Tag Archives: Westchester NY Homes for Sale

Westchester NY Homes for Sale

May home sales up 4.2%; median price up 15.4% | South Salem Real Estate

Existing home sales improved in May but the supply of homes for sale remains tight — which isn’t good news for buyers, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Total existing home sales increased 4.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million in May from 4.97 million in April, NAR said. That’s the highest rate since November 2009 and almost 13% above year-ago levels.

The inventory of homes for sale, meanwhile, dipped to a 5.1 month supply, down from 5.2 months in April. That means all the homes would sell in that time frame if no new supply was added and sales continued at May’s pace. Realtors consider a 6-month supply to be a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

Total housing inventory at the end of May was up 3.3% to 2.22 million existing homes for sale.

Despite last month’s “nice” gain in homes for sale, the supply is unlikely to grow unless home building ramps up by an additional 50%, says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

Homes are also selling fast. The median time on market for all homes was 41 days in May, down from 46 in April.

Nationwide, 45% of all homes sold in May were on the market for less than a month, NAR says.

Single-family home sales rose 5% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.6 million and are almost 13% above the year ago pace.

 

May home sales up 4.2%; median price up 15.4%.

Homebuilders and lumber dealers face supply shortage | Bedford Corners Real Estate

Home builders and lumber dealers are facing a significant shortage of materials necessary for building a home, such as lumber and wall board, according to the National Association of Home Builders and theNational Lumber and Building Material Dealers Assocation. 

“Supply constraints are one of the barriers to a more robust recovery,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “The shortages and price increases reported by both homebuilders and lumber dealers are particularly concerning given that the current rate of construction is still far below what would be considered normal or necessary to meet underlying demand.” 

The highest reported incidence of shortages was for oriented strand board, with 22% of builders reporting shortages. Following closely is wall board, with 20% of builders reporting a shortage, and framing lumber and plywood, with 18% of builders reporting shortages. 

The survey asked both builder and lumber dealers about the shortages of 24 specific building products and materials. For the majority of the products, the share of builders reporting a shortage was considerably higher in May 2013 than the previous two years. 

“The shares of reported shortages are not as high now as they were in 2004 or 2005, but the increases since 2012 are quite significant, especially when you take the early stage of the housing recovery into account,” said Crowe. 

He added, “In 2004 and 2005 the home building industry was producing over 1.8 million new homes a year, while the current rate of new housing starts is still below 1 million.”

 

Homebuilders and lumber dealers face supply shortage | HousingWire.

April home prices rise at a faster pace | Katonah Real Estate

U.S. home prices continued their upward trajectory in April, rising 0.7% from March, according to data from the latest FNC Residential Price Index. The gain in April marks the largest price appreciation since June 2012, due largely to rising demand in the spring and summer.

More credit availability, interest rates that remain low despite quickly rising and low home prices are driving forces behind the housing recovery. Rising interest rates have most likely drawn out additional pent-up demand. 

Foreclosure activity continued to decline, with distressed sales making up only 16% of total home sales, down from 17.8% in March and 21.6% a year earlier, FNC noted.

When analyzing non-distresses properties in the 100 largest metropolitan areas, the FNC 100-MSA composite index reveals that April home prices increased faster when compared to previous months.

Year-over-year, home prices rose 4.6% in April. For months, the indices have been revised downward, resulting in more moderate annual price accelerations.

Of the component markets tracked by the FNC 30-MSA composite index, 25 showed higher prices in April, with home prices up 1.0% or more in nearly a third of the markets.

 

April home prices rise at a faster pace | HousingWire.

Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton lists NY Flatiron condo | Bedford Hills Real Estate

The couple bought their new place in The Whitman, a secure building on East 26th Street, for $10.5 million in early March, which led them to list their former home at the nearby Grand Madison for $4.475 million. The couple didn’t move far; both buildings are located in the Flatiron District and have views of Madison Square Park.

Mezvinsky bought the Grand Madison condo in 2008 for $4 million, reported the Real Deal. The couple had been living there since their marriage in 2010 until very recently, writes Zillow.

 

Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton lists NY Flatiron condo | HousingWire.

Dodd-Frank impact on loan availability remains a concern | Bedford Real Estate

The qualified mortgage rule’s full impact on home lending remains somewhat of a mystery, but lawmakers and industry professionals debated the rule’s potential influence on the home lending market during a House Subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

Industry experts testified in front of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, sharing fears about certain borrowers being locked out of the lending system.

“We need to make sure we have a financial system that allows access to credit for low and moderate income households,” said Member Gregory Meeks.”The housing sector is vital to our economic recovery.”

Committee member Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., said his main concern is how the ability-to-repay standards in addition to the QM rule will affect his constituents’ ability to get a mortgage.

Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., acknowledged QM’s role in protecting consumers from subprime loans and other products, but noted that it also could have the unintended effect of keeping creditworthy borrowers on the sidelines.

Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., stated that this new rule could end up undermining the housing recovery. He said the CFPB’s QM rule has caused great concerns to both banks and credit unions, who fear regulators will view any loan outside of QM standards as too risky. 

Once each committee member had a chance to testify, the spotlight shifted to the table of witnesses. 

Charles Vice, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, said state regulators have found that regulations and supervision needs to be more tailored to how community banks lend.

Vice, who has been in the finance industry for more than 20 years, said it’s crucial that community banks be allowed to positively impact the national and local economy. 

James C. Gardill, chairman of the board at WesBanco, is concerned that many creditworthy families will be denied access to credit as banks become afraid to make any loans outside of QM standards. 

This means that less affluent communities won’t be given what they need to thrive, he said. The end result of the CFPB’s rule will be less available credit to some individuals and communities. 

 

Dodd-Frank impact on loan availability remains a concern | HousingWire.

Actor Tom Hanks and wife sell home for $5.225 million | Waccabuc Real Estate

Purchased by the A-list duo for $1.9 million when they were first married in 1988, the home has 4 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms and 6,289 square feet. The gorgeous but rather boring and monochromatic house has large living spaces, a library and even a private beauty salon, according to Trulia.

The couple’s other property holdings include yet another Pacific Palisades mansion they picked up in January 2010 for $1.45 million and a beachfront Malibu Colony spread they’ve owned since the early 1990′s, Trulia ($30.57 0%) reports.

To see photos of the house, click here.

 

Actor Tom Hanks and wife sell home for $5.225 million | HousingWire.

Police Advisory: Two Chappaqua Burglaries Thursday | Chappaqua Daily Real Estate

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. — The following is an advisory from the New Castle police department.

New Castle Police are investigating two burglaries that were reported on Spring Valley Road. One house was entered through an unlocked door off of a second floor deck. The other house had a forced entry to a rear door. Electronic equipment and jewelry are reported stolen.

The burglaries occurred on June 6, 2013 between 11:30AM and 4:00PM. Both homes were unoccupied at the time of the burglaries. New Castle are investigating.

Anyone with information should call 914-238-4422.

Contact Information:

Charles Ferry

Chief of Police

914-238-4422

cferry@town.new-castle.ny.us

 

Police Advisory: Two Chappaqua Burglaries Thursday | The Chappaqua Daily Voice.

Houses with solar features rise in popularity | Katonah NY Real Estate

Sales of new production homes with rooftop solar power systems nearly doubled from 2011 to 2012, suggesting homebuyers are searching for ways to control monthly electricity costs, the California Solar Initiative said.

 

In California last year, an estimated 4,000 new production solar homes were built, 10 times the number built seven years ago during the housing construction boom, said homebuilder KB Home ($20.19 0%) in a press release.

 

SunPower Corp. ($18.47 0%) expects growth to continue, with more than 20% of new production homes being solar powered this year.

 

Putting even more power behind that statement, SunPower announced Wednesday that it will install its 10,000th high efficiency solar power system on a new production home.

 

SunPower will add an upgraded solar power system on the house as well for the home’s soon-to-be owners, Justin Levine and Bethany Rutstein, who are soon to be married.

 

“When you’re watching our monthly expenses carefully, choosing a home with solar is a no-brainer. We chose to build our new solar-powered home with KB Home because we were able to personalize nearly every aspect of our new home, including its energy efficiency through a process KB calls Built to Order,” said Rutstein.

 

“KB Home has partnered with SunPower to build more than 1,500 solar homes across the country, and we see very high levels of satisfaction with our solar homeowners,” said Steve Ruffner, president of KB Home.

 

Houses with solar features rise in popularity | HousingWire.

San Francisco Median Home Price Tops $1 Million | Bedford Hills Real Estate

Earlier this month, San Francisco reached a potentially dubious milestone–themedian price of a home in the city topped $1 million.

To give a sense of just how quickly this has happened, its important to note that the current median price is a 32 percent jump from where its sat last year.

The phenomenon isn’t solely confined to San Francisco proper. Other Bay Area cities are experiencing similar surges in housing prices, leading the whole region to see a 22 percent increase in prices over the past twelve months.

This is great news for current homeowners thinking about cashing out and moving to the Bahamas. But for everyone else it raises two questions: 1. Where can I get one of those internet millionaire jobs I keep hearing so much about, and 2. Are we in the midst of the housing bubble?

According to a recent study by real estate brokerage house Redfin, San Francisco is one of the cities in the United States most likely to be experiencing a real estate bubblebased on a host of factors ranging from the ratio of home prices to median household income, the speed at which prices are growing and the speed at which houses are sold after being listed on the market.

“The normal laws of economics don’t apply to the Bay Area,” Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman told HuffPost in April. “You could have huge unemployment numbers here and home prices would still go up because [the supply is so constrained and] there are enough people with limitless amounts of money who want to live there.”

Unlike the real estate bubble that triggered the Great Recession, the Bay Area’s newfound growth in home prices isn’t fueled by sketchy financing (“Do you have a heartbeat and signature? Here are the keys to this 12 bedroom estate!”). Instead, what’s going on is directly tied to the strength of the Bay Area’s largely tech-fueled job market, which is drawing an influx of wealthy people into areas where there isn’t enough supply to go around.

The reason for the Bay Area’s lack of supply is largely due to the aftershocks of the last bubble, which devastated the construction industry and led to far fewer houses being built to accommodate the region’s swelling population.

Some of that is starting to change–especially in San Francisco, where a construction boom is simultaneously creating new housing units after years of virtually nothing coming onto the market–but the new construction isn’t happening fast enough to stabilize demand.

While the Fed is helping to keep interest rates low, which makes buying a house considerably cheaper, the money coming into some pockets of the Bay Area is so great that it’s common for properties to stay on the market for less than a week and the majority of buyers are paying entirely with cash.

However, it’s not only internet millionaires acquiring scores of Bay Area real estate with mountains of cold, hard cash. The practice of house flipping–where an investor buys a property (often with cash), fixes it up and then sells it almost immediately to make a profit both on the renovation and the rising tide of the housing market–is back with a vengeance.

 

San Francisco Median Home Price Tops $1 Million.

How to make your real estate listing go viral | North Salem Real Estate

Pictures are worth a thousand words…and quite a few shares. If you really want your listings to go viral and reach more potential buyers, you need to have 8 or more high-quality photos that catch buyers’ eyes,Trulia writes.

When you’re out shooting online property photos, remember how we started this chat – that compelling content is king. That means you need to look for the quirky, special, and high-value add ons that separate your listings from the rest, according to Trulia ($30.74 0.14%).

Read more tips on how to make your listings go viral here.

 

How to make your real estate listing go viral | HousingWire.