win. As the barrier to entry is low, these kind of promotions are great for lead generation.

Based on how people enter here are the different types of sweepstakes.

  1. Draw – entrants enter the promotion with a single click. They just need to leave their contact details.
  2. Poll – entrants need to answer a question in order to enter. They need to give their opinion that help you to learn more about them.
  3. Quiz – entrants need to answer a question correctly to win. It encourages them to learn more about your company, so it increases engagement.


Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/08/06/how-to-integrate-social-media-and-email-marketing/#iV7w32Q9JmB9QQd8.99 

 

How to Integrate Social Media and Email Marketing – Jeffbullas’s Blog.

First mortgage delinquencies plummet | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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According to the latest Equifax (EFX) National Consumer Credit Trends Report, the total balance of severely delinquent first mortgages (90 days past due or in foreclosure) in June 2013 is $325 billion, a five-year low and a decrease of more than 27% from same time a year ago ($450 billion), MarketWatch reported.

The total balance of first-mortgage loans that completed the foreclosure process and transitioned to bank-owned property or other severe derogatory status decreased more than 19%, from $16.7 billion in June 2012 to $13.5 billion in June 2013. This is the lowest level for June since 2007.

 

First mortgage delinquencies plummet | 2013-08-02 | HousingWire.