Bedford NY Real Estate | Robert Paul Talks Life in Bedford NY

Sold prices rose 28 percent in Detroit over the past year, topping the list of Pro Teck Valuation Services’ Home Value Forecast. Others included in the list were Palm Bay, FL; Port St. Lucie, FL; Merced, CA; and, San Francisco, CA. “While Detroit has seen healthy gains this year, the Home Value Forecast rating system shows that Detroit is still a soft market,” said Tom O’Grady, CEO of Pro Teck Valuation Services. “Although examining one indicator is helpful, it’s important to analyze several home price indicators to best understand the health of a real estate market.” This month’s HVF update also looked at the Collateral Analytics forecast for those top markets and found that San Francisco home prices are at an all-time high while Detroit is still trying to return to pre-crash levels. In Home Value Forecast’s rating system Detroit’s market is considered “soft” while San Francisco is “strong.” They also noted that that while recent gains have been encouraging in Port St. Lucie, h...

Photo by Amanda Lucidon courtesy of  White House Photo After six years in the White House,  Michelle Obama  has finally embarked on a major  redecorating project  for the late 18th-century neoclassical mansion on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The First Lady decided to set a striking, contemporary tone for the Old Family Dining Room, a small room for private events that is adjacent to the official State Dining Room. The room, which was previously furnished with Kennedy-era antiques and painted yellow, now has gray walls hung with bold modern artworks by Robert Rauschenberg, Josef Albers, Anni Albers, and Alma Thomas, whose 1966 painting "Resurrection" is the first work by an African-American woman to be incorporated into the White House's permanent collection. Ms. Obama also added burgundy window treatments and bronze sconces. Ms. Obama has mixed these newer items with a selection of fine antiques, including a mahogany table dating to 1800, when construction on...

Despite a recent push from the Federal Housing Finance Agency  and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development  to expand the credit box, a Bloomberg article explains that times are still tough for borrowers, especially those using a part-time job to help boost their income. As the economy produces an increasing number of part-time jobs, that trend is colliding with rules that limit their value for homebuyers. The restriction, enacted after the housing crash, makes it more difficult for lenders to consider secondary income, resulting in a growing pile of loan denials, said Susan Wachter, a finance professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The article explained that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Ability to Repay rule states that part-time wages can be included by banks in determining the ability to repay a mortgage if an employer verifies that the borrower has worked at the job for two years and will continue to d...

Nationally, asking prices for condos rose 7.3% year-over-year in September, according to Trulia ’s ( TRLA ) latest rent and price monitor . That’s more than the 6% increase for single-family homes. Asking prices for condos rose more than 15% year-over-year in Miami, Denver, and West Palm Beach. Condo prices rose faster than single-family home prices in 18 of the nation’s 20 largest condo markets, Trulia reports. “Although condo prices are outpacing single-family home prices, they are following similar patterns,” writes Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko. “Condo prices and single-family home prices are both rising faster in metros with stronger job growth and those that had a more severe housing bust in the past decade (a bounceback due to the “rebound effect”). In fact, metros with bigger condo price increases also tend to have bigger single-family home price increases.” read more... http://www.housingwire.com/articles/31664-cost-to-rent-rising-faster-than-home-prices

A gauge of confidence among home builders rose in September to the highest level in almost nine years, as builders’ views on present and coming sales rose, according to data released Wednesday. The overall gauge of builder sentiment rose 4 points to 59 in September, according to a report from National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo. Readings above 50 signal that builders, generally, are optimistic about sales trends, and September marks the third consecutive month of above-50 readings. A strengthening jobs market is perking up builders, though there are still major headwinds from strict credit standards , among other factors. Confidence among home builders is running higher than levels historically seen at current building rates for new homes. On Thursday, the government will report on new home construction, and economists polled by MarketWatch expect that the pace slowed down in August. Economists see faster sales and construction of new homes as the economy adds jobs...

Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed mortgages remained fairly stable this week, with the current rate borrowers were quoted on Zillow Mortgages at 4.06 percent, down from 4.08 percent at this same time last week. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hovered around 4.08 percent for the majority of the week, falling to 3.97 percent on Friday before returning to the current rate. “Mortgage rates dropped mid-week to their lowest level in two months on weak U.S. economic data and geopolitical concerns over the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia,” said Erin Lantz , vice president of mortgages at Zillow. “This week, we expect rates to inch back up unless international turmoil continues to lead the news.” Additionally, the 15-year fixed mortgage rate this morning was 3.12 percent, and for 5/1 ARMs , the rate was 2.79 percent. read more... https://homes.yahoo.com/news/30-fixed-mortgage-rates-hold-steady-185235422.html

New foreclosure activity data from June, when a total of 107,194 U.S. properties had a foreclosure filing, fell 2 percent from the previous month and was down 16 percent from a year ago to lowest level since July 2006, before the housing price bubble burst Total foreclosure activity in June was the lowest since the housing bubble burst in August 2006 in 10 states, including Texas, Georgia, Colorado, Tennessee, Arizona and Nevada, according to the latest foreclosure report from RealtyTrac. “Nationwide foreclosure activity in June reached an important milestone, dropping to levels not seen since before the housing price bubble burst in August 2006,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Over the next six to nine months nationwide foreclosure numbers should start to flat line at consistent historically normal levels. “There continue to be concerning trends in some states and local markets that clearly indicate those markets are not completely out of the woods when it ...

9 images <div class="gallery loaded"><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/06/06/inside-the-brooklyn-home-of-famed-architect-morris-lapidus-brooklyn.php"><img src="http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/539233f2f92ea165810292cd/5a07475r.jpg" width="500" height="351"></a><br /><a href="http://curbed.com/archives/2014/06/06/inside-the-brooklyn-home-of-famed-architect-morris-lapidus-brooklyn.php" style="font-size: 9px; text-align: center;">Click here to view the full photogallery.</a></div> Architect Morris Lapidus may be famous for his Miami oeuvre of Neo-Baroque and Modern architecture—he's the guy who designed Miami's Fontainebleau Hotel, which he proudly dubbed "the world's most pretentious hotel"—in the 1940s he was based in NYC. Here he had an office headquarters on 49th Street— vintage photos this way —and lived in an adorable house i...

The etymology of the phrase “everything but the kitchen sink” probably has to do with the fact that the sink is difficult to move. For instance, if a person absconded with “everything but the kitchen sink,” it means he or she made off with every conceivable portable item. But here is a new way of looking at the term: What if said person didn’t take the hypothetical sink because it was too necessary to the kitchen? When you think about it, there are very few features in the home that are used as often. And what other home item performs as many different tasks? It could be argued that the selection of a sink is one of the most important kitchen choices you will make — and it’s a decision that will affect your daily life for many years to come. We spoke to designers who belong to the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) about how to select the right sink. Justrich Design Save to Ideabook Email Photo How Many Basins, and in What Configuration? 1. A large, single ...

A "maid's apartment" in the exorbitantly expensive 15 Central Park West just sold for around $3 million, the Post reports . It's not quite as bad as it sounds, though — the apartment belonged to former Citigroup CEO and chairman Sandford Weill , who also used to own the enormous penthouse that sold for $88 million in 2011 to the daughter of a Russian oligarch . Weill lived in the separate maid's apartment while the penthouse was being renovated and after it sold, so if it's good enough for Sandy Weill it's probably good enough for everyone else, maids and non-maids included. The apartment includes one bedroom, one-and-a-half baths, and a private terrace, and Weill was originally asking $6.25 million. Despite the over-50 percent price cut, he's still walking away with a substantial profit, having paid just under $1 million for the unit in 2007. Although considering that he made a $44 million profit on the penthouse, he probably doesn't care that m...

Spring Housing Market Shaping Up as Tale of Two Coasts | Bedford Corners Real Estate | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Just north of downtown Los Angeles, skinny homes on tiny lots are sprouting from the hillsides — a building boom of miniature proportions. The rectangular structures come in clusters of six or 15, or even 70, and developers are racing to build them in trendy Silver Lake and Echo Park. They're eyeing younger home buyers who crave hip cafes and proximity to work but don't want a sky-high condo or a Craftsman bungalow. The so-called small-lot homes speak to a growing desire for a more compact and walkable Los Angeles, while still clinging to the single-family ideal that spread outward from downtown over the last century. The homes often have a small patio or roof deck but no backyard. The buyer owns little land beyond what sits beneath the house, a tiny footprint that cuts the cost in pricey neighborhoods.   "It's sort of the iPhone or Prius of homes," said Christian Návar, co-founder of L.A. architecture firm Modative, which designs the projects and hired fiv...

Why has the dog not barked? Quieter, wiser heads are worried about our economy | Bedford Corners Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Mortgage applications increased 11.9% from a week ago, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Jan. 10, 2014. The previous week’s results included an adjustment for the New Year’s holiday. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 61% when compared with the previous week. The refinance index increased 11% from the prior week. The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 12% from a week ago, but is at a level similar to what was observed in mid-November 2013. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 66% compared with the previous week and was 10% lower than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 62% of total applications from 63% the previous week, which is the lowest share observed since the end of September 2013. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 8% of total applications . The average contract interest...

Marketing center users can now create full display ads with contact info, photos, company logo | Bedford Corners NY Homes | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Google Marketing Tips for 2014 | Bedford Corners Realtor | Bedford New York Real Estate | Bedford NY Homes by Robert Paul Realtor

Expectations of future British house price rises have hit a 14-year high just as central bank chief Mark Carney signaled monetary policy would remain exceptionally loose despite the potential for them to jump at 'warp speed'. Britain is growing faster than many other big rich economies although it has still not passed its pre-crisis peak. There are some concerns, however, that it is a housing-led recovery - and a potential bubble - spurred by government stimulus. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said on Tuesday that 59 percent of surveyors in November forecast prices would rise over the next three months, the highest reading since September 1999. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/10/us-britain-housing-idUSBRE9B90CE20131210

Inside the 740 Park Avenue Apartment Nobody Wants - PriceChopper - Curbed NY

From left: 5 Centre Market Place and Robert and Cortney Novogratz Gregory Soros, an artist and son of hedge fund mogul George Soros, chopped the price of his gun shop-turned-townhouse to $10.75 million. Cortney and Robert Novogratz, stars of “Home by Novogratz” and “9 by Design,” designed the five-story home at 5 Centre Market Place in Nolita, which Soros bought in 2010 for $11.99 million . It features Venetian plaster, a terrace with cherry trees and a domed rooftop basketball court. But it had none of those things when the Novogratzes purchased it in 2004 in the form of a gun shop. Soros listed it in April with Leslie J. Garfield & Co. for $100 above the purchase price, Curbed reported. Now, it’s back on the market and listed with Patty Larocco of Town Residential. [Curbed] http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/11/13/george-soros-son-chops-ask-of-nolita-townhouse-to-10-8m/

Bedford Corners NY Real Estate Report RobReportBlog 2013 6 months ending 11/11 2012 16 Sales 14 up 14% $1,487,500.00 median sold price $517,000.00 up 187% $468,000.00 low sold price $381,500.00 $5,600,000.00 high sold price $1,750,000.00 5176 average size 2721 $364.00 ave. price per foot $264.00 132 ave days on market 189 $1,939,750.00 average sold price $756,571.00 94.86% ave sold to ask 93.59%