| Katonah NY Real Estate Report | RobReportBlog | ||
| 2013 | 6 months ending 7/5 | 2012 | |
| 48 | Sales | 47 | |
| $727,000.00 | median sold price | $670,000.00 | |
| $275,000.00 | low sold price | $209,000.00 | |
| $7,000,000.00 | high sold price | $4,000,000.00 | |
| 3261 | average size | 3016 | |
| $286.00 | ave. price per foot | $278.00 | |
| 175 | ave days on market | 208 | |
| $990,356.00 | average sold price | $858,238.00 | |
| 89.67% | ave sold to ask | 94.50% |
Katonah sales up 2% – Prices up 8.5% | RobReportBlog | Katonah Real Estate.
San Luis Obispo County’s housing market is on the rebound.
The median price — the point at which half of residences sell for more and half for less — continues to rise, sales have picked up and foreclosures have fallen.
A strengthening economy has played a key role in the housing market’s comeback, and real estate will be a significant contributor toward economic growth this year, economists say.
“It’s on an upward trend,” said Jordan Levine, economist for Beacon Economics, a Los Angeles-based independent research and consulting firm. “The economy is improving, tourism is doing well and more people are back to work, and there’s not a lot of inventory.”
California traditionally suffers from an undersupply of housing, Levine added. That lack of housing supply has kept prices higher in California relative to other states, and has resulted in pent-up demand.
“The supply issue is starting to express itself,” he said. “It wasn’t as big an issue when the housing market was in the doldrums. But now, it has become more obvious as demand rises.”
The unsold inventory index for San Luis Obispo County, which indicates the number of months needed to sell the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate, was 3.5 in May, according to the California Association of Realtors. A six- to seven-month supply is considered normal.
But some inventory relief should come in the second half of this year, as homeowners who had been holding back decide it’s time to sell, said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the association.
“There are people that are still underwater; over 20 percent of the mortgages in California are underwater,” she said. “But that’s changing rapidly as prices go up. More will be above water and will either stay or list their home.”
The all-home median price for the county, which includes new and resale single-family detached homes and condos, was $421,500 in May, 12.4 percent higher than the same month in 2012, according to DataQuick, a Southern California-based real estate tracking firm. May marked the 13th consecutive month in which the county’s median home sales price saw a year-over-year increase.
However, the May median sale price was still 23.4 percent lower than the peak May median of $550,000 in 2006.
A total of 394 homes were sold in May 2013, up from 361 sold in May 2012, a 9 percent year-over-year increase. Most of the homes sold in the county are existing, single-family homes.
The median price for resale homes was $435,500 in May, a 13.1 percent year-over-year increase. Sales for existing, single-family homes grew to 325, a nearly 5 percent year-over-year increase.
Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/07/06/2574290/real-estate-market-looking-up.html#storylink=cpy
Real estate market looking up in county | Local News | SanLuisObispo.com.
A recent, sharp rise in mortgage-interest rates has raised concerns about whether the housing recovery will soften as home loans become more expensive.
Two weeks ago, the average rate nationwide for a 30-year mortgage jumped to 4.46 percent from 3.93 percent — the biggest one-week increase since 1987 and the highest rate since July 2011, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
“We do think that, as rates go higher, there will be additional affordability issues,” said Brad Hunter, a Florida-based economist for the real-estate research firm MetroStudy Inc.
“Everyone is getting nervous now as the Fed is taking away the Kool-Aid bowl soon,” he said. Rates started moving up after the Federal Reserve said on June 19 that it might end its economic-stimulation program by the end of this year or in 2014.
An increase in interest rates could temper the housing recovery in several ways.
For one thing, higher rates would mean prospective buyers could afford less house, possibly easing demand for new and existing homes. For another, the equity funds that have been buying up foreclosures would likely go looking elsewhere for better ways to invest their money, which would likely limit competition for new listings. Home builders may be pressured by higher carrying costs, even as fewer prospects show up to tour their model units. And homeowners not interested in selling would be less likely to refinance their existing loans.
Here’s a closer look at how rising rates could affect those four groups:
Buyers : For home buyers, many of whom have struggled since the Great Recession and global credit crisis to qualify for mortgages, an uptick in rates would also cut into their buying power once they were approved for a loan.
For example, buyers who obtained a $200,000 mortgage when interest rates were about 3.5 percent in April landed a monthly payment of about $900. But if rates head north to 5 percent, buyers hoping to get that same monthly payment would have to limit their mortgage to $170,000 — or $30,000 less than they could have afforded with the lower loan rate.
In a talk to Congress last month, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke noted that housing’s vital role in the nation’s economic recovery is due partly to the real estate-related jobs it creates “but also because higher house prices increase consumer wealth and promote consumer spending.”
Over the 30-year life of a $200,000 mortgage, however, a home buyer would pay an additional $63,000 in interest with a 5 percent rate than with a 3.5 percent rate — money not available for spending on consumer goods or services.
And even though mortgage lenders stand to earn more money with higher rates of return on their loans, borrowers would not find it easier to qualify for home loans should interest rates keep rising, said Rob Nunziata, president of Orlando, Fla.-based FBC Mortgage LLC.
Rising Mortgage Rates Could Chill Housing Market | Valley News.
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.
Welcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up to date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.
What’s New This Week?
Google+ Launches New Plugins for Your Website: Google+ launches “a bunch of new plugins that help visitors to connect with you on Google+, directly from your website.” There’s an updated Google+ Follow plugin and updated badges for your Google+ Profiles and Pages. You can now also create a badge for your Google+ Communities.
Check out the updated Google+ Page badges.
LinkedIn Adds the Top Requested Features to Their Mobile App: LinkedIn has “added the top requested features — the ability to search for jobs, companies, groups and people on-the-go. In addition they have added a few tips to help you be more productive from wherever you may be working.”
With LinkedIn mobile, you can now find and discover people, jobs and groups.
Discussion From Our Networking Clubs: Thousands of social media marketers and small business owners are asking questions and helping others in our free Networking Clubs. Here are a few interesting discussions worth highlighting:
How are the Facebook Hashtags going for you so far?
Are you drowning in social media?
Facebook Announces a New Review Policy for Pages and Groups: Facebook will “implement a new review process for determining which Pages and Groups should feature ads alongside their content. This process will expand the scope of Pages and Groups that should be ad-restricted.”
For example, Facebook “will now seek to restrict ads from appearing next to Pages and Groups that contain any violent, graphic or sexual content [content that does not violate (current) community standards]. Prior to this change, a Page selling adult products was eligible to have ads appear on its right-hand side; now there will not be ads displayed next to this type of content.”
Twitter Decides Auto-Follow-Back Is Now Taboo: SocialOomph reports that “Twitter changed their terms of service and outlawed automated following back of people who followed you first.”
Bing Integrates Search Prevalence Into the Klout Score: Klout announces “the official integration of Bing search results into the Klout Score.” This means that “the number of times you are searched for on Bing will now contribute directly to your Klout Score.”
New Google+ Website Plugins: This Week in Social Media | Social Media Examiner.
When shopping for kitchen appliances you’ll see a dizzying array of choices, from basic models to ones loaded with features. But your countertops might outlast your appliances by years, maybe decades, making this decision one you’ll live with for some time. Consumer Reports tested 14 materials and found that except for recycled glass, there wasn’t much difference among competing brands, but there were big differences in materials. Here’s a look at our tests and what’s new in countertops.
Crazy about quartz. This synthetic material is becoming more popular and some mimics stone, although may look too uniform to be realistic. Quartz also comes in vivid colors such as Caeserstone’s Apple Martini and Red Shimmer. Quartz was tops in our tests, whether polished or matte finish. Sharp knives, abrasive pads, hot pots, and most stains didn’t damage it plus it’s easy to maintain and doesn’t require sealing. Silestone’s suede series is designed to have a leathery finish with little reflection, but their website warns that this finish may require extra care.
CR tip: Edges and corners can chip and repairs aren’t a DIY project. Rounded edges help.
Granite’s rock solid rep. It’s been rumored to be on its way out for years but granite is still among the most desirable or must-have kitchen features, according to a recent study from theNational Association of Home Builders. No two slabs are exactly alike, giving your kitchen its own look, and unlike marble, limestone, and soapstone, granite is the only real stone that’s practical enough for heavily used areas. It performed similarly to quartz in our tests and new suede and leathered finishes skip the high sheen and offer a softer look.
CR tip: When properly sealed, matte finish and polished granite fended off most stains, so reseal periodically to maintain resistance. Chipped edges and corners are a possibility and only a pro can repair them.
Countertop materials that stand up to years of abuse – Yahoo! Homes.
You’ve probably seen some of the reports during the past week about home sales and prices. Housing is hot.
• New home sales in May were almost 30 percent higher than a year ago, and average prices jumped by about 10 percent during the past 12 months to $308,000.
• Resales of homes were up by 13 percent in May over May 2012. Median prices increased by 15.4 percent, the sixth straight month of double-digit gains and the largest monthly advance since October 2005.
• Median prices of new listings in some cities where inventories of homes listed for sale are tight and multiple bidding situations are routine have gone off the charts. In the Los Angeles-Long Beach area, list prices were nearly 28 percent higher in May than the year before, according to data compiled by Realtor.com from local multiple listing services. In San Diego, median list prices were 21 percent higher. Washington D.C., 18.8 percent. Seattle, nearly 18 percent. Charlotte, N.C., 11 percent.
But one key housing number that hasn’t gotten as much attention – yet directly affects the financial health of millions of Americans – is home equity. Thanks to the big gains in home values, total home equity balances have grown by more than $2 trillion within the past 12 months to nearly $9.1 trillion, a 28.6 percent gain, according to the Federal Reserve.
That’s $2.5 trillion above where it was at the end of 2011, but still below the $10 trillion it hit in 2007, on the eve of the market crash. During the last three months of 2012 alone, total home equity grew by a stunning $816 billion.
Numbers like these may be hard to get your head around, but they can be distilled down to the personal level: Home equity is the value of your home minus all the debt you have against it – generally first mortgages, junior liens and equity credit lines. If your house is worth $400,000 and your mortgage is $200,000, you’ve got positive equity of $200,000. If your home is worth $200,000 and your debt is $400,000 you’ve got $200,000 of negative equity.
If you were at $60,000 negative equity three years ago, and the resale value of your home has gained by $70,000 plus you’ve paid down $5,000 in principal balance on your mortgage, you now have positive net equity of $15,000. That’s what’s happening across the country as real estate markets rebound from five years of recession.
Not everybody is sharing equally in the realty wealth boom, however. New data from a study by realty information firm CoreLogic reveal that current equity holdings vary widely around the country. In some metropolitan areas, just about every owner has positive equity. In Dallas and Houston, and on Long Island, N.Y., more than nine out of 10 homeowners have positive equity. Pretty much the only people with negative equity are those who overpaid on their last purchase and mortgaged the house to the hilt. In Seattle, 87 percent of owners have positive equity. In Los Angeles, just under 84 percent do. And in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, it’s 78 percent.
In other metropolitan areas, the economic rebound hasn’t replenished equity quite as fast. In Miami and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., more than 40 percent of owners are still in negative territory; just under 60 percent have positive equity. Chicago also has been a relative laggard in the recovery – with just 65.8 percent of homeowners having positive equity, 34.2 percent with negative.
Nationwide, roughly 57 percent of all homeowners have at least 20 percent equity in their homes, but another 23 percent are what CoreLogic calls “under-equitied” – they’ve got less than 20 percent. As of the first quarter of 2013, 19.8 percent of all homes with mortgages continued to have negative equity, but that’s falling fast – down from nearly 22 percent at the end of 2012. If home prices rebound another 5 percent nationally, says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, another 1.6 million homeowners will regain positive equity.
So the overall outlook on home equity appears to be encouraging. But last week another research organization, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, sounded an alarm for one segment of owners: seniors. More and more owners in their 60s are carrying heavy mortgage debt loads. Between 1989 and 2010, the share of owners aged 60 to 69 with mortgage debt rose from just 32 percent to 60 percent.
Antique homes are making a comeback on Westchester’s real estate scene, especially among houses built before 1900.
Many homebuyers are looking to these homes because of their history, unique layouts, and to cultivate old-fashioned pursuits such as gardening, knitting, and even raising chickens. One Westchester real estate office,Douglas Elliman, has more than a dozen historic listings on the market in Westchester.
In Chappaqua, a 1740 red Colonial on King Street is listed for $1.39 million. Nestled on just under 3.5 acres, the 5-bedroom, 4-bath home has been updated to include a dishwasher, eat-in kitchen, central air conditioning, and updated electrical systems, while still maintaining its antique charm. The nicely landscaped grounds feature extensive stonework, perennial, and vegetable gardens. There is also a pool and a two-car detached garage.
“Antique homes are really in vogue right now because they appeal to people who want an authentic living experience. Some people like the new turn-key look, but we are seeing that people are also really adamant about living in a highly unique space with a sense of history that echoes the values of a bygone, simpler time,” said listing agent Nancy Strong. “Westchester is steeped in history, and we are lucky to be ahead of the trend when it comes to antique house hunting.”
Antique Homes Are Popular Again In Westchester | The White Plains Daily Voice.
Kearney Realty and Development has filed a motion to intervene in the fair housing case between the federal government and Westchester County and asked the judge to force the town of North Salem to approve its affordable housing project.
Kenneth Kearney of Kearney Realty, based in Putnam County, is accusing North Salem of changing zoning requirements to block its proposal for 108 units of affordable housing on Route 22. Though North Salem is not a direct party to the county’s fair housing lawsuit, Kearney is asking the court to declare that the town is impeding the consent decree ending the lawsuit in 2009 and to order the town to approve the development.
The land is zoned for senior housing but, Kearney says, several months into the approval process the town interpreted its zoning to mean that an assisted living facility was required as part of the development. Then, early this year, the town passed a law to clarify that an assisted living facility was required. Kearney says assisted living is not economically feasible on the site.
“Local Law No. 1 of 2013 effectively prevents the development of affordable housing on the Seven Springs property,” Kearney said in his declaration. “It is simply not economically possible to build any meaningful amount of affordable housing and an economically-viable assisted living facility on that parcel.”
Kearney accuses North Salem of a long history of blocking affordable housing.
A new survey of the oldest baby boomers–people born in 1946–finds this group even more likely than they were five years ago to keep living where they are rather than move as part of retirement.
The poll in late 2012 of 1,003 of the so-called “oldest boomers,” including 447 who also were surveyed in 2007, found 82% aren’t planning any future moves. That’s up from 75% in the 2007 survey, conducted at about the time the housing market collapsed. Survey results have a margin of error of plus/minus 3.2 percentage points.
“Of the oldest boomers who did move or are planning a move, more than half (53%) chose to downsize into a smaller home,” said Amy Goyer, who wrote the report on behalf of MetLife’s Mature Market Institute. “Just 16% plan to or have moved to an active adult community, significantly up from 9% in 2008. The oldest boomers have most likely raised their families, as moving (or planning) to a larger home is down to just 4% in 2012 from 12% in 2008. Almost a quarter (23%) said they had plans or had moved to an ‘other’ situation in 2012 (down from 37% in 2008)—perhaps some of these families are living in multigenerational households.”
Later in her report, Goyer said the survey results point to the need for aging in place options, “including community infrastructure, home and community-based services, transportation, technology and smart home design/modification options that not only make it possible to remain at home throughout the aging process, but to also beautify and add value to the home and community for all ages.”
About 93% of these oldest boomers own their home, with an average value of $254,000. Four out of 10 have paid off their mortgages, but 8% are upside-down, owing more on their loan than the home is worth, the survey found. As for income, 58% said they’re taking in less than before retirement, but only 20% reported a decreased standard of living and 18% said their standard went up. One possible reason why: One-third had received an inheritance, with the average value reported in 2012 reaching $110,000.